Movie Review: Last Night in Soho

When someone asks me who my favourite movie directors are, I will always mention Edgar Wright. Ever since I first saw his acclaimed zombie movie; Shaun of the Dead I fell in love with the trademark creative style he has embedded throughout all of his films. He has the ability to create such a unique and memorable experience in nearly every one of his films through clever writing, direction and editing. My favourite Edgar Wright film has to be Hot Fuzz, simply for how it takes such a simple and mundane setting and turns it into a brilliant parody of action and thriller movies through it. 

Last Night in Soho is Wright's latest feature to come to the big screen. The premise of the film follows a young Ellie Turner (Played by Thomasin McKenzie) as she ventures to London to study fashion design at the London College of Fashion in Soho. Initially finding the student hall too busy for her liking, Ellie decides to rent out a room at a bedsit in Goodge Place Market. It's here that she finds herself each night living in visions from the past which revolve around a young girl called Sandie (Played by Anya Taylor-Joy). These visions show Ellie the tragic events Sandie lives through as she aspires to become a singing star in some of London's biggest venues. The heart of the tragedy ties to Sandie's lover and manager called Jack (Played by Matt Smith), who while initially suave and charming quickly shows his dangerous side in the way he treats Sandie. As time passes and the visions get more volatile, Ellie struggles to keep past and present apart and then Sandie's visions begin to bleed into her real life and send her spiralling to find the truth behind what happened to Sandie before it's too late.

The narrative for Last Night in Soho is brilliantly constructed and laid out. I love the mystery Edgar sets up throughout the main course of it all and how compelling it becomes. Part of what makes the movie's story so interesting to follow is the characters as well. I love the parallels played out between Ellie and Sandie and how her initial love and appreciation for the "Swinging Sixties" is utilised to draw her into Sandie's tragic story. The mystery is the central core of the movie and Edgar does what he does best in playing with perception and asking if you've truly been paying attention to everything all throughout.  The way the dark events of Sandie's life bleeds into Ellie's as the film progresses is really well done as well. Initially it comes off in very positive ways with how much Ellie changes her appearance and persona to reflect that Sandie's initial appearance; but then you see the visions begin to take a dark turn  and you see how much Ellie begins to resent the visions she's seeing and feels trapped by them .There are elements of the narrative I do take issue with though, I feel some plot elements aren't as fully realised or given satisfactory payoff as the main plot. I feel they kind of get lost or pushed to the side near the end which is a shame as I had hoped to see some payoff there.

As I noted, part of what makes this movie work so well is it's characters. The performances being put forward here are phenomenal, especially from McKenzie, Taylor-Joy and Smith who truly sell the roles they're playing. One notable character that stood out for me though was the landlady of Ellie's bedsit; Miss Collins who was played brilliantly by the late, great Dame Diana Rigg. For such a minor role it made me so happy to see Rigg putting in a really impressive final performance here as such a interesting and funny character.  

Last Night in Soho is another fine addition into Edgar Wright's incredible portfolio of films which only continues to further cement why he stands as a visionary of the industry. It's a love letter to a by-gone era while reflecting the importance of grounding yourself in your current time. I would happily watch this film again just to see what other smaller details I may have missed.