THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY
Starring: Jim Cummings, Richard Brake, Jocelin Donahue and Faizon Love
Directed by: Francis Galluppi
Written by: Francis Galluppi
Rated: R
Running Time: 1hr 30mins
Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival Calgary Underground Film Festival
“…one of my shorts played in Cincinnati in 2018 or 19 and I met James Claeys, the executive producer, there. Basically, he offered me $50,000 to make a feature. So, I was trying to write something really contained in a single room. But obviously, it needed more than $50,000. I thought, oh shit, we can’t do this for that little. The script went through different variations and, in the end, James ended up selling his house to finance the movie. …We did it completely independently. It was just James and me there, so nobody was looking over our shoulders to tell us what to do. We were on our own and it gave us a lot of freedom, but we were also really, really lucky to end up with what we made.” Writer/Director Francis Gallupi – In Session Film
Let me start by saying, “We need more movies like THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY.”
As of the writing of this review, the film holds a 97% fresh rating on the popular website Rotten Tomatoes, making me wonder why it wasn’t given more respect and a better release from its distributors. Its full theatrical run brought in only $94,244 at the box office (source: boxofficemojo.com) as it’s a movie that was so deeply buried that, until recently, I didn’t even know it existed. It came to my attention when I heard a podcaster briefly mention it while discussing recent watches at the beginning of his broadcast. Then, as the end of 2024 approached and I was deciding which movies I still wanted to see before compiling my end-of-year list, I chose to give it a chance. Knowing absolutely nothing about the story, I pushed the play button on my streaming remote, unaware I would love it as much as I did. When the closing credits began to roll and I realized that I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat, it immediately became clear that I needed to start recommending this film to everyone I knew. The response was interesting. I found that nobody I recommended it to had heard of it either. The blank looks I received when suggesting it told me that it was a real hidden gem and deserved the full recommendation treatment on this website. So here we go…
With THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY, first-time writer/director Francis Galluppi delivers a gripping, edge-of-your-seat crime thriller that primarily unfolds within the confines of a single location. At a tight 90 minutes, the film is an intense example of great storytelling on a limited budget. Starting off deliberately slow, the film is constructed in a manner that will keep the viewer guessing about what will happen next while building to an explosive final thirty minutes filled with an array of unpredictable moments that are guaranteed to leave the audience in awe of how it all fits together. Featuring a wide range of interesting characters, a claustrophobic location, some well-placed surprises and a seamlessly integrated score, Galluppi has crafted a modern-day neo-noir with such careful precision that it’s hard to believe it came from a filmmaker who hasn’t been honing his craft for years.
Honestly, the less you know about the plot, the better, so I’ll keep it as simple as I can. The movie takes place in an isolated diner that sits next to the only gas station within a hundred miles. Unfortunately, the pumps are empty and the gas truck is running late, leaving a slowly growing number of people stranded and waiting for the fuel to arrive so that they can fill up their cars and continue on their way. The problem, though, is that two of the people stranded are extremely dangerous bank robbers who could make things very bad for everyone in the diner if things don’t go their way and, of course, this is a movie, so guess what happens…
As a writer, Galluppi has created a tight script that effectively tackles the themes of greed and desperation. There isn’t a wasted moment as the plot moves forward, constantly building tension while still delivering some interesting comic beats that keep the story from going too far over the top. It’s a story that relies heavily on character interactions. Galluppi takes his time introducing everybody, allowing the actors the time needed to breathe some real depth into the people they are portraying. Unlike most films, up until the final 35 minutes, there is a refusal to concentrate on only one character as the lead, making it hard to predict who will survive the ordeal once everything goes awry in one of the best examples of a Mexican standoff that I’ve ever seen (not a spoiler – it’s in the film’s trailer).
The film’s deliberate pacing is well planned, as the film starts off as a slow burn, keeping the viewers off guard as the faster-paced last act comes out of nowhere and throws us off balance when a very different momentum begins to unravel. In another filmmaker’s hands, especially a first-time filmmaker’s, this could have created a slow yet boring experience. The viewer could very easily find themselves fidgeting in their seats. Galluppi plays it smart by bringing in an important element that saves this from happening, though. The score by composer Matthew Compton has got to be my favorite use of music in any of 2024’s releases. It does just what it’s supposed to do by helping to set the overall tone for the film. It’s integrated so perfectly that it actually becomes a character within the story itself, as it also becomes the main driving force behind the film’s tension. I’ll go as far as to say that even though there are a lot of things to like about LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY, without this original score, the film wouldn’t work as well. It’s that important to the movie’s overall success.
While featuring an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Michael Abbot Jr., Faizon Love, Connor Paolo, Nicholas Logan, legendary “scream queen” Barbara Cramton and a few more, there isn’t a single bad performance in the bunch. Nobody stands out as being more important than the other, as they all have their own stories to tell. From the cowardly knife salesman, played by Cummings, who can’t make it through a sales pitch without a tomato and a can, to the bank robber Beau, played by Blake, whose calm yet cold demeanor makes him incredibly frightening. Early on, when he tells the knife salesman and the diner’s waitress, played by Donahue, “If you try anything stupid, I’ll shoot you in the face,” we believe him. Simply put, everyone seems to have an important part to play in the film as a whole and every member of the cast shines in their roles as they bring out each of the character’s very different personalities. This makes the big twist moment that reveals itself later on in the story more shocking. Even the gas station owner’s deaf dog and a small bird that appears in the film’s first and final shot seem to have an important purpose even though they are in so little of the movie.
Francis Galluppi is a filmmaker to keep an out for. With THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY, he delivers an impressive crime thriller that will keep everyone on the edge of their seats. If this intense first-time outing is a hint of things to come, then I can’t wait to see what is next.
Watch THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY
You May Also Like