London Film Festival Watch #2
Edgar Wright’s first foray into psychological horror leaves a lot to be desired, despite technically being some of the best-looking work he’s put out there yet. Last Night in Soho is an ambitious tale about the horrors of the mind and the tricks it can play on us. It tells the story of Eloise, a newly arrived fashion student in London, played by Thomasin McKenzie, and the mysterious way in which she’s able to enter the 1960s where she slowly becomes enamoured by this confident, aspiring singer, played by Anya Taylor-Joy.
Let’s start with the performances. Initially going into the film, due to promotional content and also just the calibre of both actresses, I expected both McKenzie and Taylor-Joy to share the screen time equally, but this is fully McKenzie’s show, and she knocks it out of the park. She plays the timid, insecure role to a tee and as the film gets progressively more horror-esque, she breaks out into full scream queen mode that never felt out of place. The journey that her character takes throughout the film allows you to really feel for her in these more horrific moments, adding some emotional weight to them as you’re sympathising with the sweet, shy girl that was developed in the beginning. Anya Taylor-Joy however, while she doesn’t have as big a role as I expected (or wanted) she was fantastic in all that she was given, which is no surprise. All she has to do is step on screen and there’s an immediate commanding presence that she just effortlessly exudes. Her role is quite subdued in many parts of the film yet still she’s able to convey so much with so little, she exudes such an eerie atmosphere that is omnipresent for the whole runtime.
In terms of Wright’s filmography, this is easily his best film visually. The colours of this film… my god. The transcendent glow of the neon lights that take on so much meaning throughout the film, the progressiveness of red that seems to completely envelope the film by the end, the warm dazzling glow of 1960s London streets, highlighting the glamorisation of the past, the film is steeped in lighting that so beautifully exemplified the genres the film was going for. There are clear distinct choices in cinematography here too, the shots of Anya Taylor-Joy staring into camera were amongst some of the most impactful.
The staples of a Wright film are written all over this too, just perhaps more dialled back that his previous work. The film keeps the trend of masterful editing in his films going, despite it being more clunky that usual, with some immaculate transitions and of course editing to the beat. Speaking of beats, it’s no surprise that this film is choked full of incredible songs, easily one of the best aspects of the film is its soundtrack and the way it’s utilised to enhance this horror theme Wright was going for. Also, if we can get a Spotify version of Anya Taylor-Joy singing Downtown that would be great please and thanks.
However, despite the film being beautiful, it’s a beautiful mess. This film feels unpolished in a lot of ways Wright’s previous work never does. For one, the script, something that pulls me towards Wright’s films, is all over the place. The majority of the first half is written really well, we get Wright’s staple comedy infused into the scenes while a lurking ever-present horror slowly creeps its way onto the screen. However, the second half of the film is so concerned with being a good horror and a good thriller and still trying to be comedic that it ultimately falls flat on all fronts and can’t stick it’s landing. The film sets out to be one thing and by the time it ends it feels as if the ending doesn’t fit what we saw at the start of the film. The film is far more interesting when it’s a horror of the mind, when the scary thing is the psychological torture Eloise is going through, and while that is still present towards the end, the way in which they choose to convey it, diminishes what they’d built up prior, and even worse it’s not scary. (And this is coming from someone who gets scared of everything)
Alongside this clunky plot, is some shockingly bad acting. Aside from the 2 main actresses and Matt Smith, many of the performances don’t feel like they belong in this film. Whether that’s how they were directed to act, or it’s due to the, at times, cringy dialogue, it just didn’t fit everything that was going on around Eloise. Thematically too I thought the film was going in one direction, surrounding the treatment of women by men and how that has/hasn’t changed over time, but after the ending is abandons this idea and lands on… nothing? There’s a part in the film where something happens and from then on till the end it starts to unravel, much like the dress McKenzie makes throughout the film, once you notice the loose thread and pull on it, suddenly you’ve destroyed the beautiful dress that was there in the first place.
★★★
