Slay 2024

Dusty takes center stage in a rugged tale that opens on a back road in flyover country, where a stubbornly practical Rufus Shane John Kruger is struck down by a grotesque vampire while he’s rushing to deliver food to The Bold Buck, a biker bar that seems more weathered than welcoming. The creature bolts back onto the road and narrowly misses a mobile home RV carrying a quartet of drag performers on a white-knuckle tour across America. The four are led by the fierce Mama Sue Flay, followed by the tenderly hopeful Robin Banks, the stubbornly practical Olive Wood, and the sunny, somewhat ditzy Bella Da Boys. Their arrival is unevenly timed, and what should be a simple booking becomes a collision with fear, art, and a town that doesn’t quite know how to react to what’s on its own doorstep.

The foursome misreads the venue entirely, thinking they’ve reached a notorious gay bar that could deliver a fat payout, only to discover that The Bold Buck is a run-down place with near-impossible angles for a show and a clientele shaped more by prejudice than by applause. The bar’s manager, Dusty, seems surprised to see them and initially resists booking them at all, but a scant economy of options nudges him toward a compromise: perform tonight, and he’ll still pay, because there’s no other entertainment booked for that night. The troupe weighs safety against opportunity, and Olive’s disdain for the place clashes with Mama Sue Flay’s insistence on keeping the plan intact. To diffuse the tension, Mama lends Olive a sentimental hairpin as a token of solidarity, a small gesture that will loom large later.

Inside the crowded room, Robin finds common ground with fellow patrons, including a friendly face named Sheila and the bar’s stage manager Earl, and together they map out lighting cues and the mood of the night. Outside, Rufus—undeterred by the initial rejection of hospitality—returns on foot and leaves a trail of violence, killing bikers who balk at the thought of a drag show. When the queens finally hit the stage, they deliver a high-energy lip-sync to a provocative number, winning over some patrons, including a woman named Sheila, but drawing the ire of others—most notably Travis and his friend Big Boy. The mood shifts in an instant when Rufus storms back inside, bites Big Boy, and is soon driven out again. The bar erupts into chaos as the crowd recoils from the rising undead threat, and Big Boy—who was bitten—transforms into a vampire and is indiscriminately knocked out and stowed away in a freezer.

Survival becomes the operating rule as the group realizes they’re safer inside the bar than outside, even as the undead menace pounds at every possible entrance. The plan to endure until dawn takes shape, with a basic defense: disable undead hearts with stakes, and rely on garlic. Yet Dusty offers a grim reminder: the vampires can slip in any time if they’re invited, and the exterior serves as a door to the rest of the town, which might welcome them with equal hostility. The group pieces together a strategy, but tensions flare, particularly between Olive and Mama Sue Flay, who argues about how to use other patrons as distractions versus staying together. Olive’s desire for independence kicks in when she’s desperate enough to bolt toward safety in the RV, a move that comes at a cost—she leaves a window open, allowing a vampire to slip inside and chase Jax and Bella.

Amid the turmoil, Robin and Steven share a moment, and inside the bar’s basement bowling alley, Mama Sue Flay earns a wary respect from Travis by pulling him out of an ambush. Jax manages to fend off the pursuer, while Bella’s bid to hide in the air vents ends fatally when another vampire stabs her, a brutal twist that shakes the group. The loss reverberates through the bar as the living try to steady themselves, mourning while continuing to fight. Olive returns just as the others begin to feel the weight of the night’s toll, and she and Mama Sue Flay exchange blame for the misfortune, even as everyone clings to a stubborn thread of hope. Olive’s despair seems to pull her toward solitude, and she slips away on a stolen bicycle, an act that leaves a critical window unguarded.

Meanwhile, Dusty reveals a personal truth that complicates his outward stoicism: he had booked the queens all along and has carried a history of hiding who he really is, beaten by his father in the past and only now able to imagine a future where he can stand openly as part of this world. The bar’s chill suddenly warms as the survivors discover that Bella has somehow reanimated after death and now wields a surprising restraint, confessing to the group that she can control her bloodlust because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. The other vampires, including Earl and Sheila, reveal their own transformations, with Earl and Sheila acknowledging they were turned as well but still maintain some decent feeling toward their human companions. Jax is cautiously hopeful that the undead may not be mindless monsters after all, suggesting that if any of the survivors were to become vampires, they might choose a gentler path.

Yet Rufus—still dangerous and cunning—has heard enough to pose a new threat: Bella, who can sense his plan, communicates with her army, ordering them to kill everyone rather than simply turning them. Olive returns to the fray with a critical advantage—she has managed to fill Rusty’s truck with garlic, turning a seemingly ordinary vehicle into a potent weapon against the invaders. The scene pivots on a moment of unity as Robin persuades Mama Sue Flay to let Dusty receive a transformative drag makeover, a symbolic gesture that signals to the room that safety and bravery can share the same look. The makeover helps morph fear into defiance, and the crowd rises with a sense of pride that even the most reluctant heroes can rally behind.

What follows is a ferocious final stand: the survivors use garlic, improvised defenses, and a desperate sense of community to repel the encroaching vampires. The battle exacts a heavy toll, with Earl falling in a brutal skirmish and Sheila taking a stake to the chest—yet her defense mechanism kicks in when the stake catches on her implant, sparing her heart’s fate. Robin and Steven seal their bond with a kiss in the heat of battle, a moment that lingers as dawn’s first light threatens to end the night. Rufus and his followers close in, pressing toward a final kill, but Olive arrives at just the right moment, triggering the bar’s water sprinkler and releasing the garlic from the tank to flood the room with a potent, lethal scent. The vampires writher in pain and the survivors seize their chance to strike.

When the dust begins to settle, the town’s nightmare recedes but its moral remains bright: Bella and Sheila discover that sunlight isn’t fatal to them, offering a reassuring note for two who feared endless night. Olive and Mama Sue Flay find reconciliation after their earlier quarrel, acknowledging that their strengths—independence and leadership—can be more powerful together than apart. Dusty steps forward into a new role, not only as a manager but as a catalyst for change, inviting Steven and Jax to help him repair The Bold Buck and turn it into a radiant gay bar that embodies the dream he once hid from. The four queens pledge to return if the town ever needs their entertainment or their courage, a vow that closes the night with a hopeful promise and a sense that, even in fear, art and solidarity can prevail.