Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead! You have been warned.
Like a ballerina, she dances in her room to ’60s tunes. Slowly, the camera pans to her dress in a distinctive, newspaper-like print. The dancing tules of her dress flow with the symphony until a voice brings her back to reality. She is leaving for London, an experience that will change her life.
2021’s Last Night in Soho, directed by Edgar Wright, is based on the story of Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer with a special gift. Eloise travels to London, England, after getting accepted into the Fashion College of London.
As with every young adult, she finds it hard to fit into an environment that makes it difficult to find her true self. This leads her to relocate to an old building in London, where she meets Ms. Collins, the building’s owner. She discovers that at night, she travels back to the ’60s to become Sandie. This is where Eloise finds her inspiration for her clothes as a designer and discovers a different reality.
Sandie, living in the ’60s, aspires to be a singer. Although she has a lot of potential, her gender stops her from getting opportunities.
Then she meets Jack.
He is introduced in the movie as the one to represent Sandie, but what she doesn’t know is that this would cost both her reputation and her dreams.
People have romanticized this era, especially on social media — the slow dances, the cute dates, and the incredible fashion. However, this wasn’t reality. Last Night in Soho reveals the truth of the decade beyond the style and dancing.
In the movie, we see how Sandie has to sign a contract with the devil to get as far as any other famous singer. Her body has more worth than her talents, illustrated by the oppression women faced in this era and throughout history.
Eloise does not seem happy with this, coming from an era where that oppression seems to be eradicated — for the most part — her female rage begins to form. As mentioned before, Eloise’s special gifts let her see things most people can’t. As a result, she witnesses the murder of Sandie.
Categorized as a horror movie, this movie brings the genre to another level. Unwanted hands, unnecessary movements and unspeakable words unify to create the worst nightmare a person could have; living real life.
On a scale from 1-10, this movie would get a 9 for visuals and a 7 for the narrative. Although the purpose of the movie is a thriller, the hidden message could have been elaborated upon. As mentioned before, there were many scenes where the female rage is presented. Yet, the whole narrative changes once the movie hits its peak.
It’s not a scary movie per say, I believe that only the ending had some thriller in it but Last Night in Soho could be best described as a psychological thriller.