The Last Stop in Yuma County

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The Reel Review

B+

A traveling knife salesman’s life takes a dramatic turn after a couple of bank robbers take hostages inside a remote diner in the Arizona desert where everyone is stranded until the fuel truck shows up to refill the empty pumps at the gas station next door. Jim Cummings (The Wolf of Snow Hollow), Jocelin Donahue (Doctor Sleep) and Richard Brake (Vesper, Barbarian) star in this taut crime thriller.

Writer/director Francis Galluppi’s film debut is an impressively intriguing and intricate crime thriller. The big climax at the diner is only the start of an increasingly bad day for everyone. The ensemble cast, which includes a slew of character actors, does an excellent job of maintaining suspense. Horror scream queen Barbara Crampton (Jakob’s Wife, We Are Still Here, Chopping Mall) even makes an appearance as the sheriff’s administrative assistant.

The only real drawback to the heavily stylized, noirish film is a sometimes-clunky production and a couple of pacing hiccups. But The Last Stop in Yuma County is an otherwise well-done, nerve-wracking crime thriller that deftly illustrates the deadly cost of greed with a spot-on title.

REEL FACTS

• Born in 1988 in Los Angeles, Francis Galluppi’s first short film, 2019’s High Desert Hell, won several awards, including the Wes Craven Award at the Catalina Film Festival.

• Michael Abbott Jr. and Gene Jones also appeared in 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

• In addition to starring in The Last Stop in Yuma County, Jim Cummings is an accomplished screenplay writer and director. His acting/writing/directing credits include the 2016 short film Thunder Road, 2020’s The Wolf of Snow Hollow and 2021’s The Beta Test.