Last Night in Soho (2021).
Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright
Starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, and Diana Rigg
The Stage.
Ellie moves to London’s West End to enroll in fashion school. After her dorm room setup doesn’t work out, she rents a room from an old woman…but upon hitting the sack, finds herself in the head of a 1960’s nightclub singer named Sandie. As things in the past start getting worse, Ellie has to figure out if what she’s going through is a dream and unravel a mystery from the past.
The Review.
This film is a visual feast. The feel of 1960’s London is so meticulously crafted and looks amazing. From the cars to the garb, it really roped me in. There’s also a lot of great lighting effects and some wizard-like camera work on display here. Part of the “dream sequences” as we’ll call them have Ellie and Sandie living in the same headspace, so we might see Sandie in the present, but see Ellie in the mirror, and it’s all done so masterfully. I’d love to see how this was done on the Blu-ray special features, although I know that kind of insight is a bit of a rarity these days in physical media. The craft that went into the making of this movie is top notch from every aspect. Every frame truly felt like a painting. I don’t think I’ll ever see a shot as cool as the giallo-esque shot of a knife plunging into someone’s chest as we see someone’s reflection in the steel.
As for the mystery itself, unfortunately I have to say that I didn’t love it, and the sweater only unravels as you start thinking more and more about it. Something about the trips to the past and the rules of said trips just didn’t hit for me. I also didn’t buy a lot of the character actions because in that regard, the script felt a bit lazy. For example, there’s a character named John (that I was calling Young Cheadle because of his resemblance to the man, Don Cheadle) that has the hots for Ellie. Seems like a good dude. Now, from the minute he starts hanging out with her, she starts freaking out, having panic attacks, going crazy while he’s trying to make out with her, etc. Of course, we as the audience knows what’s happening, but he doesn’t. Any time he asks her to just talk to him, she’s running out of the room screaming bloody murder…so why would he be sticking around? A lot of the things in this movie could have been solved by not just running out of the room screaming. There’s a man walking around the neighborhood named ‘Handsy’ that, again, could have been wrapped up with one short conversation. There’s also a weird subplot with this band of art school Mean Girls run by their own little Regina George named Jocasta. Jocasta is seemingly a bitch just for the sake of being a bitch and has zero redeeming qualities. If you’d left Jocasta and her subplot out of the film, it would really have made no difference. I also thought the end, while kind of clever, was also badly executed.
The End.
This is a film that I’m definitely at odds with. The performances are fine and the film looks fantastic, but I really didn’t like the story and the characters all seem kind of dumb. The third act finally delves into the more horror-centric side of things and I didn’t think that part worked at all.
A lot of the negative reviews I’ve read online play into two categories - either they thought the film was sympathizing with rapists (it wasn’t) or the plot was “too woke” (it wasn’t). Also, if you describe anything as “woke”, please promptly fuck off. The film did not sympathize with rapists if you were paying any attention to the ending. I’ve heard a lot of really weird takes on the film, and it makes me wonder if a lot of people are just stupid, or if it really could be interpreted in many ways. I was under the impression that the theme was really trying to shatter the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia and show you that things in the past weren’t any better than they are today, but I’m a simpleton so what the hell do I know.
