Queerly Ever After #61: PIT STOP (2013)

Queerly Ever After is a bi-monthly column where I take a look at LGBT+ films that gave their characters a romantic happily-ever-after. There will be spoilers. Also, don’t forget to buy your Queerly Ever After merch right here.

Pit Stop is a slow burn drama that follows how the lives of two gay men intertwine in a small Texas town. On one side of town you have the mostly closeted Gabe (Bill Heck), who is getting over an affair with a married man by taking solace in his relationship with his ex-wife, Shannon (Amy Seimetz), and daughter, Cindy (Bailey Bass).

On the other side of town is Ernesto (Marcus DeAnda), who still lives with his ex-boyfriend, Luis (Alfredo Maduro), and spends his day reading magazine articles to another ex of his who is in a coma following a car accident.

Small Town Texas

What’s interesting to note about this little romance is that the two leads, Gabe and Ernesto, do not meet or interact in any way until the last twenty minutes of the film, at which point they become the only two named characters for the rest of the movie. Instead, the film follows the ins and outs of their daily lives over the course of a few days. Gabe deals with Shannon’s budding new relationship with her coworker Winston (John Merriman), while Ernesto finally tells Luis that it’s time for Luis to move out.

Pit Stop maintains a calm, even pace throughout its hour and twenty-minute runtime, never delving into melodrama. While Ernesto is more open in his sexuality, Gabe is only out to those close to him, fearing what coming out would mean for his blue collar life. But, while both men have a different approach to their sexuality, they are both yearning for love. Ernesto’s relationship with Luis fizzled out when it became too apparent that both men wanted something very different out of life. Gabe thought he had found love with, Chuck (Justin Arnold), and they even made plans to move away together to a bigger city, but Chuck turned out not only to be all talk, but married with children and no plans of ever leaving his wife and the charade he had created.

A Meeting

By the last twenty minutes of the film, Gabe and Ernesto, who both seem ready to move on with their lives, meet on a dating app and Gabe invites Ernesto over to his apartment. The two connect over shared interests and a few beers before retreating to the bedroom. A good deal of the last act of the film is dedicated to the sex scene between the two men. The next morning, they go out for breakfast before parting ways with the promise of seeing each other again, both men content with the possibility of a new romance on the horizon.

In Conclusion: Pit Stop

This is a very well-acted slow burn of a film, although it is occasionally too slow. But I appreciated its lack of drama and pretense in favor of a more simple, slice-of-life story about two men coming together amidst the backdrop of their small town.

Pit Stop was written by David Lowery and Yen Tan, and directed by Yen Tan. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2013. For all other release dates, see here.

Watch Pit Stop