Last Night in Soho – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Last Night in Soho – The Blood of an Artist: 1960s Fashion

Being a writer, you levy the unlimited possibilities.  Weaving stories helps push thoughts to create something intriguing, magical and fun … especially in the medium of film.  With this review, I look at the latest film from Edgar Wright.  A man that pushes boundaries, he has created something that is uniquely enveloping.  With a sense of horror within a character piece, he is able to move the ordinary into greater heights.  Last Night in Soho is a thriller entrapped in the markings of something beyond one place and time.

The story follows an aspiring fashion designer with a special gift.  With her livelihood tied to the past, will she be able to survive or fall into the depths of madness.  The foundation is built upon a two-fold approach of character and genre.  On the character perspective, the focus is on Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie).  She has been accepted to the London School of Fashion, trying to follow in the footstep of her deceased mother.  Moving from her humble home to the big city (London), she has slight confliction of her dreams vs the reality of the situation.  As Elosie attempts to adjust to city life, she decides to move out of the dorms and rent a bedsit from an elderly woman, Ms. Collins (Diane Rigg).  The change helps provide a placid situation, creating a scenario where she taps into her clairvoyance powers.  This brings characterization (of the plot) within the second approach, the genre perspective.  As she fades into multiple dreams, she is brought into the past (1960s).  The allure of the era is awe inspiring, but she is entangled to watching a young woman, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), chase her dreams of being on the stage.  As the story begins to build a connection, the wholesomeness brings about an astute fabric of futility.  The experience is romanticized by the aesthetics (of the era), but there is a sense of ambiguity within its appeal.  Wright is able to build a unique visual lens with mood, where genre and character growth creates an ominous thread of Sandie’s life for Elosie.  The parallels of ‘chasing the dream’ collides within the paranormal.  As things seem naturally fitting, the past brings about larger questions that cause the visions to turn into a haunting of an unresolved crime.

As things become more chaotic, it begins to plague on her psyche.  As things are driven through darkly visuals and circumstances, she begins to contrive the past within her own experiences.  She becomes engulfed into Sandie’s life to the point where she wants to find answers.  As the story begins to weave in more horror elements, it builds upon the characterization of the past.  There is a bleeding effect of her visions, bringing about psychotic breakdowns and unlikely connections to the present.  As things become dire for Eloise, her life falls in the grips of lasting consequences.  The unexplained come about through a twist of revelations, bringing answers to what she was really seeing (in her visions).  This brings about a third act that rushes through highlights of the ‘chasing your dream’ motif within forced exposition.  Even when things waver through forced plot progression, it brings a fitting climax of revelations that showcases the connection of the paranormal to Elosie’s own dream.  Last Night in Soho brings about a psychological experience within a character setting.  If you are a fan of Edgar Wright, original storytelling or pyscho/thrillers, this is one for you.  A truly rewarding experience on the big screen.

Full Score – 4.5 out of 5 (Award Worthy)