Last Night in Soho (2021)

Edgar Wright definitely has a style.  He likes combining sci-fi, horror and comedy in unexpected ways, resulting in a quirky form of filmmaking that has had its ups and downs.  He is similar to Sam Raimi where some of the more recognizable trademarks of his style have slowly leached out to where he is becoming more and more another mainstream director.  I wouldn't say Hollywood, since with a few exceptions and a delightful detour in making a documentary about Sparks, he generally sticks to England for his films.

Still, I can't help but feel, though it is still quite a good movie, that Wright has moved far into the mainstream with Last Night in Soho.  It has its moments and it is still quite creative in its storytelling, but it feels different than what has come before. 

Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young girl from Cornwall hoping to achieve her dream of becoming a fashion designer.  Her mom (Aimee Cassettari) is dead and she was raised by her grandmother (Rita Tushingham).  Circumstances have led her to have an idealized love affair with the swinging '60s scene of London.  When she is accepted to the London School of Design and Marketing she is initially thrilled, but soon clashes with her snooty roommate Jocasta (Synnove Karlsen). That, and a dislike of the party atmosphere of her dorm, leads her to rent a room in Soho from an older lady named Mrs. Collins (Diana Rigg). 

The first night in her new place she has a vivid dream of a young singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) who becomes involved with a man named Jack (Matt Smith) who promises to make her dreams come true.  At first Sandie is an inspiration to Eloise, but as her story plays out it becomes obvious that her dreams didn't go the way she wanted.  As things progress Eloise finds herself haunted by visions of the various men with whom Sandie plied her trade and becomes convinced that Jack killed her and, worse yet, may still be alive and walking the streets of Soho looking for other victims, as it becomes apparent that Sandie is not just a figure of her imagination.

A good portion of Last Night in Soho plays out like an Italian giallo, including Wright's use of primary colors to light scenes similar to Dario Argento and Mario Bava.  There are also a number of twists that would have made Bava or Lucio Fulci proud.  It is modern, and Wright is more concerned with narrative than with just getting a nice-looking shot, but the influence is there throughout.  The payoff is pretty much worth it and, to buck a trend with most viewers of the movie, I feel the stronger part of the film is the second half, where the more familiar story of a woman coming to the big city to make it big and being taken advantage of gets out of the way.

Although Anya Taylor-Joy has become a big enough star that she gets a lot of attention it is Thomasina McKenzie that makes the movie.  I remember seeing girls like her when I was in college, initially arriving quite shy and reserved but then forging their own identity once they realized the freedom they had.  Eloise doesn't do this in a sexual manner, but more in realizing what the stories her mom and grandmother told her about the 1960s mean to her personally and how she can use them despite the fact that they are not the grand example of the past she thinks they are.  Taylor-Joy is decent as Sandie, but I think the problem is the role didn't give as much room for her to breathe as Furiosa did, where I think she finally started coming into her own identity as an actress. 

As for the supporting cast, this is Diana Riggs's last film before she passed away, and Wright doesn't waste her.  Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp make appearances, the latter as a creepy old man that frequents the bar where Eloise works.  Matt Smith, who seems to be consciously going for villain roles to avoid being typecast, is well-cast as the sleazy Jack, but it would have been nice to see more of him and for that role to have been more well-rounded as well.  Same goes with Jocasta and her crew of mean girls.

As good as the movie is I think my main problem is that I've seen so much of it before.  This didn't seem to matter as much with Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz since those and many of Wright's other movies seemed to revel in taking well-known tropes and doing something new, and often quite funny, with them.  Last Night in Soho feels more like Wright's attempt to make a straightforward thriller.  It's still good, but I just wish there were a few more surprises. 

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Time: 116 minutes

Starring: Thomasina McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Michael Ajao, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg

Director: Edgar Wright