JADAR

★★★☆☆

Trainwreck or triumph? RuPaul’s Stop! That! Train! gets a fabulous Party Premiere at SCENE Festival, hosted by Drag Race stars Lill and Zahira.

Stop! That! Train!, directed by Adam Shankman, follows best friends Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee), two Stank Rail stewardesses who dream of seeing America and working for the most luxurious train company in the RuPaul universe – the Glamazonian Express. When Stank Rail goes bust, the pair manage to land jobs as Glamazonian hosts, but it isn’t long before chaos ensues and the train becomes a runaway, heading straight towards a crazy tornado storm. With RuPaul as Madame President Judy Gagwell, it’s down to her and the Glamazons to save the day and Stop! That! Train!

The film screened at HOME Manchester, as part of SCENE, Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film and TV Festival, with the special party screening making the whole event feel like much more than simply watching the film. Before the screening, Zahira Zapanta (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 6, RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World Season 3) .and Lill (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 6) were gorgeous hosts for the evening, dressed up as Glamazon hosts from the movie and immediately getting everyone into the RuPaul spirit. They held a prize draw, with winners receiving tickets to other SCENE shows and merchandise, before starting a conga train around the cinema. SCENE made the screening feel genuinely fun and exciting, creating a lively atmosphere that perfectly matched the camp chaos of the film we were about to watch.

The film itself felt a little like an extended RuPaul’s Drag Race group acting challenge; both in a fun way and, unfortunately, sometimes in the ways that make those challenges difficult to watch. At times, the use of green screen was hilariously awful, paired with an excessive amount of questionable CGI that added to the ridiculousness of the whole thing, but also was distracting. At times, this worked perfectly with the film’s deliberately melodramatic style; at others, the joke began to wear thin.

The best part was undoubtedly the queens’ performances. Ginger Minj and Jujubee were incredibly endearing as Tess and DeeDee, two small-town girls just trying to make it in the glamorous train industry. Their friendship gives the film plenty of heart amongst all the chaos, and both completely commit to the absurdity happening around them. 

RuPaul as President Judy Gagwell was particularly ridiculous, bringing exactly the kind of sovereign presence you would expect from Queen Ru. All isn’t perfect though on the Express, with the mean girl trio, Amber (Brooke Lynn Hytes) Alli (Marcia Marcia Marcia), Ayshleiygh (Symone), questioning Tess and DeeDee being glam enough for the luxury train, causing rifts between the pair.

There was a lot of dialogue that dragged, and the film could have benefited from being much snappier. There are plenty of funny ideas and performances throughout, but some scenes linger for too long before reaching their punchline, slowing down what should feel like a chaotic, fast-moving comedy.

Stop! That! Train! delivers all the camp, chaos and drama it promises, complete with terrible green screen, runaway trains and RuPaul as the President of the United States. It might not be quite as snappy as we’d like it to be, but when it embraces its queens and the sheer ridiculousness of its premise, it’s difficult not to have fun along for the ride.

SCENE Manchester LGBTQ+ Film & TV Festival runs until August 7.