‘The Last Stop in Yuma County,’ the debut feature by Francis Galluppi, possesses a tense narrative set in 1970s Arizona. The film follows a traveling salesman who finds himself entangled in a bank robbery while stranded at a remote filling station. With a suspenseful plot and a climactic Mexican standoff, the film offers a gripping experience reminiscent of classic crime thrillers. For fans of ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County,’ several other movies deliver similar themes of isolation, high-stakes tension, and unexpected violence. Here are some noteworthy movies like ‘The Last Stop in Yuma Country’ that capture the essence of crime and suspense in desolate settings.
1. The Hateful Eight (2015)
You can see Tarantino’s stamp all over ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County.’ The setting of a roadside diner is obviously a call-back to Honey-Bunny and Pumpkin’s take from Pulp Fiction. However, for a list of movies like ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County,’ the best double bill would be Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 film ‘The Hateful Eight.’
Set in post-Civil War Wyoming and centered on eight strangers who find themselves taking refuge from a blizzard in a remote stagecoach stopover called Minnie’s Haberdashery, ‘The Hateful Eight’ also amplifies the tension between characters once they have gotten themselves corned in an isolated place. The single location serves as a pressure cooker where Tarantino explores the ambiguity of all these gray characters with flawed motives.
2. Free Fire (2016)
‘Free Fire’ and ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’ are two movies that couldn’t be more like each other. Both are set in the 1970s, have strangers trapped together in a single location, have long Mexican standoffs, and are twins when it comes to black comedy.
Directed by Ben Wheatley, Free Fire unfolds almost entirely within the confines of an abandoned warehouse. It revolves around a black-market arms deal that goes catastrophically wrong, leading to a chaotic and violent shootout between the participants.
Both films feature diverse and colorful characters, each with distinct personalities. The interaction creates most of the tension that builds up.
3. Bad Times at El Royale (2018)
Written and directed by Drew Goddard, ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ is set in the late 1960s at a rundown hotel called the El Royale, which straddles the border between California and Nevada. The film follows a group of strangers who converge at the hotel, each with their own secrets and agendas, leading to a night of intrigue, crime, and violence.
As these characters interact, their secrets begin to unravel. The hotel’s mysterious past and hidden surveillance system add to the tension. The night escalates into violence and chaos, revealing the dark histories and true motivations of each character.
Now, the parallels between this and ‘ The Last Stop in Yuma County’ are many. Beginning with a rundown location that uses its isolation to enhance the tension between these strangers. Secondly, the morally complex nature of all these flawed characters comes up at the right moment, revealing more than just their surface-level character traits. And lastly, the unpredictability of the plot, and sudden narrative turns add to the film’s enjoyment.
4. No Exit (2022)
The Hulu Original Film, ‘No Exit,’ follows Darby Thorne (Havana Rose Liu), a young woman who escapes from a rehabilitation center to reach her dying mother. On her way, she gets caught in a severe blizzard and is forced to seek shelter at a rest-stop visitor center. Inside, she finds a group of strangers: Ash (Danny Ramirez), Lars (David Rysdahl), Ed (Dennis Haysbert), and Sandi (Dale Dickey). While outside searching for a cell signal, Darby discovers a kidnapped girl, Jay (Mila Harris), locked in a van in the parking lot.
Realizing that one of the people inside the visitor center is the kidnapper, Darby must figure out who it is and rescue the girl, all while trapped by the snowstorm and cut off from outside help. As the night progresses, the tension escalates, leading to a series of revelations, confrontations, and desperate attempts to survive.
‘No Exit’, like ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’, is one of those movies that uses the isolation these characters face to heighten the sense of danger. Suspicion and paranoia of the possibility of a fatal reaction cause the narrative to flow seamlessly, creating a movie-watching experience well worth the wait. Both movies use a consistent level of suspense, even though ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’ doesn’t hold any cards away from you.
5. The Outfit (2022)
Talking about sharp objects that somehow play an important role in the narrative, ‘The Outfit’ serves as a great movie that is like ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County.’ Directed by debutant Graham Moore, the film centers on Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance), a meticulous and skilled English tailor who operates a small tailor shop in a rough neighborhood of Chicago in the 1950s.
Leonard Burling, a master tailor who prefers to be called a “cutter,” runs his bespoke suit shop with the help of his assistant, Mable (Zoey Deutch). His shop, however, serves as a front for the activities of the Boyle crime family, who use it as a drop spot for their illicit dealings. Leonard turns a blind eye to their operations as long as he can continue his craft in peace. As the story unfolds, Leonard finds himself entangled in a web of crime and deception that transforms his quiet life into a high-stakes battle for survival.
Now, set in a single location and revealing hidden truths layer by layer as it turns the characters in the movie into someone they are not, The Outfit is an underrated film that should be seen whether or not you are looking for movies like ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County.’
