The Last Stop in Yuma County (2024) | Film Review

In the mid-90s, there was an explosion of white-knuckle, noir crime-thrillers into the ether. Launched by the likes of Reservoir Dogs (or any early Tarantino really) and 2 Days in the Valley, these films were high anxiety inducing tales with a revolving door of characters who all somehow connected in the end. It was a glorious time for cinephiles. As the years have passed, these types have films have become a rarity, especially ones crafted with love and creativity. Thankfully, that itch has once again been scratched, with writer and director Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County.

Jim Cummings (Thunder Road) leads our roster as an unnamed knife salesman enroute to see his daughter. He’s a bit twitchy but appears genuine. As he arrives as a rest stop in the middle of the Arizona desert, the attendant, Vernon (Faizon Love), informs him that the gas truck is running a bit late. The options are, wait in the car under the sweltering heat, or head over to the adjacent diner – without functioning air-conditioning – have a bite, and pass the time. He and those that arrive after him choose the latter.

The knife salesman immediately meets Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue), who runs the diner, and quickly pieces together that two recent patrons, Beau and Travis (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan), sure do seem like a pair of local bank robbers they’ve heard bandied about on the news. Their car fits, their slick, greasy demeanor as well. When Beau and Travis catch wind these two are on to them, they decide to threaten them with the promise that if they are outed before the fuel truck arrives, it will lead to the deaths of everyone who dares enter that diner. More characters enter the fray and thus begins a tense game of cat-and-mouse stacked with twists and wit.

The rest stop is a perfect backdrop to slide in on a heavy slice of pie known as American life. Each customer has a unique feel and backstory, one we can all imagine as Galluppi and his cast engulfs us into a noirish mythology of sorts. Jim Cummings and Jocelin Donahue are the easy standouts, Cummings as the paranoid overthinker and Donahue as the cool-as-ice meticulous planner, though it must be noted that the beauty of a tale such as this lies in the immersion of ALL of the characters. The audience’s investment in this lot dictates how deeply we will ride this train even as it risks riding off the tracks of sanity in the final act, and these actors understood the assignment.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is a thrilling throwback to that glorious early-Tarantino era, as Francis Galluppi showcases an innate understanding of the importance of ratcheting up the tension brick-by-brick, of trusting his audience’s patience, rather than stacking showy set-pieces on top of each other. Each character has a part to play with motives worth questioning, and though every actor earns their right to be here, Galluppi wrings the screenplay so tightly that the audience is constantly realigning their allegiances to each passerby until the bitter end.

Some might call this film a slow burn, as the puzzle pieces are carefully constructed to deliver an amplified finale, but The Last Stop in Yuma County is on fire from the opening credits all the way to the brutal, bitter end.