YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, TOMORROW IS A MYSTERY // A FILM REVIEW OF "LAST NIGHT IN SOHO"
Edgar Wright has made a career of making cool films. And I don't mean "cool films," the kind of films that only film school kids seek out and seem to alienate everyone else. His films are made for everyone and they just are cool, period. Stylish and sleek, beautifully shot and uniquely different, Wrights filmography runs the gamut of styles and genres. His latest is LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, which he co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. SOHO has the pulse of Baby Driver or Scott Pilgrim but adds in a fresh, strange and intriguing blend of retro and time travel. It also hopes around genres within itself, making it a wild ride indeed.
Thomasin McKenzie is Eloise, a student who is studying fashion design and has recently moved to London from the country. He grandmother worries about her but is also excited to see her pursue her dreams. Once there, she immediately butts heads with her catty roommate and the Heather-like crew around her. Not wanting to stay in that environment, she gets a place of her own, which also means she has to get a job so that she can afford the extra expense. This might have turned out as simply a young woman trying to find her place in the world in an ordinary story, but Eloise is no ordinary person. She begins having very vivid dreams (or are they visions?) concerning an aspiring singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) who decades earlier lived in the same exact apartment that Eloise is now renting. She's dazzled by these visions of yesteryear. The glamour of the nightclubs and clothes, the way people spoke, the dedication of Sandy to be heard. She's taken adrift by this world that she sees around her. Eloise herself even finds herself changing, becoming someone new altogether. But just as when we often idolize days gone past, we don't immediately recognize the darkness hiding within the shadows. And the 1960's had plenty of that. Soon, the bright candy colored palette begins to wash away and the gritter and sadder truth sinks through. On top of all of that, a murder mystery begins to unfold in front of her, one that happened years ago and one that only she can solve decades later.
There's a lot of twists and turns in LAST NIGHT IN SOHO and it would be ruining the fun to reveal any of those here. So I won't. What I will say is that Wright has crafted a fast paced and delectable crime thriller. The beautiful cinematography, by Chung-hoon Chung (who also crafted the marvelous shots in the original Oldboy and the It remake), and the fantastic costume design by Odile Dicks-Mireaux, visually catapults the film far and above those around it. McKenzie is a great window into the world. Her performance is raw and vulnerable, fragile but strong. She makes quite an impression here. Taylor-Joy is dynamic as the lady from the past, radiant and vibrant, showing off her dancing and vocal chops as well (her voice can even be heard on the soundtrack). Matt Smith chews up the scenery nicely as the mysteriously suave man who may be able to help Sandy reach her own dreams. And I have to mention the one-two punch of casting Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp, two legends of cool in their own right. Wright directs with a flourishing charm, jumping from the past to the present with dizzying ease. Not all of the film works perfectly, though what doesn't is overpowered by the sheer style and boldness of the film, and the mystery and horror roots seem to jump from the seams. I found that it even grew more and more on me after I left the cinema. Sure, I could have stood a bit more depth in the characters, a bit more history into what makes them tick. But that's a minor quibble among the dizzying storytelling on the screen here. It's bold and exciting and the perfect tonight for a night out at the cinema.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN BY Edgar Wright, Krysty Wilson-Cairns DIRECTED BY Edgar Wright STARRING Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Michael Ajao, Rebecca Harrod. OPENS OCTOBER 29TH IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE. FOR MORE INFO: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO