Last Night in Soho (2021) Movie Review
Edgar Wright is a director whom I like very much. His uncanny ability to blend comedy and the darker bits of life in his movies is unique. Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and even Baby Driver (2017) all deal with heavier topics, made light by Wright’s touch. I expected Last Night in Soho to follow this trend but it became clear from the opening minutes of the movie that Wright was adamantly steering us away from any hint of comedic moments.
Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is an aspiring fashion designer who gets accepted into a fashion school in London. She lives in the English countryside with her Gran (Rita Tushingham) and often sees her dead mother lurking in unexpected places. In London, Eloise struggles to adapt as she battles the “mean” girls in her class. To escape their judgement and snotty comments, Eloise rents a room in an apartment building from an old woman named Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg). One night in her new place, Eloise dreams about a woman named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Sandie is everything Eloise does not appear to be. She’s confident, bold, and seemingly unafraid of anything. Oh, and she also lives in the 1960’s.
It’s unclear whether these are dreams, visions, or something else entirely. It feels very real to us (and to Eloise) who looks forward to going to bed every night so she can follow along with Sandie’s story. What begins as Sandie’s fun and flirty attempt to become a singer winds up becoming something a bit sadder. She meets Jack (Matt Smith), a man who has connections and who promises he can get Sandie gigs as a performer. He fails to mention exactly what types of “gigs” he can get for her and they wind up being not exactly what Sandie had in mind. Eloise watches helplessly as Sandie gets caught up in a seedy world that she had not wanted to be part of.
In real life, Eloise is struggling to parse out what’s real and what’s Sandie’s world. The visions begin showing up not just when she’s asleep, but when she’s in class and out with friends. Her life and Sandie’s life become intertwined in a complex way that no one is able to define. Wright blends the two worlds masterfully and his depiction of 1960’s London is marvelous. The costumes, the music, and the set design quite literally transport you into another world. It’s not that the present day isn’t well constructed (it is!), it’s just that the 60’s vibe and Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance are addicting. You can see why Eloise is entranced by these visions and wants to keep returning.
The first two thirds of Last Night in Soho are enthralling and you will be on the edge of your seat to see what will happen next. Wright is brilliant as he weaves the stories of Eloise and Sandie together and blurs the line between reality and dreams. It isn’t until the last third of the movie where he can’t quite keep juggling all of the balls he has so expertly been keeping above the ground. The third act spirals into a mess of moments that feel hokey. I won’t detail anything here to avoid spoilers but the payoff just didn’t match the rest of the movie. The movie suffers from silly CGI that didn’t add much to the psychological drama and an ending that seems semi-ridiculous and implausible.
Last Night in Soho was almost saved by the acting of Taylor-Joy and McKenzie. Please note the emphasis on almost. They are both phenomenal and pull you into the story with ease. McKenzie plays the troubled young woman expertly, with an angelic voice and a look of earnestness that initially has you worried for her safety. But she proves she is stronger than she looks throughout the movie, even acing the somewhat clunky “horror” scenes towards the end of the film. Anya Taylor-Joy steals the show as usual. She is remarkably thrilling as the mysterious Sandie and slides into the 1960’s as if she belonged there. The set design and costume departments are also to be commended for putting on a fabulous display that sweeps you into the 1960’s and then pulls you back out again. They had me itching to go back to London to say the least. Last Night in Soho is not what you’d expect from Wright, and he almost pulls it off. Almost.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like the 1960’s
2. You admire Anya Taylor-Joy as an actor
3. You like suspense
