An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker.
Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright's supernatural thriller, is a neon-drenched ode to 1960s and 1970s psychological thrillers. If you're a Hot Fuzz or Scott Pilgrim fan, you'll be left scratching your head at this movie. It will be familiar to fans of suspenseful films like Suspiria and Don't Look Now.
It's impossible not to be transported back to the Sixties in Last Night in Soho, which includes a stunning cinematography and production design. Wright's use of technicolour hues harkens back to the film's forerunner, Suspiria, and feels like the appropriate ode to the film's gothic legacy. For a film about a fashion design student who is infatuated with 1960s style, the behindthe-scenes team must have been exceptionally talented at wardrobing.
Director Edgar Wright's style is influenced by the 1960s, particularly British cinema, and the film is shot in London and the Soho region, both of which Wright manages to demonstrate how the Soho area has changed since the 1960s, as well as how it will appear in the 2020s. A lot of detail is captured in these locations by Wright's wide and medium shots, which show a modern world that is trying to distance itself from the past with Ellie as this incongruity who prefers the tune of the past rather than what everybody else is hooked onto. The London College of Fashion is also a character in the film. Even as Jacosta forces her to sleep outside of her room, where a party is taking place, while John accidently drank her can of Coke, she remains steadfast in her belief that she is loved. While the film's opening sequence features Ellie dancing in a newspaper dress, Wright's direction knows when to play into the drama and some of the comic.
For example, the initial shot of Ellie encountering Sandie in a mirror and how much they mimic each other in that scene demonstrate Wright's flair for style while Sandie and Ellie are dancing with Jack. Pictures of Ellie's attempts to preserve Sandie, whose dream of becoming a singer doesn't go as planned, are included in this collection of images. In the third act, where Ellie sees ghosts and wonders whether she's imagining things or whether she's seeing something that truly happened to Sandie, things remain clear. When Ellie was a child, Ms. Collins would tell Ellie that London had a lot of unpleasant things going on in the 1960s, but people tended to avoid talking about them because it was taboo. Overall, Wright's picture about a young lady who returns to the 1960s to avenge the murder of a young woman from that era is an exciting and evocative piece of work.
The cinematography of Chung Hoon Chung's film is stunning, especially in the scenes set in 1960s Soho and in 2020s London, where he makes excellent use of lighting to evoke the city's vibrant nightlife in both eras, as well as in the classroom, where Ellie and the other students are attempting to design their own clothing. Fast-cutting and montages are used effectively by editor Paul Machliss to convey Ellie's and Sandie a sense of confusion and disarray. For example, the style of Ellie's rent-a-room and Ms. Collins' home, as well as the ballrooms, was created by production designer Marcus Rowland and set decorator Judy Farr along with art director Tim Blake. There are some amazing costumes created by costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux, including some of Ellie's homemade attire and some of Sandie's trendy clothing.
Aside from Wright's usual ability to incorporate popular music from many decades into the story and soundtrack, Last Night in Soho is full of 60s songs that enhance the visual care put in the production and costume design, making this picture one of his best. It incorporates both low-key themes and booming string-based pieces to heighten the suspense, while music supervisor Kirsten Lane crafts an outstanding musical score.
This is an entertaining picture with a compelling narrative and a compelling mystery that slowly comes to light in the second half. Ellie's ability to solve the puzzle of what she sees and how it relates to the present is intriguing, with horror components anchored not in the capacity to view the past, but in what it implies for the present moment. Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as Diana Rigg's supporting part, are all excellent in this film.
The third act of Last Night in Soho is where things start to get contentious, but I thought the ending was one that Wright and the film came at through a logical progression of where the plot had been heading, rather than through an abrupt change in tone. Ultimately, the outcome is a stylish modern film with strong horror aspects that is also a captivating mystery that contains much of substance.
Psychological thrillers are known for their meticulous pacing and slow-burning plots. When the protagonist is unable to make sense of what is going on around them, they are terrified. They lose their grip on reality as they surrender to forces beyond their comprehension. These movies aren't really about delivering a steady stream of shocks, but rather making the audience sit there and shiver with fear. In these stories, the goal is to build up suspense and then shock you with a mind-bending conclusion. Just as Last Night in Soho did.
Psychological thrillers from the golden age of cinema have a distinct beat than those produced today. This is a film that will test your patience despite its plenty of jump scares and horrific imagery. And in the year 2021, we all know that patience is present in limited quantites.
As a result of the mystery-box narrative pioneered by J.J. Abrams, audiences have become conditioned to focus on the plot's needless minutiae. What happened to Eloise's mother, as well as the nature of her psychic abilities, are completely irrelevant. Wright is paying homage to a kind of film that doesn't work if you overthink it, as he did in this case. A true Giallo film revels in the wildness, melodrama, and opulent visuals of the genre, Last Night in Soho exceeds expectations in all three areas, and then in some more.
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