Last Night in Soho

Greetings, ‘Last Night in Soho’ is a 2021 horror film directed and co-written by Edgar Wright. The director is perhaps best known for his contributions on the Cornetto Trilogy but he was also involved in various works such as ‘Spaced’, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’, ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ ‘Ant-Man’ and the critically acclaimed ‘Baby Driver’. The film stars upcoming actress Thomasin McKenzie, known for being in Taika Waititi’s ‘Jojo Rabbit’, as the main protagonist named Eloise ‘Ellie’ Turner. Other notable cast members include Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, the late Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp and Pauline McLynn. The music was composed by Steven Price and, similar to ‘Baby Driver’, this movie contains a lot of retro hits from artists such as Peter and Gordon, Sandie Shaw, the Kinks, Cilla Black and Barry Ryan.

The plot begins when aspiring fashion designer, Ellie, is accepted into the London College of Fashion as a first year student. After spending most of her life in rural Cornwall, Ellie is excited by the prospects of moving to metropolitan London and the sense of freedom that comes with it. She quickly comes to realize that her optimistic dreams and the harsh reality are too very different scenarios as her love of Swinging Sixties culture, her rural background as well as her dress style makes her stand out from the rest of the students. It is also subtly hinted that Ellie has a connection to the supernatural when she sees her deceased mother’s reflection in mirrors which further adds to her alienation. After deciding that she wasn’t going to get on with her snobbish roommate called Jocasta, Ellie decided to take up accommodation in a rundown bedsit run by the elderly Miss Collins.

Ellie is more at home in the older flat as she is able to play her old hits in peace and is encouraged to do so by the nostalgic Collins. During her first night there, Ellie falls asleep and wakes up in another time. She has been transported back to the glitz and glamour of London during the 1960s in a dreamy vision. At the Café de Paris she watches as a confident blonde makes her way around the club and introduces herself as Sandie to a teddy boy named Jack. Sandie explains that she wants to be a singer at the Café. Being a manager, Jack agrees to launch her career in showbiz and the two begin a relationship in which he gives Sandie a love bite on her neck. Ellie wakes from the blissful dream and discovers the hickey is on her own neck. Suspecting the dream may have been real in some sense, Ellie looks forward to visiting the London of the past once more but is oblivious to how her paranormal perception will come to haunt her.

I really enjoyed this film and appreciated the visual style Wright brought to the screen as well as the accompanying soundtrack that really added to the experience. I was never entirely sure where the plot was headed but I certainly had fun watching it unfold towards its climactic ending and trying to unravel the mystery. Most characters were well developed, with Ellie and Sandie being particularly well done, but some of the more secondary characters never got much chance to grow in my opinion although this is a minor point. After thoroughly enjoying this and his previous work ‘Baby Driver’, I am keen to see what else Edgar Wright has in store for his next venture in storytelling.

Plot=10/10

Characters=8/10

Special Effects=10/10

Overall=9/10

Quote of the Day

Song is over, Baby. But I'm afraid you still have to face the music.

Buddy

Baby Driver