Last Night in Soho
A young girl, passionate about fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to be falling apart with shady consequences.
- Released: 2021-10-21
- Runtime: 117 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Horror, Thrillers
- Stars: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg, Synnøve Karlsen, Rita Tushingham, Lisa McGrillis, Michael Jibson, Andrew Bicknell, Michael Ajao, Colin Mace, Oliver Phelps, Jessie Mei Li, Lee Byford, Will Rogers, Will Rowlands, Margaret Nolan, Katrina Vasilieva, Kassius Nelson, Georgie Banks, Rebecca Harrod, Sam Parks, Connor Calland, Nick Owenford, Josh Zaré, Adam Sopp, Nina Kumar, Maud Druine, Joakim Skarli, Lati Gbaja, Georgina Frances Hart, Barbara Orti, Richard Price, Paul Riddell, Grace Binford Sheene, Jacob Trup, Morgan Bull, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Berrington, Pauline McLynn, Aimée Cassettari, Alan Mahon, Jacqui-Lee Pryce, James Phelps, Beth Singh, Paul Brightwell, Will Rogers, Terence Frisch, Celeste Dring, Jeanie Wishes, Richard Corgan, Michael Mears, Tom Hartwell, Paul Hamilton, Wayne Cater, Alan Ruscoe, Christopher Carrico, Kent Goldfinch, Ian Harrod, Ian Hartley, Luke Hope, Daniel Maggott, Richard O'Sullivan, Al Roberts, Derek Lea, Al Roberts
- Director: Edgar Wright
Comments
- meekdear-1 - 1 May 2024
Frustrating experience
The first half, with scenes alternating between Sandie and Ellie, was captivating, but I couldn't overlook the plot. The character of Ellie seemed lacking in intelligence, and I despised the portrayal of her as a helpless girl. Perhaps all tragedies appear the same. Two things in particular kept nagging at me: Firstly, she could have sought help from a counselor regarding her 'hallucinations,' especially given their life-threatening nature (such as nearly being hit by cars or nearly stabbing someone). Secondly, why did she simply assume that the old man was Jack? She could have easily asked him to confirm this at the very least. It was a level of stupidity beyond my comprehension. I acknowledge that I'm viewing this from an all-knowing angle, but the plot failed to convince me that she had no better options. The only reason for such inevitability seemed to be her lack of brightness. Overall, it was a frustrating experience watching this film. - cpa14 - 13 March 2024
Some amazing moments but some poor ones
A shame, this could've been a 10/10 masterpiece of a movie if it went in a different direction.
The main premise of the movie is very unique and creates a great sense of mystery in the first half. IMO the vast majority of scenes in the first half were great, the characters were set up well.
It feels as though there were several ideas for where to eventually go with the story but I didn't like the one they went with.
They were a few "horror" aspects that were overdone and I think generally the movie tried to be too dramatic and horror-like, instead of keeping with the amazing visuals, unique vibe of the main character, music, etc, from the first half.
I think this movie could've had a shift around the halfway mark where the main character stopped being scared, and had more fun with it. If it had leaned into the singer, fashion, 60s stuff more instead of a darker tone. The 2nd half would've worked well with some comedy IMO.
Summary: + Some incredible visuals, camerawork and editing at times + Great music, costumes and environments from the 60s + Initial set up of the main character in modern times is great + Some amazing actors in this movie- Some repetitive moments later on in the movie
- Some unrealistic reactions to wild behaviour than goes unpunished because it isn't a main plot point
- Even though the ending was unexpected, it didn't feel that interesting. And it didn't feel like it really fit with the start of the movie.
- tobyrob - 20 January 2024
Wish the ghosts were less prevalent
I don't think I've seen any other film so accurately show the horror of just existing in the world, and the tension and fear of being in a dangerous city at night. The mysterious fladhbacks are genius and fantastic and the ending is ultimately satisfying. Even the romance (which I feel so many films would be better without) was a great addition.
It annoys me, therefore, that maybe a third of this film is lost to a basic and frankly tired and stereotypical ghosts chasing the main character. AND THEN THEY'RE NOT EVEN EVIL (SPOILERS)? Just really felt the whole ghost bit detracted from the overall story. - KentAlan11 - 26 December 2022
Fun
This is a fun ride. It is visually impressive, and well written. The only reason it does not get a 10 is because the ending lands so rapidly upon itself, which I am sure on the written page was incredible. It just did not deliver too comfortably in the last 20 mins.
8 stars for this because it spoon-feeds nothing to the audience. You are provided an offscreen lore that remains cryptic and vague. The rest of the story itself is powerful and interesting, and none of it is forced upon you.
It delivers a great deal of what I want and expect from a film. Not everything has to be an over-explained epic. And not everything needs to be a hollow and mindless nightmare. This movie finds the perfect bullseye of not falling into either category. It is just straight fun with a stellar cast, and wonderful writing. - stonewallbennetts - 27 November 2022
NO RULES in storytelling!!! Or does mise en scene explain the delusions?
Why was the most important murder scene in the end NOT true! (When Ellie and her boyfriend came back to the house!)- If you're gonna have a premonition and "witness" a murder that took place! (Sandie being murder by her pimp) An even that Was not true! - WHY? Would they show a scene of her being murdered? (Other than to further the plot & to add some climax to the story of seeking JUSTICE for sandie) I believe the laws of the spirit World if looking at them correctly would reveal that witnessed premonition would ONLY reveal truth! So to have a 'GHOST' scene lie to the eyes of the flesh ("Ellie")...would not be an appropriate story telling method if in fact they had any understanding or RULES of the after life and the intentions of the "souls" "GHOSTS" that are trapped in that house! Because In the end of the movie the men who were murdered were trying to seek Justice and needed help for the wrong doing of sandies actions! So if you're meaning to tell me that sandie the person who is still alive had influence on premonitions of the deceased for the sake of having a double metaphor ending about how the "young sandie died upstairs" would in fact further that there are NO established rules with the afterlife and there influence on Ellie. If the deceased were seeking Justice and wanted help wouldn't they have revealed the truth and have showed how she was consistently the one murdering! I know how ending climaxes work and showing the flashbacks scenes revealed the truth when confronting sandie at the end because obviously the film was centered around sandies story and all the lovely things we wanted to see! But the fact of the matter is, the story was surrounded around the flashbacks of the past witnessed thru the vessel of Ellie! And events suppose to be true and to have a scene LIE to you to further a plot to have an ending w crazy twists just to have crazy twists just seems like a lazy shortcut to ending a movie! Simply abandoning the RULES of story telling if you actually believed in the after life wouldn't you do your best to establish truth?
Unless..... the scene of the girls giving them a drink before at the party before they went home was infact roofied -could've possibly lead to hallucinations endured by all the stress she was enduring her stay in soho! Making her see things that weren't true! Because In the scenes to follow when she goes to the police. The cop does ask her if she may have been roofied the night before and they show a scene of the drink that was handed to her which could've possibly been TRUE but she had denied it because she truly believed what she saw! If that's the case they DIDNT break any rules of story telling by adding the mise en scene!!! I guess the more I explore these theories I understand the more that I could be wrong!!! It's just a thought I had when watching it! I just didn't understand why they would lie to the viewer? But also she was proved wrong before by the man she believed to have killed sandie originally!!!
They did a really good job at finding these flaws and fitting in truth all though every scene they showed of the souls / ghost trapped in soho but there was only ONE scene they showed of these ghost and lied ONLY one scene! Unless there were more premonitions she witnessed NOT to be true?
Pls don't rip me apart for this I just want to see if anyone else saw that and has an understanding of the truth of these scenes and the director's intentions of the "afterlife" does he truly believe in the truth surrounding the dead or is he oblivious to to the nature of these entities (ghosts/ spirits/ etc) - Davalon-Davalon - 25 October 2022
Intense and shocking and unique
What a brilliant concept. Eloise (an outstanding Thomasin McKenzie), is a young woman who has a fixation on London, the 1960s. In present day, she goes there to study fashion. For a number of reasons she ends up taking a room in a dusty old flat, where the landlady is Diana Rigg (completely unrecognizable to me). From here Eloise falls into dreams which connect her to that very London, and we are swept back in time to the fashions, the movies, the songs, the mindsets. And in the midst of all that excitement, Eloise psychically connects with a young woman named "Sandy" (Anya Taylor-Joy, brilliant as always), an aspiring singer who wants to be the next Cilla Black (look her up; amazing, amazing vocalist).
What at first seems like a thrilling nostalgic journey turns into a nightmarish world from which Eloise can't find a way out.
Everything, from the songs, the fashions, the period references, and, perhaps, most importantly, the great British stars from the 1960s (including an incredible 82-year-old Terence Stamp) are all put to use in the most clever and brilliant ways.
The film is firmly on the shoulders of young Thomasin and I think all in all she does an outstanding job.
I was impressed with all the attention to detail, and of course, the amazing songs from the 1960s, including "You're My World" and "Downtown."
The only reason I didn't give this a 10 is because Eloise didn't get a chance to put the cruel, narcissistic Jocasta (an outstanding Synnove Karlsen) in her place with a good slap across the face. That would have notched it up another star.
That aside, this is a wholly unique film. It does reference many other classics, it's true, but its execution is riveting and grabs you right away and holds you till the end. Two thumbs up!
