Last Night in Soho (2021) Review

 "Do you believe in ghosts?"
-Ellie Turner


Fashion student Ellie Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) moves to London to pursue her dreams.  She starts to have visions of an aspiring singer from the 1960's, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), but the visions turn from wonder to terror and Ellie has to solve a decades old mystery as the past comes to haunt her.


What Works:

The best part of the movie is 100% the performances.  Both McKenzie and Taylor-Joy are wonderful and give very three dimensional performances that parallel each other.  They are also different characters, so it isn't just one of them copying the other.  They carry the movie more than anything else.

The vision sequences are all awesome because of how Ellie is integrated into them.  At times, she is Sandie, but at other times she's just witnessing the events from nearby.  The use of mirrors is awesome and we get some amazing visuals to really make it feel like Ellie is part of this.

The scenes set in 1960's London are spectacularly dressed.  The filmmakers did a fantastic job at making this world come to live.  The two time periods feel very distinct even though the characters are walking the same streets.  It's gorgeous and stunning, even when what's transpiring turns ugly.

Finally, I thought I had the plot of this movie all figured out, but the movie managed to throw me for a loop.  I love when I can't predict the outcome of a movie and that happened to me with Last Night in Soho.  A friend of mine disagrees and did manage to predict the ending, but hopefully you're experience with this film is more like mine.


What Sucks:

The middle of the movie definitely drags a bit as Ellie starts questioning her sanity.  These scenes are very similar to scenes I have seen in other movies.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but they also go on for too long.  We get it, things are getting crazy.  You can move on now...

I do wish there had been more of the surreal dream sequence stuff.  We saw most of it in the trailer.  Not all of it, but most of it, and I would have loved to see more.


Verdict:

Last Night in Soho is probably Edgar Wright's weakest film, but it's still solid.  The performances are great, the setting is beautiful, the visuals are excellent, and the story kept me guessing.  I just wish there had been less of Ellie questioning her sanity and more of the dream sequences.

 8/10: Really Good 


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