‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’: A Remarkably Confident and Solid Debut

Filmmaking debuts are something that has always fascinated me. To be a filmmaker is to be courageous enough to put something that is a part of you out for, hypothetically, the entire world to access. Even in instances of a debut being underwhelming, the act of crafting a film to completion is a miracle, and at the very least, that is a reason for celebration. It’s always impressive when a filmmaker arrives on the scene feeling completely confident in their ability to craft an effective, satisfying, and entertaining film. Such is the case with Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County, which offers an incredibly solid slice of genre filmmaking.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is truly an ensemble piece, but it’s also a single-location thriller. The film follows a Knife Salesman (Jim Cummings) who finds himself stuck at a gas station waiting on a fuel truck to refill the empty pumps. Luckily, connected to the gas station is a lonely diner where a waitress named Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) is enduring her recent days with a broken air conditioner. The Knife Salesman, with no other options, enters the diner to wait for the fuel truck. Unluckily, two bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan) also find themselves short of enough fuel to make it to the next filling station and also enter the diner. Tensions begin to rise as an ever-growing collection of characters begin to learn more about each other’s pasts.

This is one of those films that it’s better to go into knowing as little as possible. As a film watcher, I avoid trailers and prefer to go in knowing as little as possible. When I watch a film like The Last Stop in Yuma County, I’m glad I have this practice because it’s hard to market a film like this without giving away imagery or moments that are more fun to experience for the first time with these characters. If you are a viewer who enjoys a good thriller, go in as blind as possible. I’m confident in saying it’s quite likely that you will enjoy this film.

As a piece of genre filmmaking, The Last Stop in Yuma County is totally unpretentious in a way that I found quite refreshing. It’s a film where what you see is what you get and it’s not trying to break any new ground or attempting to offer some piercingly insightful commentary about the human condition. In this case, this is a feature, not a bug. It’s a film that feels like you are reading a page-turner. Its objective is to thrill and entertain, and it fulfills that objective satisfyingly and doesn’t over-complicate things by trying to do more than that.

This isn’t to say that this film isn’t extremely effective in its storytelling. Single-location films are quite hard to pull off because the risk is always there that the location will begin to feel stale. This film is one that you can feel the setting: you feel the musty heat of the diner alongside these characters. The film does an excellent job of continually raising the stakes as our cast of characters grows and conflicting motivations are revealed to us. It, for lack of a better phrase, keeps you on the edge of your seat as the situation tip-toes ever closer to a climax of explosive violence.

The other secret sauce to this film’s efficacy is the slew of solid performances. Over the past several years, I’ve become a viewer who will seek out a film simply because Jim Cummings is involved. I find him to be a very compelling screen presence, and he is, as expected, great here. Jocelin Donahue is also terrific, even if her character feels slightly underserved. I also have to note great character actor Gene Jones, who I always love seeing show up in films. He is a really fun character here, and is also quite funny. Finally, I want to mention the always-consistent Richard Brake who offers a consistent level of menace and terror.

I found The Last Stop in Yuma County to be a fun and exciting debut. Francis Galluppi is a filmmaker who seems to completely understand the assignment when it comes to crafting a single-location thriller, and it will be interesting to see what he does next. When I think of the best word to describe this experience, it is, solid. Every element Galluppi brings to this film feels well-constructed and assured. It doesn’t feel like a debut, it feels like you are watching a filmmaker who is an old hand at telling this type of story. Sometimes, it can be invigorating to watch a film that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t bother itself with attempting to be anything it’s not. While the characters find themselves in a sort of purgatory stuck at this gas station with no escape, you as the viewer are happy to spend the time there with them when it’s this fun and exciting.

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