Skip to main content

Last Night in Soho (2021)


Last Night in Soho is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg. It marks the final film appearances of Rigg and Margaret Nolan, who both died in 2020. The film is dedicated to the memories of Rigg and Nolan. The film was nominated for two BAFTA Film Awards, including Outstanding British.

An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker.

Freddy and Krasnaya Movie Review
***SPOILER ALERT***

K: Hello everyone! Today we plunged into the atmosphere of the 60s thanks to the movie Last Night in Soho. Edgar Wright wanted to try his hand on a new genre and gave us a mixture of thriller, horror and drama. As for me, he managed it so-so. This is the story of a pretty girl from the countryside, Eloise, obsessed with music and fashion of the 60s, who had the chance to study at a London fashion school. She stuffs her suitcase with old records, a vinyl player and socks and sets off happily for the British capital. But London can be a lot sometimes.

F: Hiya Krasnaya. Edgar Wright has directed and written one of my favorite trilogies ever, The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, and another favorite movie of mine, Baby Driver (2017). So, I was really happy with the choice we have today. Let me start by saying WHOA, what a beauty Thomasin McKenzie is, and what a lovely name she has πŸ˜‰.  She perfectly plays this very linear, innocent country girl who moves to London to study fashion design. She doesn't fit in with the rest of the class, she's not cool like her new colleague and roommate Jocasta (a jealous untalented bitch). They make fun of her and she sees herself forced to move to a rented room. That room is filled with spirits from the past, and she is able to see and hear them all nice and clear. 

Anya Taylor-Joy GIF
Anya Taylor-Joy is also a real cutie.
K: What I liked the most about the movie was the visuals. The film is shot really well. Unblurry scenes, special color and lights, shooting dynamics, costumes and interiors. The picture turned out to be juicy, eccentric and disturbing. There is a place for both loud music (by the way, talentedly selected) and neon that beckons night moths. And in this beautiful wrapper, the director put us into the theme of abuse. In the film, all the men are shown as horny scoundrels, except for the African-British John (Michael Ajao), who, like a submissive dog, runs after the schizophrenic Eloise. And this is the first thing that bothered me.

F: Yep, the visuals are just amazing. I love those neon lights, the mirror gimmicks, the imagery in Eloise's moments of panic, and so on. Last Night in Soho has outstanding production design and Edgar Wright shows us how cool the 60's look and feel to him. Music, cars, clothes, I definitely share the same passion as our main character, Eloise. I'm always happy to hear bands like The Who and The Kinks and watch some 60's dance moves in my movies. That's 20 points alone in my score. 

About the writing, it comes off as a bit simplistic sometimes, there isn't much depth to it, especially around the characters and their dialogues. But, I don't think this movie needs better writing. I see it as an adaptation of a horror cartoon comic book story and this story was still able to surprise me with the plot twist at the end. This is Edgar Wright we are talking about. The man is all about style and dark humor. There was one thing that I didn't enjoy very much and that was the ghosts that haunted Eloise. The serious horror didn't work very well for me. I think it should have been a bit more subtle and some haunting scenes a little bit shorter. They didn't add anything to the movie.

last night in soho GIF
Trippy and scary.
K: The main problem with the film is that more than half of the events and characters in it are absolutely not needed. Why did they drag in this old policeman, who was immediately forgotten about as soon as he was hit by a car? Why so much attention to Jocasta? From the moment everything went downhill and Eloise realized that Sandy had fallen into the clutches of a brutal pimp, I became not very interested in continuing. From this point on, the film is very long. There are too many scenes of male ghosts with worn faces (one in a library that doesn't make any sense); too much of Eloise's schizophrenic behavior. I didn't empathize with this character at all, by the way. Thomasin McKenzie's performance wasn't great for me. Aaaaaand! The end of the movie was a disappointment. Why this painfully long and even somewhat comical scene on the stairs? Same with the happy ending. Phew, that came out cheap!  

F: Now I'm answering all your questions. I think that old policeman Lindsey, was there to confuse you and make you think, just like Eloise, that he was Jack. So, I think he has a good purpose in the movie. Jocasta is there, in my opinion, to give some sense of contemporary time and offer you a bit of dramatic tension at the beginning. I enjoyed her scenes as a warm-up for what was coming and for being the reason for Eloise's search for a room to rent. She becomes irrelevant later in the movie and probably could have had an intervention later in the plot, but I wasn't very bothered by that. I forgot her, just like her "kind" should be forgotten if they never change their fu**ing attitude. 

But, but, Thomasin McKenzie is so cute. What are you talking about?  I think she was great, she was sweet, fragile but determined and looked really scared when she had to. 

That last scene on the stairs was soooo goooood! So much style! Whyyyyyy are you doing this, Krasnaya?! πŸ˜› OK, it's a generic horror trying-to-kill-you-that-will-take-an-eternity but it had so much eye candy!

I enjoyed the movie very much and I recommend it just like I recommend any other movie from Edgar Wright's short filmography as a director.

Last night in Soho GIF
The play between worlds is awesome.
Freddy's Score: 77/100
Krasnaya's Score: 45/100

FINAL SCORE

LIBRARY

CABARET

STAIRS SCENE

Our blog is update everyday at 21:00 (WEST)

Comments

🎬 Join the CineIt Movie Club!

Get exclusive reviews and recommendations delivered straight to your inbox. Never miss a great movie again!

Popular posts from this blog

La Mante (2017)

Plot Summary: Twenty-five years after being imprisoned, Jeanne Deber, a notorious serial killer known as "The Mantis," offers to help the police catch a copycat killer, but only if she can work with her estranged son, who is now a police officer. Director: Alexandre Laurent Writers: Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, Nicolas Jean, GrΓ©goire Demaison, Laurent Vivier Music: FranΓ§ois Lietout Starring: Carole Bouquet as Jeanne Deber / The Mantis Fred Testot as Damien Carrot Jaques Weber as Charles Carrot Pascal Demolon as Dominique Feracci Manon Azem as Lucie Carrot Serge Riaboukine as Crozet Robinson Stevenin as Alex Crozet FredΓ©rique Bel as Virginie Delorme Jump to the Plot Explained Section   ***SPOILER ALERT*** A Boring, Wannabe Hannibal Lecter This is officially the first TV series review I'm doing here at Cine It. I'm no...

Kpop Demon Hunters (2025)

Plot Summary: Three talented young K-pop trainees discover they have supernatural abilities to battle ancient demons lurking in modern-day Korea. They must balance their demanding training for a much-anticipated debut with their secret mission to protect the world. Directors: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans Screenplay: Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans Producer: Michelle Wong Music: Marcelo Zarvos Starring: Arden Cho as Rumi May Hong as Mira Ji-young Yoo as Zoey Ahn Hyo-seop as Jinu Yunjin Kim as Celine Ken Jeong as Bobby Lee Byung-hun as Gwi-Ma   ***SPOILER ALERT*** Peer Pressure & Pleasant Surprises My daughter came home from school the other day looking like she'd been left out of the cool kids' club because she was the only one who hadn't seen Kpop Demon Hunters. I knew right then my Satur...

Shaolin Soccer (2001)

Plot Summary: A former Shaolin monk reunites his scattered brothers to form a soccer team, combining their extraordinary martial arts skills with the sport to compete for a major tournament and restore the dignity and reputation of Shaolin kung fu in the modern world. Director: Stephen Chow Writers: Stephen Chow, Tsang Kan-cheung Producer: Yeung Kwok-Fai Cinematography: Kwen Pak-Huen, Kwong Ting-wo Editor: Kai Kit-Wai Music: Lowell Lo, Raymond Wong Starring: Stephen Chow as Mighty Steel Leg Sing Zhao Wei as Mui Ng Man-tat as Golden Leg Fung Patrick Tse as Hung Wong Yat-fei as Iron Head Tin Kai-man as Iron Shirt Danny Chan as Empty Hand   ***SPOILER ALERT*** A Disconnect Gone Wrong The world seems to be going completely insane. Between the Charlie Kirk assassination and the subsequent censoring of p...

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Plot Summary: In 1940s Shanghai, a wannabe gangster named Sing aspires to join the notorious Axe Gang. His bungled attempt to extort the residents of Pig Sty Alley inadvertently leads to a gang war that gradually reveals surprising martial arts masters hiding among the slum's humble residents. Directors: Stephen Chow Writers: Stephen Chow, Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, Tsang Kan-cheung Story by: Stephen Chow Cinematography: Poon Hang-sang Edited by: Angie Lam Music by: Raymond Wong Starring: Stephen Chow as Sing Danny Chan as Brother Sum Yuen Qiu as Landlady Yuen Wah as Landlord Leung Siu-lung as Beast Xing Yu as Coolie Chiu Chi-ling as Tailor Dong Zhihua as Donut Lam Chi-chung as Bone Huang Shengyi as Fong Tin Kai-man as Adviser Gar Hong-hay and Fung Hak-on as Harpists Introduction: A ...

Frank Oz: From Worst to Best

I've finished my Frank Oz filmography a while back and hadn't had the time to post here the rank and some thoughts about his work. Let's try to refresh my memory and give you some of my opinions... man. Frank Oz is a true legend. At 81, he's not just a brilliant filmmaker but also a puppeteer and writer whose characters, from the Muppets to Sesame Street, have touched countless lives. His directing career is full of outstanding, entertaining movies; out of 14 films, there's really only one rotten apple in the bunch. I'm not sure if he's planning to make any more movies, but I'd love to see him try his hand at a serious drama, just to see him flex a different creative muscle. I wouldn't like to be that famous, I value my privacy. Mind you, Miss Piggy enjoys every moment of it. If it were not for me, she would spend all her time in the limelight. Frank OZ This is his entire fi...

Violation (2020)

Violation is a 2020 Canadian drama horror film directed and written by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli. It is the feature film debut of the two directors, who have collaborated on several short films displayed at film festivals worldwide. The film stars Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Anna Maguire, Jesse LaVercombe, Obi Abili, Jasmin Geljo, and Cynthia Ashperger. The film premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. It had its US premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on February 1, 2021 in the Midnight section. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violation_(film) A troubled woman on the edge of divorce returns home to her younger sister after years apart. But when her sister and brother-in-law betray her trust, she embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge. source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12801814/ ***SPOILER ALERT*** F: Well, shit. If there are movies that I would like to unwatch, this is one of those. I felt violated...