The Last Stop in Yuma County has been getting good worth of mouth… and I think it’s even better than advertised. It’s a surprisingly energetic and fun little crime thriller that had twists and turns I wasn’t expecting.

The flick is about a dusty diner that customers fill up over the course of the day. You see, the gas station is empty and everyone is quietly (or nervously) waiting for the fuel truck to arrive. Too bad the more people pile in, the bigger the blood bath is gonna be… because there’s a pair of banker robbers looking for a way out.

I enjoyed each new character (and character actor) who wandered into this scenario. Each is well-written, believable, and unpredictable. I had no idea, for example, if the knife salesman was a secret serial killer. I was surprised the clueless young deputy was kind of a dick. I felt connected with each characters in a very short period of time.

So the core conceit of the isolated diner filling up with desperate folks was fun and unpredictable. I had no idea who would live or who would die… or what each character would do when the tensions blew the place apart. With the dominoes set up so well, the script didn’t make the character’s choices easy or expected.

The film also looks great… mostly dusty deserts and basic interiors but the camera is having fun. Slow rotations, smart and fun editing for different characters or objects. The director and cinematographer were working hard to make the flick feel energetic and unpredictable.

Maybe the final act lets a little air out of the tires… but, even in what passes for a final showdown, I wasn’t sure where things were going. It wasn’t as satisfying as the rest of the film but it ultimately adhered to whatever themes they had set up. It ends well if not great.

But the whole film taken in total is pretty great. I loved the character writing and casting (“hey, it’s that guy!”) and I loved the tension and explosive, bloody release… and the unpredictable repercussions and choices that followed. This is a wicked, fun, arid, electric crime thriller.

Score: 87