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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Stuart Jeffries

‘Thomas the Tank Engine clung to me like a disease’: the film about the choo-choo’s global grownup superfans

Enduring appeal … the star of An Unlikely Fandom.
Enduring appeal … the star of An Unlikely Fandom. Photograph: Gullane Pictures/Sportsphoto/Allstar

‘I kept it a huge, dark secret,” says Matt Michaud. “I tried to push people away. I wouldn’t call it shame. I wasn’t sure if it was right or wrong. I wasn’t sure if it was something I could share with other people.”

It is curious to hear these words spoken at the outset of a disarmingly sweet documentary. What kind of perversion, or even crime, is twentysomething Michaud confessing to in his own living room? A glimpse behind him provides a clue to his obsession and anxiety: displayed on a table is a collection of toy locomotives and model railway books. And the centrepiece is a model of Thomas the Tank Engine.

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