PIC OF THE WEEK!
Movie Review – Last Night in Soho
Review by Ray Schillaci
Universal’s independent and foreign arm, Focus Features, releases one of the most creative and best pictures of the year, Last Night in Soho. Three times I got the chills watching this film. Over time, so many filmmakers have attempted to capture the dark magic that made Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho so memorable. Very few have come close until Edgar Wright’s wild imagination recreated London in the ’60s in the fragile mind of a young aspiring fashion designer who becomes immersed in mystery and perhaps a murder(s) in the past.
Writer/director Wright and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns begin their tale with a whimsical opening: our lead, Eloise “Ellie” Turner, outfitted in what appears to be a dress made from magazine or newspaper clippings, dancing her way into our hearts in her simple bedroom while listening to Peter & Gordon’s classic ’60s song “A World Without Love” while giving a nod to Audrey Hepburn. There is a euphoric feeling to this opening that leaves us unprepared for what is in store.
That euphoria continues for about a half hour as Ellie is accepted into a prestigious fashion school in London and moves from her rural life in Redruth, Cornwall. We are swept up into the world she loves, but proceed with caution as she is warned by her grandmother that London can be “a lot.” Her grandmother’s concerns are valid because London was too much for Ellie’s mother, a former fashion designer, who was fraught with mental instability and committed suicide when her daughter was a mere seven years-old.
Since then, Ellie has visions of her mom in mirrors. She also has the wild imagination that fuels her artistic talent (that also haunts her). Arriving in London, Ellie finds her roommate intolerable and the surroundings uncomfortable for her innocence and she opts to move into a bedsit, a single room, in a house owned by an elderly woman, Alexandra Collins.
Once moved in, Ellie’s imagination goes into overdrive and she is suddenly transported to London in the ’60s while both observing and living the life of a young confident Sandie who is out to make a name for herself as a singer at one of the most famous nightclubs, the Café de Paris. The young manager, Jack, takes more than an interest in Sandie and the the two end up with some passion play. The next morning Ellie wakes up with a mark on her neck. Has her imagination gone too far?
As Ellie battles with trust issues and confidence, she finds Sandie befalling the fate of the dark side of entertainment. Jack, her manager, acts more like a pimp with many empty promises and Sandie succumbs too doing everything she’s told to climb to the top. A fellow student sees the struggles Ellie is going through and tries to befriend her, but her imaginary life is swallowing her up with visions of the men Sandie encountered.
Ellie and Sandie’s journey eventually becomes dangerous, leaving people questioning Ellie’s stability. Is she really experiencing this young woman’s life from the past or is she getting caught up in some psychotic nightmare leading to her mom’s similar fate? The story almost feels like a Grimm fairytale, emphasis on the grim.
The production values sweep the audience away from the grunginess of Soho to the glitz and glamour of the ’60s. As Edgar Wright did with his last film, Baby Driver, music plays a key role in the film heightening our emotions and wrapping us up in Ellie’s life. Then there are the two key players, Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) as Ellie and Anya Taylor-Joy (The VVitch, Queen’s Gambit) as Sandie, both delivering star turns. McKenzie is the essence of innocence and you cannot help but love her adorable presence which makes her slow transformation even more impressive. Anya Taylor-Joy comes across confident and bitter with her star power in full force. She appears to have been transcended from the era.
Lastly, this is Dame Diana Rigg’s (The Avengers (1961), Game of Thrones) final film. Her Alexandra Collins is filled with grace, regrets and maturity. Her interaction with McKenzie’s character is close to being a strong surrogate mom. And, it is with great surprise that Edgar Wright tacked on his dedication to Dame Rigg in the beginning of the film rather than the end handing her the honor so deserved. It is a fond farewell performance.
This film should have had a much bigger campaign. Sadly, studios have little clue as to handle something so original that is not cookie-cutter action or a built in franchise. Like Wright’s other films (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shaun of the Dead), Last Night in Soho will have to eventually find its audience and it will grow over the years declaring the film a classic piece of original cinema.
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Directed by: Edgar Wright
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Rated: R
Country: United Kingdom
Distributor: Focus Features
