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.
Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young woman from the English countryside who dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer. Having been raised by her loving grandmother Peggy (Rita Tushingham) after her mother committed suicide years earlier, she is overjoyed when she receives a letter of acceptance from the prestigious London College of Fashion, paving the way for her to head off to London, excited at the thought of finally living and working in the big city.
Unbeknownst to anyone else, except her grandmother, Eloise has a sixth sense and often sees her mother in mirror reflections. When she arrives in London, she tries to settle in with her roommate and her friends but after much taunting and torment because of her humble background, Eloise decides to leave the college dorm and instead answers an ad in a local newspaper looking for a room to rent. She is met by an elderly lady, Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg), who immediately takes to Eloise and her quiet ways and offers her the room.
After settling in, Eloise begins to have strange dreams where she dwells inside the body of a beautiful young lady named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), who came to London in 1965 to become a singer. When Sandie meets Jack (Matt Smith), a music promoter, he promises to make her famous and they become romantically involved but over time, she winds up becoming a call girl for wealthy old men instead, with Jack acting as her procurer. One night, Jack claims that Sandie no longer loves him and in a fit of jealous rage, appears to kill her, causing Eloise to become unglued.
When she takes her story to the police, naturally, they have a hard time believing her so she takes matters into her own hands and visits the local library, researching murders from the mid-1960s, in the hopes of discovering Sandie’s death but nothing shows up. When she becomes convinced that a regular who frequents the pub she works at, is none other than Jack himself, she is determined to reveal his true identity and his murderous ways, but when a twist of fate catches Eloise off guard, she must reexamine every vision she has experienced if she is to determine what really happened that fateful, bloody night.
Director Edgar Wright exploded into the public consciousness with his 2004 comedy-horror, “Shaun of the Dead,” the first in his ‘Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy,’ starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who would all go on to fill out said trilogy with 2007’s “Hot Fuzz,” and 2013’s “The World’s End.” While many were already familiar with Wright because of his British television sitcom “Spaced,” “Shaun of the Dead” catapulted him into the stratosphere. Both he, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have gone on to have successful movie and TV careers and while Wright’s films have found various levels of success, his Cornetto Trilogy was widely accepted by critics and audiences alike, while his 2010 “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” flopped on its initial release.
He would strike back seven years later with an all-star cast in the highly entertaining action thriller, “Baby Driver” but with his latest offering, “Last Night in Soho,” the supernatural narrative is new to his directing style but as usual, he knocks it out of the park. He successfully takes us back to London during the swinging sixties and Anya Taylor-Joy steals every scene she is in. With a breakout performance in 2015’s “The Witch,” she has put her career into high gear, starring in an assortment of various projects, including “Split” and its sequel “Glass,” “Emma,” TV’s “The Queen’s Gambit,” and a low-budget Irish movie called “Here Are the Young Men,” where she delivered a mesmerizing performance, complete with authentic-sounding Dublin accent.
Thomasin McKenzie plays Eloise, the central character whose life gets turned upside down once she realizes she is not having dreams about Sandie, rather, she is witnessing Sandie’s life in flashback mode. Thomasin brings a naiveté to her role and the moment we are introduced to her in her bedroom, dancing to her late mother’s old vinyl records, we are immediately enamored with her. She represents the young, wide-eyed child in all of us who so badly want to take their first step into the big bad world, filled with non-stop adventures, but have never had the courage to do so. She finds the fortitude to take that first step and we are planted firmly beside her, watching over her and guarding her against harm.
Watching Diana Rigg in her final big-screen performance was tinged with sadness. She was the best James Bond girl in the best James Bond film, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” and she also kicked a lot of ass in her tenure on “The Avengers,” ushering in a new generation of strong-willed, fierce, and relentless women. Here, even as a sprightly 82-year-old, she more than holds her own against her younger cast and gives them a run for their money.
Wright sets aside his customary trademark quick action montages for a more mature, and slow-paced narrative, allowing his audience to experience the story and its characters, instead of feeling like an outsider looking in. While I enjoyed the film, its last act is where it falters somewhat. Up until the movie’s conclusion, Wright appears to be heading in one particular direction but when the big twist is revealed at the end, it feels unwarranted, and not up to par with the film’s exciting first half. It almost seems like a last-minute addition, like he went with an original ending that test audiences didn’t enjoy and had to change it as a result. While I felt somewhat let down, it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the picture. If you like supernatural thrillers with a twist, “Last Night in Soho” is for you.
In Theaters Friday, October 29th
