An Aspiring Fashion Designer Goes Through the Fabrics of Time

Thomasin McKenzie in "Last Night in Soho"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Writer-director Edgar Wright is best known for making several kinetic films that cover a wide variety of genres.  You have the western film “A Fistful of Fingers,” the zombie comedy “Shaun of the Dead,” the buddy-cop film “Hot Fuzz,” the sci-fi adventure “The World’s End,” the graphic novel adaptation “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and the heist film “Baby Driver.”  Throughout his career, Wright has proven to be adaptable in telling a story, no matter the genre in which it takes place.

Until now, “Shaun of the Dead” has been Wright’s sole dealing with horror, so it was enticing to hear that he would be returning to the genre.  This time, it isn’t a horror-comedy, but the psychological-horror film, “Last Night in Soho.”  Despite some solid performances, the movie turns out to a rare disappointment from Wright.  

Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young woman who moves from her rural home in Redruth, Cornwall and travels to London to study fashion.  One night, Eloise has a dream where she’s transported back to England’s “Swinging Sixties,” an era that she loves.  While there, she observes the goings-on of a hopeful singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy).  As Eloise keeps returning to the past, she discovers the disturbing secrets that are hidden there, which soon find their way into her present life.

McKenzie delivers a strong performance as someone who shows shades of optimism in her new life in London, but is also uncomfortable with the culture shock.  As the movie goes on, McKenzie displays the ache of being disillusioned by what she thought was an innocent era, which becomes even more potent as she begins to be plagued by hallucinations from terrors of the past.  We see her psyche unravel as Eloise enters further into the film’s central mystery, and McKenzie absorbs you in the franticness, fear, and increased detachment from reality that her character experiences as her dreams threaten to consume her.

Taylor-Joy has terrific screen presence as a character who can walk into a club and act like she owns the place, presenting a person whose confidence displays an engaging individual.  However, her arc becomes thematically linked with Eloise’s because, just like the latter, Sandie’s expectations of what she wants out of life are difficult for her to reach, and seeing her fall into unexpected hardships shows hints of tragedy as she tries to keep up her toughness, even when it looks like it could fall apart.

Along with the two leads are some memorable supporting performances, such as the late Diana Rigg, who plays Eloise’s stern, yet kind landlady; Matt Smith, who portrays Sandie’s sketchy boyfriend/manager; and Terence Stamp, who plays a mysterious older man who, somehow, always finds his way to Eloise.

The screenplay by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns focuses on the theme of how people tend to romanticize the past, but the rest of the story isn’t quite as strong enough to support this enticing angle.  Nothing much happens for the first hour, as you’re left without many significant developments.  Although a standout aspect of the script is the thematic parallel of Eloise and Sandie’s arcs, the events that happen within their individual timelines become repetitive, leaving you in some frustration as you begin to wonder where the plot is taking you.  Then, by the time we arrive at one revelation in the last 15 minutes, there isn’t any further exploration into it before we soon get to the film’s bigger, and questionable reveal.

Despite the narrative shortcomings, Wright handles his latest foray into horror well enough for the first half of the movie in regard to the tone.  He provides disquieting settings as he explores the present-day London that doesn’t meet all of Eloise’s expectations, as well as in the much darker corners of 1960s London as Sandie encounters her own troubles.  His work with editor Paul Machliss, who collaborated with Wright on “Scott Pilgrim,” “The World’s End,” and “Baby Driver,” gives the movie the snappy editing that we’ve come to expect from Wright’s films and weaves between dreams and reality with fine effect.  And, the cinematography from Chung-hoon Chung delivers ethereal imagery as Eloise’s dreams unfold.  However, Wright goes a little too heavy into the horror elements for the second half, increasing them without much buildup and making this section of the narrative feel like it’s from a different movie.

Although Wright has given us several memorable films, his trip to Soho is just so-so.

Grade: C