+++ Opinion +++
Despite being a horror fan, director Edgar Wright waited a long time before directing his first proper genre entry. While he broke through with the zombie hit Shaun of the Dead, it’s a pastiche, like tongue-in-cheek action homage Hot Fuzz or dramatically leaning sci-fi commentary The World’s End”. Overall, Wright had the villain around his neck for a long time:
His (which has become a cult) flop “Scott Pilgrim vs. the Rest of the World” and his fast, rhythmic action “Baby Driver” are humorous. But in 2021 the time had come: Wright curbed his penchant for comedy and promptly delivered one of the best genre contributions of the year with his first proper horror film “Last Night in Soho”. As of today, May 27, 2023, you can finally stream the highlight at no extra cost – at least as long as you have an Amazon Prime Video subscription:
In addition to ‘Jojo Rabbit’ star Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, known for the Netflix mega hit ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, the film’s cast also includes British film and television legend Diana Rigg. Rigg completed her final performance with “Last Night in Soho” before dying of cancer in Fall 2020. The model and “Goldfinger” Bond girl Margaret Nolan, who also died in 2020, made her last film appearance here.
“Last Night in Soho”: that’s what it’s all about
Naive, optimistic country bumpkin Eloise (McKenzie) moves to London to study fashion design. Shy as she is, she struggles to connect with her fellow students – so she takes refuge in homesickness for a time she never experienced: the 1960s. One night she suddenly finds herself there, clinging to the heels of actress Sandy (Taylor-Joy). Great enthusiasm and even greater fear follow…
Self-deception and denial are recurring themes in Edgar Wright’s work: “Scott Pilgrim vs. the Rest of the World” is about a self-centered failure who sees himself as the heroic protagonist not only of his own life, but of his entire environment. It takes the heroes of Shaun of the Dead far too long to realize they’re living in a zombie apocalypse, and even longer to understand their sluggish plan for life. “The World’s End” is about how Simon Pegg’s character resorts to nostalgia and glorification of his childhood instead of dealing with his problems.
In “Last Night in Soho,” Wright intensifies this theme and ramps it up to the terrifying: What begins as a grand nostalgia festival, with its stylish, lavish shots of 1960s London nightlife, soon becomes a psychological thriller showing plainly how ignorant our retrospective often turns out to be, and that many of today’s annoyances are the ghosts of the past that haunt us.
Style and content
In addition to intoxicating tracking shots and a beautiful production design, Edgar Wright’s horror film above all offers an incredibly dense atmosphere: the story written by him and Krysty Wilson-Cairns allows us to dive deep into Eloise’s sense of loneliness and distorted perception , and thus also in her sense of constant helplessness. So gradually both in the London of the Swinging Sixties and in Eloise’s presence advancing men, bloodlust and ghostly apparitions decompose the beautiful appearance, it gets under your skin.
This is ensured not only by the clever storytelling and harmonious aesthetics, but also by McKenzie’s acting, which, as Eloise, slides from endearingly naive to “distraught and decapitated”, skillfully underscoring Wright’s production. Style and story come together seamlessly here. To quote from the 4.5 star FILMSTARTS review: “A blood-curdling, thoroughly exciting #metoo horror film – and after ‘Baby Driver’ Edgar Wright’s next masterclass in his favorite subjects, style and cool.”