Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Sohois a 2021 Britishpsychological horrorfilm directed and co-produced byEdgar Wright, and co-written by Wright andKrysty Wilson-Cairns. It starsThomasin McKenzieas a naive teenager who moves to London to studyfashion design; there she is haunted by visions of Sandie (played byAnya Taylor-Joy), a glamorous young woman who had lived during theSwinging Sixties. The cast also featuresMatt Smith,Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao,Terence StampandDiana Rigg. It marks the final film appearances of Rigg andMargaret Nolan, who both died in 2020, and is dedicated to their memories.
Following its premiere at the78th Venice International Film Festivalon 4 September 2021,Last Night in Sohowas released theatrically in the UK and the US on 29 October 2021 byUniversal PicturesandFocus Features, respectively. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its technical aspects, direction and performances, while its writing received some criticism (especially the ending). The film grossed $23 million worldwide on a budget of $43 million. The film was nominated for twoBAFTA Film Awards, includingOutstanding British FilmandBest Sound.
Eloise "Ellie" Turner, a sweet and naive teenager with troubled mental health, loves the music and fashion of theSwinging Sixtiesand dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Her mother, also a fashion designer,killed herselfin her childhood, so Ellie was raised by her maternal grandmother. She occasionally sees her mother's ghost in mirrors, something her grandmother is aware of.
Ellie moves from her rural home nearRedruth,Cornwallto London to study at theLondon College of Fashion, where she has trouble fitting in with her peers, especially her bullying roommate Jocasta. Only John, another student, is kind to her. Unhappy in the dormitory, she moves into abedsitowned by the elderly Ms. Collins.
That night, Ellie has a vivid dream where she is transported back to the 1960s. At theCafé de Paris, she observes a confident young blonde woman, Sandie, inquire about becoming a singer at the club. Sandie begins a relationship with the charmingModmanager, Jack. The next morning, Ellie designs a dress inspired by Sandie and discovers alove biteon her neck.
Ellie has another dream in which Sandie auditions at aSohonightclub, arranged by Jack, before returning to the same bedsit that Ellie has rented. Inspired by these visions, Ellie dyes her hair blonde, changes her fashion style to match Sandie's, and gets a job at apub. She is observed by a silver-haired man who recognises her similarities to Sandie. In further dreams, Ellie discovers Sandie is not living the life she had hoped for, now beingpimpedby Jack to his male business associates.
In her waking life, Ellie is disturbed by increasingly menacingapparitionsthat resemble Jack and the men who exploited and used Sandie. After she has a vision of Jack murdering Sandie, she decides to track down the silver-haired man, who she believes is Jack. She goes to the police but is not taken seriously, though the kindly female detective expresses concerns for her wellbeing. She tries to find newspaper reports about Sandie's murder. Instead, she finds stories of local men who vanished without a trace. Believing she must avenge Sandie, Ellie confronts the silver-haired man. He denies killing Sandie and leaves the pub but is struck by a taxi and killed. Ellie's boss reveals that the man's name was Lindsey, not Jack. Ellie recalls encountering him in her dreams; he was an undercover vice officer who tried to encourage Sandie to escape her life of prostitution.
Panicked, Ellie goes to inform Ms. Collins that she is leaving London. Ms. Collins tells her she knows she went to the police because the "nice police lady" came to check up on her. She then reveals that she is Sandie. Ellie's vision of Sandie's death was actually a vision of Sandie killing Jack when he threatened her with a knife. Sandie then lured the men she was pimped to back to her room and killed them, hiding their bodies in the house's floorboards and walls. Ms. Collins has drugged Ellie's tea with the intention of killing her to ensure her silence.
In the ensuing scuffle, Ellie knocks over an ashtray and starts a fire. John comes to Ellie's aid, but Ms. Collins stabs him and continues after Ellie, who hallucinates Ms. Collins as the younger Sandie, and that they are ascending a glass staircase. Ellie kicks Ms. Collins, sending her down the stairs. She flees to her room, where the spirits of Sandie's victims plead with her to avenge them, but she refuses. Ms. Collins enters Ellie's room, where she also sees the spirits and is struck by "Jack". With the police outside, she attempts suicide but Ellie stops her, understanding why she did what she did. Sandie tells Ellie to save John and herself, remaining in the building as it burns.
Ellie enjoys success as her designs are showcased at her end-of-year fashion show and is congratulated by her grandmother and John. Ellie sees her mother smile at her in a mirror. Sandie then also appears in a mirror and blows her a kiss.
In addition,Sam Claflinplays young vice squad officer Lindsey (credited as Punter #5), Beth Singh portrays English 60s hit singerCilla Black,Margaret Nolanappears as the Sage Barmaid, while twinsJamesandOliver Phelpscameo as cloakroom attendants.
Edgar Wright first conceived the idea forLast Night in Sohoin 2007. Hepitchedthe plot, as a "dark valentine" to London and the Soho neighbourhood, to producersNira Parkand Rachel Prior before the start of filming forThe World's End(2013).
Growing up inSomerset, Wright listened to his parents' stories ofcoming of agein the 1960s, which contributed to his becoming enamoured with the era.He nurtured his obsession through their 1960s record collection, saying he would "sort of almost just disappear into that decade through the music".But he recalled that his mother's memories ofSwinging SixtiesLondon were not always fond ones, and that she once said: "I went to Soho once with my friend and we got harassed by a man and chased out. And that's the end of the story."
Wright's obsession with 1960s London helped shape the themes ofLast Night in Soho. "Something that I find truly nightmarish — and I guess there's an element where I'm sort of giving a sharp rebuke to myself — is the danger of being overly nostalgic about previous decades. In a way, the film is about romanticizing the past and why it's ... wrong to do that."
British films of the 1960s were also inspirations for Wright, who said: "A lot of films of that period are about the darker side of Soho or of show business. You still have to question where they're coming from, because there's a lot of them, which are more the sensationalistic ones, that take this kind of punitive approach to the female characters. There's a lot of movies where it seems that the genre is 'Girl comes to London to make it big and is roundly punished for her efforts.'"
FilmmakerSam Mendesfirst introduced Wright to screenwriterKrysty Wilson-Cairns, who later co-wrote1917(2019) with Mendes. Wilson-Cairns told Wright in passing that she had worked as a bartender at The Toucan in Soho for five years and lived around the corner, above The Sunset Strip onDean Street. On the night of theBrexit vote in 2016, they went on a bar crawl through the basement bars of Soho, ending up at one called Trisha's, where Wright pitched her the story ofLast Night in Soho.
In December 2017, after the press tour forBaby Driverconcluded, Wright felt pressure to begin working on a sequel immediately, but decided instead to go in "a radically different direction" for his next film. He phoned Wilson-Cairns and asked if she wanted to co-write the screenplay forLast Night in Soho. They rented an office in Soho to work on the script, consulting a folder of research collected byLucy Pardee, aBAFTA Award-winning casting director and researcher who had interviewed people who lived and worked in Soho in the 1960s and the present day. Wright wanted to be "true to the history of the area".
Wright and Wilson-Cairns wrote the first draft of the script in six weeks, before she had to leave to begin1917with Mendes. Wright originally wanted the 1960s scenes to have no dialogue or only be accompanied by music, "that they should be like dreams". Wilson-Cairns suggested the character of Sandie have dialogue, saying, "We have to fall in love with Sandie. And I think it's difficult to fall in love with [her] if she doesn't say anything."Wilson-Cairns also proposed a scene where Sandie auditions at a Soho nightclub called the Rialto. As soon as she suggested it, Wright knew that Sandie should singPetula Clark's song "Downtown".
Last Night in Sohowas originally titledRed Light Area, thenThe Night Has a Thousand Eyes. The final title originates from a1968 hit singleby the English pop bandDave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tichand a conversation Wright had with filmmakerQuentin Tarantino, who was told byAllison Andersthat "Last Night in Soho" was the "best title music for a film that's never been made".
Wright became aware of Anya Taylor-Joy when he was on the US Dramatic Jury at the2015 Sundance Film Festival, whereThe Witchpremiered.He met Taylor-Joy inLos Angelesshortly afterward, where he pitched her the story forLast Night in Soho. He initially had Taylor-Joy in mind for the role of Eloise, but later came around to the idea of her playing Sandie, and she agreed after reading a draft of the script. Taylor-Joy's casting was announced in February 2019,and Thomasin McKenzie and Matt Smith were cast shortly thereafter.McKenzie got Wright's attention with what he described as hernaturalisticperformance in the filmLeave No Trace(2018).
Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao and Synnøve Karlsen rounded out the rest of the cast in June.Rigg died shortly after production ended. Wright said that he was filming with Rigg "right up until the end", and described working with her as "a beautiful experience".It is also the last film appearance of Margaret Nolan, who died in October 2020.
Filming began on 23 May 2019 and was completed on 30 August 2019.Wright posted several photographs on his Instagram account showing that additional filming had commenced on 24 June 2020 and concluded on 5 August 2020.Reshoots took place atPinewood Studios.
Some of the songs inspired sequences in the film. When Wright heard a cover version of "Wade In The Water" bythe Graham Bond Organisation, he "would just start imagining that first dream".Cilla Black's "You're My World" with its dramatic strings conjured up "the sort of the tone and the mood". Most of the songs selected were from the 1960s. Wright also chose "Happy House" bySiouxsie and the Bansheesfrom the 1980s, because "the production on that song is incredible" and it fits a "scene in the movie where they are at a student unionHalloweendance".Wright also said: "I like songs that become famous in a different realm. Like the use of "Got My Mind Set on You" the original byJames Ray, which most people know as theGeorge Harrisoncover. And a lot of people know 'Happy House' becauseThe Weekndsampled it."Taylor-Joy performed "Downtown" by Petula Clark in the film, saying: "It's not every day you're asked to record several versions of an iconic song. The sounds of the '60s was what first made me fall in love with music so I was overjoyed when Edgar asked me to give it a go".The soundtrack was released on double vinyl.
Last Night in Sohohad its world premiere at the78th Venice International Film Festivalon 4 September 2021.It also screened at theToronto International Film Festivalin September 2021and at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival on 10 September 2021.Its UK premiere was on 9 October 2021 at theBFI London Film Festival,prior to its general release in the UK on 29 October 2021.It was originally scheduled to be released on 25 September 2020, but was delayed to 23 April 2021due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,before being delayed again to 22 October,then again to the following weekend.
On 20 October 2021, Universal Pictures released a music video of Anya Taylor-Joy's cover of "Downtown" from the film's soundtrack, featuring scenes from the film.
The film was released onvideo on demandon 19 November 2021 in the US and Canada.It was released physically on optical media, includingBlu-ray,DVDandUltra HD Blu-ray, on 18 January 2022 byUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment.
As of 26 December 2021,Last Night in Sohohas grossed $23million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongsideAntlersand the expansion ofThe French Dispatch, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 3,016 cinemas in its opening weekend.It made $1.9 million on its first day and went on to debut to $4.2 million, finishing sixth at the box office.In its second weekend, it dropped 57% to gross $1.8 million, finishing tenth.
Thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoessampled 350 critics and judged 75% of the reviews to be positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site states: "Although it struggles to maintain its thrilling early momentum,Last Night in Sohoshows flashes of Edgar Wright at his most stylish and ambitious."OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 55 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those atPostTrakgave it a 73% positive score, with 56% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Robbie Collin ofThe Daily Telegraphgave the film a score of 4/5 stars, describing it as "a riotous, rascally hybrid of a thing: part glittering love-letter to the disreputable nightlife district in which it takes place, part darting psychological thriller that rips up the letter as soon as it's written before tearfully torching the scraps".He also praised the cinematography and the "spellbinding recreation of the West End of the '60s".
Reviewing forThe Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern also praised the cinematography, writing: "And how gorgeous it is. The cinematographer, Chung-hoon Chung, should have been given star billing too".Xan Brooks ofThe Guardiangave the film 4/5 stars, describing it as "a gaudy time-travel romp that whisks its modern-day heroine to a bygone London that probably never existed outside our fevered cultural imagination", and called it "thoroughly silly and stupidly enjoyable".
David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reporterdescribed the film as "immensely pleasurable" and said that it "delights in playing with genre, morphing from time-travel fantasy to dark fairy tale, from mystery to nightmarish horror".Rooney also praised the film's sets, costume design and McKenzie's performance, describing her as "enchanting".
Linda Marric ofThe Jewish Chroniclegave the film 4/5 stars, deeming it "a thrilling, gorgeously acted offering from a filmmaker who is at the top of his craft and knows exactly what he wants from his performers".Tom Shone, writing forThe Times, criticised the writing, saying there were "one too many jump scares involving a cab screeching to a halt, and two too many scenes of Eloise sitting up in bed and realising it-was-just-a-dream",although he considers that Taylor-Joy's performance "shines".
Writing forVariety, Guy Lodge criticised aspects of the film, observing "Wright's particular affections for B-movies, British Invasion pop and a fast-fading pocket of urban London may be written all over the film, but they aren't compellingly written into it, ultimately swamping the thin supernatural sleuth story at its heart". Lodge praised McKenzie's performance, describing her as "never one to let an underwritten character thwart her best efforts, and whose sweetly open, porous, persistently worry-etched features couldn't be more ideally suited to Eloise's ingenuous, new-in-town outlook".Jake Coyle ofAssociated Pressalso praises McKenzie and Taylor-Joy performance, writing: "While neither of their characters gets enough depth, McKenzie and Taylor-Joy sustainLast Night in Soho, a movie filled with reflections to both past fiction horrors ... and today's #MeToo terrors".
Brad Wheeler ofThe Globe and Mailgave the film a score of 2.5/4 stars, writing: "Though visually sumptuous and a bunch of fun early on, Edgar Wright's take on sixties and seventies horror eventually devolves into unsatisfying spoof."Richard Lawson ofVanity Fairwas more critical of the film, describing it as a "clumsy horror pastiche" and writing, "perhaps the film's thematic intentions are noble. But its execution is glib, never finding the right balance between compassion and leering."Robert Daniels ofRogerEbert.comgave the film a score of 1.5/4 stars, writing that it "is funny and chaotic, slick and stylish, and falls apart in its confounding second half".
Rosalind Jana, writing inThe Daily Telegraph, also praised the costume design and its importance to the plot, and concluded that "the storytelling becomes overly heavy handed, but the costumes never falter".The film's production design was praised by some critics, including by Yasmin Omar forHarper's Bazaar, who found it "tremendous";Jaden S. Thompson, writing inThe Harvard Crimsonthought the design was "sleek, saturated".