Omnibus is a 1992 short film (8 minutes) from France directed by Sam Karmann.
A man rushes onto a train in the morning. When the conductor comes by for tickets, the man finds out to his horror that the train no longer stops at his stop. It has been converted to an express and in fact will be stopping quite a bit farther down the line. The man, who is late and desperately needs to get off at his stop, begs the conductor and driver for assistance. Frantic, the man tells of the cavalcade of horrors that will ensue if he does not make his appointment on time.
Tropes:
- Diabolus ex Machina: The train slows down and the man takes a running jump onto the platform. Everyone on the train applauds. Then, as the train passes, a passenger in the back pulls the man back on the train to congratulate him for successfully getting off.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Something like an hour.
- Nameless Narrative: No names given for any characters. They are credited as The Man, The Conductor, The Driver, and Nice Lady (the passenger sitting next to the man).
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The train chugs away down the line after the man misses his stop.
- One-Word Title
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The driver, who refuses to make an unscheduled stop but agrees to slow down as they approach the station so the man can take a running jump off.
- Trauma Conga Line: Discussed Trope. The man claims that if he misses his stop he'll be late for work, he'll lose his job, his wife will leave him, and his in-laws who hate him will see to it that he loses custody of his children.
