Last Night in Soho; Grade: C
Last Night in Soho tells a story about a young woman named Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) whom just got accepted to go to school in London, as Eloise wants to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Eloise has a special ability in which her mind can go to the past, see places as they were in the past, and see people in the past. Eloise moves into her new flat, in her new flat she falls asleep as she transitions to a whole new time in London. There Eloise gets acquainted with a woman named Sandie (Anya-Taylor Joy), Sandie is an aspiring singer and wants to perform at one of the rad clubs someday. Eloise gets heavily inspired by Sandie that plays part into Eloise designing a new dress, plus Eloise then dyes her hair the same as Sandies, Sandie is Eloise’s muse. Eloise however doesn’t know the dark details of Sandie’s life, which will then make Eloise seeking for answers of what happened with Sandie and whom was the culprit behind all this?!
I’ve been waiting for Last Night in Soho for awhile, I was extremely impressed with Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver that I couldn’t wait for his newest fictional narrative. The year of 2021 for Edgar Wright has been a year in which the film maker takes on a different approach. He first made his documentary film with The Sparks Brothers, now is stepping into a dramatic horror film with Last Night in Soho. I can appreciate a film maker willing to go towards an unfamiliar direction in trying different genres and creating different ideas we’re not accustomed of seeing, it’s refreshing watching a film maker wanting to grow within his craft. Edgar Wright excelled with his documentary The Sparks Brothers, Last Night in Soho however… I was surprised that I was left with disappointment.
Last Night in Soho does have some bright spots within this horror film. The world building in Last Night in Soho was pretty cool, it’s a lovely looking film with a lovely set design of old school London in the 60’s. I enjoyed the neon colors especially, a nice variety of different colors. I thought the cast as a whole did a pretty good job, from the main cast to an unexpected nice turn with our supporting cast… They did a really good job as a whole.
Another positive worth mentioning in Last Night in Soho is there is some effectiveness within the horror element in this film. Edgar Wright does a pretty nice job in disturbing the audience by simply showing the raw, unfiltered, and vulgar like behavior of men as how they treat the women whether it be back in the 60’s or even modern day. The 60’s stuff was what really gotten under my skin, as these women were just mistreated poorly as they were treated like objects… It was quite disturbing. The modern day stuff was subtle, however it t’was effective in terms of expressing a creepy vibe as though there has been some kind of progress back from the 60’s to now… However the way these men talk to women and often stalk, it’s still creepy.
Last night in Soho main problem is the story at hand, as I found it to be quite a mess and a bit predictable. The story felt like a mess as there is not much reasoning behind Eloise’s gift, as the rules kind of differ. At first we believe Eloise is mimicking Sandie, as when she goes to this different dimension… We assume she’s Sandie, because after the first night Sandie gets a hickey from this guy kissing on her neck, then the next morning Eloise woke up having a hickey on her neck. That was the only time, as now when harm is done to Sandie, there is no harm done to Eloise the next morning, as no marks were done to her body in anyway. So the rules of Eloise’s power is quite confusing much, not only that how can certain figures just show up out of the blue?! I thought Eloise could only see those whom have been in whatever location she’s at?!
The predictably came instantly as given Eloise’s gift, you knew exactly whom is from the 60’s as who is alive now. So the mystery at hand wasn’t much of a mystery, I will say one moment was unexpected and one moment wrapped up in cool neat way. The unexpected one however brings up more confusion, given the fact he was suppose to be a good guy in this story… Why the hell is he acting like a creep the entire time?!
The horror element over stayed it’s welcome in terms of the haunting bodies, as it felt extremely over the top and more so annoying. Like these damn bodies keep popping up over and over again, it almost felt like watching a really bad American horror film… Like I kept thinking of The Bye Bye Man. I really don’t get the purpose of having these things come about, what is thought of haunting Eloise suddenly becomes a warning sign?! If you were trying to warn Eloise, why the hell do you keep trying to scare her and drag her body down to the floor or on the bed?! Doesn’t make any freaking sense.
The ending brings more confusion to the story and it has to be related to Eloise’s gift. I won’t spoil it but by the closing shot yeah it makes sense why she would now see this figure, as she can see her dead mom… But how the hell was she able to see this figure before, considering the fact this being wasn’t dead before?! Holy crap there is some major logic issues.
Overall, Last Night in Soho was just ok. I would wait till rental to see this one, it’s definitely a weird strange film that should be watched, it’s nice to look and some effective creepy moments. -Mitch Smietana