Movie review: Last night in Soho
A psychological horror disguised as a musical thriller
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg.
The IMDB synopsis of the movie is as follows:
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.
The movie begins with Eloise turner, who moves to London from the countryside to become a fashion designer. The place and the people are unfamiliar to her. Right of the bat, Eloise feels much different than the other girl students around her and is an outsider. You know when you feel like you don’t belong and the people around you don’t get you.
Eloise gets very fascinated with the fashion from the 1960s. Soon Eloise starts dreaming of a life in the 60s and gets visions of a dazzling wannabe singer named Sandie, who is unabashed and very confident of herself. Elosie and Sandie are complete opposites of each other. Sandie dreams of a fairy tale romance something which Eloise has never had in her life. After all we as Human beings always crave for the things that we have never had.
Eloise soon starts to become confident in her real life and you can see that she is trying to become like Sandie in order to get away from her own boring and meaningless existence. She even buys herself clothes from the 1960s era and then eventually changes her hair to blonde like Sandie.
The movie soon kicks into high gear and turns into a nightmarish ordeal for Eloise. Nothing is as it seems. Eloise is feeling increasingly overwhelmed because of her dreams and strange visions and tries to get to the bottom of it once and for all.
Excellent performance from the lead actors Thomasin Mckinzie portraying Eloise and Anya Taylor Joy playing the role of Sandie. Both the actors slip right into the role with their effortless acting and ability to portray a wide range of emotions. It's their performances that keeps you glued to the screen in anticipation for what is to come. The movie boasts of a superb soundtrack. I cannot say how much I love the music; the retro style does complement the movie pretty well. Here are some lyrics from the song Downtown that perfectly captures the dazzle of the 60s.
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things’ll be great when you’re
Downtown, no finer place for sure
Downtown everyone’s waiting for you
The movie directed by Edgar Wright is fast paced and has his signature style written all over it with extensive use of expressive music. The movie at 116 minutes is not too long and never outstays its welcome.
The movie turns from a musical thriller of sorts into a psychological horror. It succeeds in holding the attention of the viewer through the captivating performances of Thomasin Mckinzie and Anya Tailor Joy. The movie is disorienting at times and this works in its favor in creating a extremely tense atmosphere. The climax has a shocking twist, and many won’t see it coming. Kudos to the director for taking the story in this direction. The movie is however not perfect and can a bit confusing at times and leaves the viewer in the dark about what is really going on.
Final verdict: 7.6/10
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