Shot for only 20 days with a budget of a million dollars, The Last Stop in Yuma County is a small film, but it achieves significant feats, thanks in large part to first-time feature director Francis Galluppi’s strong vision. The set is stylish, the characters feel lived in, and the central mystery—will these robbers get away with it?—feels so taut and tense that it’s enough to fuel the entire film’s energy. There’s no need to look for backstories, motivations, or subplots; just waiting to see whether the finger will let go of the gun’s trigger, or if anyone will catch the hostage’s silent plea for help, is absorbing enough.
"This is one promising debut, but the reality is that it’s a far greater feat of directing than screenwriting, for which Galluppi has the sole credit as well."
— Christian Blauvelt
""Last Stop in Yuma County" is the kind of movie where you root for the worst to happen, because every escalation of misfortune makes things more entertaining."
— Matt Zoller Seitz
While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty—or cold, hard steel—to protect their bloodstained, ill-gotten fortune.
When two on-the-run bank robbers seize a rest stop in the Arizona desert, the civilians present must play along to stay alive.
I still can’t believe this is Galluppi’s strong film, such is the film’s confident style and lean, focused vision.
Tarantino and the Coen brothers, but make it indie.
