Review: Last Night in Soho

Hello and Happy Halloween! Today, I saw Last Night in Soho in theaters on Halloween Night, it was a really really good experience. It was the perfect opportunity to see a horror movie on a holiday. 

Last Night in Soho is a British psychological horror movie about a young woman who goes to downtown London in the busy streets of Soho and studies to become a fashion designer at the University of Arts in London, she rents out a flat and Eloise is transported to the 1960s and encounters a wannabe singer and those dreams start bridge into her reality in very dark ways. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Jessie Mei Li, Michael Ajao, Synnove Karlsen and Terence Stamp, and is directed by Edgar Wright.

Edgar Wright is known for his incredible filmography of comedy movies including Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, not to mention his cult classic, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and his action movie, Baby Driver. 4 years after Baby Driver, he decided to delve into horror.

Going into this movie, I was wondering what he could do with horror, and the results were not disappointing in the slightest. What you can expect in Last Night in Soho, is really good editing, great performances, very good movie moments and a pitch perfect soundtrack. Wright is known for incorporating music in his movies, Baby Driver was a BIG factor into music since that Baby had tinnitus, and can listen to music so that he can actually hear, and how the editing matched the music perfectly. Another example can be in Shaun of the Dead, when during the climax, "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen plays while Shaun, Liz and Ed were hitting the zombies with pool cues, I think. He's also known for his movies having memorable opening sequences, and I really liked the first scene when Eloise is dancing to one of her favorite songs from the 60s era as she's packing for college, it shows off her fashion designs, her personality, and her countryside home and how her lifestyle is different from the upper lifestyle of England.

I feel like Eloise relates to most new college students who are staying in a place that is not their home for the first time. As she's adjusting to college life, like having a shitty roommate, meeting a guy and designing her first dress, she ultimately wants more out of it, and longs to live in the 60s. Well, you know what they say, careful what you wish for. When Ellie first encounters Sandy, the woman from her visions, it's like they're kinda friends, but barely talk to each other. Sandie meets Jack, who appears to be able to make her a star but he ultimately becomes her pimp, which makes Eloise feel uneasy and showing all the cases of schizophrenia.

Ellie tried to find out what really happened to Sandy, and feels the need to help the poor woman. While I won't spoil it for you, let's just say that everything that happens in these visions, will make you seem them very differently as you keep watching. It doesn't exactly resolve the reason why Eloise has these visions every night but I think that if you love Edgar Wright's work, like I do, and don't care about questions being answered, then you'll like it.

I thought most of the cast did really well especially McKenzie, Anya and Smith. Smith is great in almost everything, and I think McKenzie's role as Eloise was a good follow-up to her big role in Jojo Rabbit. Anya's been killing it this year, and I thought this was a perfect audition for her voice role as Princess Peach in the Mario movie. Wright's direction perfectly showed off the downtown area of London and the 60s era, not to mention that the production designer definitely deserved a raise, the editing was great, cinematography had a really good tint of pink colors, which I really like. It shows how color can be key to a movie plot and I want to talk about the best part of the movie, and that is the soundtrack.

Eloise is very BIG into the 60s, she even has a Breakfast at Tiffany's poster hanging on her bedroom wall. She also has a vinyl record which plays her favorite music, and has her playlist on her phone. Edgar really knows how to put music together. Her name "Eloise" is even a reference to a classic song by Barry Ryan. All of those songs were Eloise's preference. The songs perfectly captured the vibe of 60s London an Eloise's and Sandy's fashion. 

The best part and highlight of the movie was the TWIST. Which I won't spoil.

Overall, I'm giving Last Night in Soho a 10/10