After years of making acclaimed genre comedies, filmmaker Edgar Wright finally struck commercial gold with his fifth feature film, Baby Driver, earning both universal critical acclaim and over $200 million at the worldwide box office. With box office numbers finally able to match his cult and critical status, Wright has been given the reigns to make a properly-budgeted homage to the Italian Giallo films of the 60’s and 70’s. Full of slick, gorgeous visuals and a retro setting that suites Wright’s sensibilities perfectly, Last Night in Soho makes for another memorable addition to Wright’s oeuvre, even if it is his weakest film from a narrative standpoint.
Eloise (Thomasin Mackenzie) is a small-town girl with aspiration of becoming a fashion designer. After moving to the big city of London to attend college, the outcast Eloise begins to see visions of the past, transporting herself to the vibrant London scene of the 1960’s. Becoming more than just visions, Eloise starts following Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), a young starlet with dreams of becoming a nightclub singer. Sandie gets drawn into the scenic nightlife through the arms of a mysterious club owner, Jack (a snarling Matt Smith), where her devotion is quickly taken advantage of. Eloise’s reality quickly becomes intertwined with that of Sandie’s, leading to a decades long murder becoming a crime Eloise is determined to solve.
Using the Giallo genre forged by the likes of Dario Argento and, more prominently in Wright’s case, Mario Bava, to explore the repercussions of nostalgia, Edgar Wright sets aside his genre-bending skills for a more straightforward exercise. Despite shedding his more overt sense of wit, Wright maintains his cinematic charm, even if much of said charm comes from an animated, lively performance from Thomasin Mackenzie, who proves she can handle a leading role with grace. Whatever Last Night in Soho lacks in wit, it makes up for in pure, movie magic.
A more sleek-looking film as he’s ever made, Edgar Wright’s filmmaking is in top-form. Aided by striking cinematography from Chung-hoon Chung (Oldboy, It), Last Night in Soho fully immerses the viewer into 1960’s London with Wright’s signature kinetic visuals. The moment Eloise is taken through the streets of London and into a giant club, Wright’s sweeping camera flows through the space impeccably created with a realism rarely found in period-set studio films. A dazzling set piece set at a Halloween party features some of Wright’s most indelible imagery. An immensely educated student of cinema, Wright successfully takes his homages from films such as Blood and Black Lace and The Beyond and sidesteps the opportunity to make turn them into disposable nods, instead, baking such images into the narrative. The command Wright has over every frame is immaculate and a thrill to behold.
Serving as the soul of the film, Anya Taylor-Joy radiates charisma off the screen. While the character may not be as rich on paper, the “Queen’s Gambit” star inhibits a soulfulness to the role and whose striking, lingering presence haunts the film. Her stunning A Capella rendition of “downtown” is one of the best sequences in the film, one that highlights just how exuberant the actor’s talent is.
While Edgar Wright’s visual panache has never been as accomplished or expressionistic, the writing is easily among his weakest material. The genre Wright and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns are pulling from is known for its roughness, and Last Night in Soho comes across as toothless. Given most of the opportunities in the final act, there’s an awful lot of missed opportunities, or complete punches pulled. For as bloody and as twisted as Last Night in Soho can occasionally be, the film lacks bite. It’s primarily in the final act where things begin to truly fall apart. The scares are less, well, scary, and some less-than-convincing ghoulies that look right out of the classic Haunted Mansion ride feel plucked from a significantly lesser — and cheaper — film.
The late, Diana Rigg shines in her final performance as Eloise’s tenant and the ever-captivating Terrance Stamp adds some suave menace to his moments with Thomasin Mackenzie. However, if you’re going to pull from the works of Bava, Argento and De Palma, you can’t shy away from the aspects that make those works so influential and iconic.
Edgar Wright furthers his visual craft and delivers yet another entertaining thrill ride, but the emotional depth usually found in his last works is absent. Last Night in Soho is rich in production detail, memorable performances and slick direction, and despite the hollow emotional core, there’s a fun night out to be had.
It sounds a little sad the writing is weak. I wonder if it was an experience of no answers, or empty careless of the characters. I’m just wondering without seeing the film, but I am looking forward to the film, amd expectingmuch I f the same in rating.
Great review!! I can’t wait!
Thanks for the in depth review. The imagery alone is intriguing enough for me to put it on must see list.
I’m looking forward to this film. I’ve enjoyed much of Wright’s work as a filmmaker and producer. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pulgrim are comfort films for me. One of my favorites of Wright is his too short lived show ‘Spaced’. It’s a harbinger of the great things to come from him and from his relationships with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I liked Baby Driver, but coming out so soon after Refn’s Driver, it was hard to not make comparisons even though the two main characters are different. I liked Attack the Block but he was just an Executive producer on that film. So I’m looking forward to last Bight in Soho. I didn’t read the review because I like to go into films with no preconceived notions from a critical point of view. I’ve done it before and found that it ruined my viewing experience. But I left a review because I enjoy Edgar Wright’s work.
This movie was INCREDIBLE!! So good I made my boyfriend and bestie watch it! They loved it too!!
Edgar Wright never disappoints. This is a beautifully directed picture that kept me engaged till the very end. Even with much of it being predictable, I still enjoyed the ride. I agree with the assessment of a lack of emotional depth but don’t hold it to much against this film. The main thing this film did though, was make me want that film noir style movie from Edgar even more! The 60’s dance scene was so beautifully shot and had me grinning the whole time. Edgar shines in these moments with the perfect music selection and completely encapsulates the viewer in nostalgia. The scene literally rivals Travolta and Thurman’s Pulp Fiction dance scene in the history books! This movie is well worth seeing for everyone!!
I am getting enamored with Anya Taylor-Joy. Her work in ‘Gambit’ was astounding because the chess work was so complex. But she’s a damn fine actress. I do want to see this.
Last Night in Soho (1/2 star out of 4 stars) – I found this movie to be offensive and degrading to women. No woman would have ever made this movie. SPOILERS AHEAD…
An aspiring fashion designer, Ellie, with a history of mental illness travels to London to pursue her fashion dreams. Here she meets her roommate – super bitch who is threatened by Ellie’s talent, so super bitch proceeds to bully Ellie until Ellie finds a new place. Ellie moves into new place and starts seeing ghosts, as she does… She is very attracted to super attractive girl, Sandy, and gets caught up in her story. Ellie begins to transform herself into super hot girl and we that audience get to look at how hot these two women are for a bit of the movie, before the horror starts. Super hot girl Sandy meets a pimp who she thinks is a talent manager but really is a pimp. He gets her into prostitution. Ellie looks on with horror on all the men paying for sex with Sandy, since Sandy is also horrified and disgusted with these men. Ellie starts to become super crazy girl in the real world because of Sandy’s sexual encounters.
The movie goes to great lengths to show women being scared of men, who are only out to essentially rape them. Here we enter Promising Young Woman territory – a movie that actually shows why women are afraid men will rape them. But Last Night in Soho has a twist…
Ellie, who is now psycho crazy girl, almost kills super bitch, then does accidentally kill or seriously injure good cop “Handsy” (a lady’s man, but the good guy in the twist) after she witnesses what she thinks is the murder of hot girl Sandy. It turns out though, that all the ghosts she is haunted by are the ghosts of the tricks, the men who paid for sex with hot girl Sandy. Sandy gets mad at her pimp one night because she gave up on her dreams and turned to prostitution, so she kills her pimp, then murders one by one the men sleeping with her.
Turns out, she is a serial killer super psycho bitch who men should fear, not they other way around.
So all this fear women have about men raping them is really the twisted version of a psycho serial killer, who is still alive.
Psycho serial killer women tries to kill Ellie and the only man Ellie feels safe around (because he’s different- he’s black and he’ll do anything for Ellie, even though she is crazy bitch who almost gets him killed). Psycho serial killer woman almost kills them but Ellie burns down the house. She still wants to save serial killer bitch though, and tries, but Sandy decides suicide is best because she’s been in a prison from men all her life. Also, she wont go to prison.
The end shows crazy girl doing a runway fashion show and then the movie ends with crazy girl seeing psycho serial killer in the mirror and basically adopting serial killer woman as part of herself. Tap, the end. Edgar Wright sexualizes the female leads with his male gaze so we the viewer can watch hot ladies be hot, and then goes through great lengths to show how every woman is crazy, a bitch, and a serial killer. Men are the ones who suffer at the hands of these women.
And all that fear Ellie had from men she thinks were going to rape her – well that’s all in her head and twisted because it’s the other way around. Those men were victims of a serial killer bitch. Women be crazy, yo. Great message.