Last Night In Soho
Directed by Edgar Wright

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Edgar Wright, but really how can you not be? The Cornetto trilogy alone is a wonderful collection of movies that has a little something for everyone, and even his foray into documentaries with The Sparks Brothers was a rollicking good time that captured the wit and creativity of a band that I hadn’t even heard of before and turned me into a fan. Needless to say, I was excited to learn that Wright’s new project was a straight horror movie, and the trailers immediately grabbed me with their unique premise, sense of style, and not giving the entire plot away in the preview. After finally seeing Last Night in Soho, I can happily announce that it did not disappoint!

Last Night in Soho focuses on Ellie, a young aspiring fashion designer who leaves the countryside for London to attend a prestigious school of fashion. While dealing with the difficulties of adjusting to city life, Ellie, who is also mildly psychic and no that isn’t a spoiler it is from the first scene, begins having dreams about the life of another young woman from the 60s who she feels connected to, dreams that begin pleasantly but soon take a dark turn, a turn that may endanger Ellie in the present. There’s so much about Last Night in Soho that I love that I won’t even attempt to get into due to spoilers, but let me start by saying that the performances here are phenomenal. Thomasin Mackenzie, who was also great in Leave No Trace and Jojo Rabbit, Anya-Taylor Joy, Matt Smith, even all the side characters we meet, are pitch-perfect and doing exactly what they all need to do to sell this as distressingly real.

Great Edgar Wright movies are generally also well written, and Last Night in Soho is no exception. The main plot is a clever use of horror movie conventions, there’s a lot of A Nightmare On Elm Street Influence without this ever feeling like a ripoff, more of an evolution of the concept, but beyond the story, there’s a thematic richness where everything builds on itself and provides insightful commentary on the nature and dangers of nostalgia, and how to deal with that in the real world. All of this is done while advancing the story, crafting memorable characters, and dazzling the audience with Wright’s established visual style. I’m such a big fan of Wright’s and Last Night in Soho is a rundown of everything that makes his work great. And I would be remiss to not comment on the stunning soundtrack featuring Anya Taylor-Joy’s surprisingly great singing.

I can’t recommend this movie to everyone though, and I won’t give spoilers per se, but I will get into some of the bits people might find triggering. One of the bigger themes of Last Night in Soho is the real danger that women live with on a day-to-day basis from men, a theme that carries through and informs the harder-edged segments of Last Night in Soho. Sexual trafficking is a big part of certain plot points, and while the film never gets too graphic in the gory details of this, it is super uncomfortable, intentionally so, and would definitely make this movie very difficult for some people to watch. The realism I mentioned earlier makes it even more difficult, this isn’t some throwaway shock value plot element, this is realistic and serious and upsetting. If that is something that would make you unable to enjoy the movie, I understand and would never want to pressure you to watch this, but if you are okay with these feelings, I would strongly recommend Last Night in Soho. If you can still catch it in the theater, do so. If not, it’ll be streaming soon enough.