Page 1 of Last night in Soho

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Last night in Soho

Pete-MK (Elite Donator) posted this on Friday, 5th November 2021, 16:47

Heck of a departure for the usually comedy-driven Edgar Wright, but slipping into the psychological thriller genre easily.

Quick plot - Thomasin McKenzie plays Ellie, a fashion design student from Cornwall who loves the 60's and can see her mum's ghost in her bedroom mirror. After getting a scholarship she moves to that big Lundun and soon find she's out of her depth & comfort zone in the student halls, so moves to a bedsit on Goodge Street, within sight & sound of the BT tower, owned & run by a wonderful Diana Rigg in her final role.

It seems her ghost-spotting ability isn't just limited to her mum, as when she sleeps, she's transported back to the swinging 60's, shadowing the effervescent & glamorous Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), who wants to be a famous singer along the same lines as Petula Clark & Cilla. She hooks up with Matt Smith, who becomes her manager, and back in the real world, Ellie starts to model herself after Sandie, using her style to model both herself & her fashion designs.

It's not long before the starry-eyed Sandie, and therefore Ellie, gets a dose of reality as her manager swiftly becomes her pimp (Smith smoothly making the transition without breaking a sweat), and her bedroom door is constantly busy with greasy punters all trying to charm her in original ways that all sound the same.

It's around this time that the film slips into creepytown as Ellie's proximity to proceedings leads her to make herself known to the memories she's witnessing, and she soon becomes haunted by the spooky visages of all those men who decided Sandie was 'asking for it'.

Due to the genre shift, there's little room for Wright's usual fast cut edits (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim), so his personal touch is rarely felt. It's only where there's a dance number or a whole bunch of floor-to-ceiling mirrors that this gets visually interesting. That's not to say it isn't stylish, and most of that can be attributed to the era (costume design plaudits awaiting).

The problem with this movie, and it's a shame, is Thomasin in the main lead. As a Kiwi her Cornish accent comes off as more Bristolian, and she spends the first half in goggly-eyed awe of Sandie's confidence & bravado, and the rest of the movie retreating in fear while looking like a damp Taylor Momsen. Anya looks amazing in her 60's outfit, but again there's nothing groundbreaking in her performance, but under Egdar's wing, they both manage to play their roles well enough that you want to find out their ultimate fates (although Sandie's seems to be set in stone by the end of the first hour).

It's a mish-mash of flamboyant style & over-used tropes. A story that could have been told in an hour with spooky baddies that are genuinely less intimidating than Dr Who's Oodkind.

SPOILER:
There are a couple of twists that aren't staring-in-your-face obvious, but to even speak of them would ruin the whole thing.


For some reason this is an 18 in the UK, but aside from one rather gratuitous scene a little later on, I've seen worse 15s.

I enjoyed the movie, but given the option of seeing it again, I think I'll pass. It's no Hot Fuzz.

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