LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

UK, 2021, 116 minutes, Colour.

Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor Joy, Diana Rigg, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao.

Directed by Edgar Wright.

Welcome to the imagination of Edgar Wright: for those who have been there before, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, And of the World, Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver, they will be eager to return. For those not familiar with Edgar Wright, they might well be puzzled – and intrigued.

Wright has co-written and directed this film but has also selected at Playlist with many of the popular songs of the mid-1960s. Those with the accessible songs from artists like Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Sandy Shaw and, of course, the Beatles. They play throughout the film, providing mood and background to the characters and the situations.

And this is important. While the main action takes place in the present, the film returns time and time again to London in the emerging swinging 60s, the streets and lights of Soho, the clubs (many euphemistically called Gentlemen’s Clubs), and a huge cinema hoarding advertising Sean Connery as James Bond in Thunderball.

In the present, we are introduced to a young woman, finishing high school, going to London to become a fashion designer. She lives in Cornwall, somewhat sure of herself there, but immediately finding herself out of her depth in London, mocked for her provincial accent and dress, the Mean Girls at her accommodation and the school. She is Eloise Turner, Ellie, with a complex performance by New Zealander, Thomasin McKenzie. She does well in class. But she wants to get away from the students, answers an advertisement for a bed sitting room, encountering Miss Collins, an elderly veteran of Soho, who welcomes Ellie. Miss Collins is played by Diana Rigg in her final role, initially seeming a comparatively subordinate character but becoming key by the end. It was Diana Rigg’s last film and this film is dedicated To Diana.

Diana Rigg was flourishing in the mid-1960s on stage and television screen, The Avengers. But it was also the period of stardom for Rita Tushingham (including Dr Zhivago) and Terence Stamp. Rita Tushingham plays Ellie’s solicitous grandmother. Terence Stamp plays a mysterious ageing character who frequents a Soho diner.

That establishes the basis for the drama – but, Ellie’s mother was psychic and so is Ellie, never so much as in her most elaborate dreams, back to the 60s, encountering a would-be singer and dancer, Sandy, another strong performance by Anya Taylor Joy. Wright uses the device of mirrors, Ellie looking into the mirror and seeing Sandy, and many variations on this alter ego experience, Ellie becoming Sandy at times. Sandy is ambitious, auditions, song and dance, under the tutelage of Jack, Matt Smith, a manager who ultimately exploits her with the so-called gentlemen at the clubs. This builds up to conflict and confrontation.

And, in fact, Wright goes back to his horror background and the zombie-like creatures from Shaun of the dead, changing the tone of Ellie’s nightmares, the identification with Sandy, apprehensive about Jack murdering Sandy, and Ellie going to the police, going to libraries to research the newspapers of the period to discover what had happened… She is helped by a sympathetic fellow student in design, John, Michael Ajao, who falls foul of Miss Collins.

And with this kind of imagination, the end has to be seen to be believed, twists, horror, even conflagration. And, if this review arouses curiosity, then it is probably best to go to see Last Night in Soho.

1. The blend of ordinary story, psychic episodes, nightmares, horror? The imagination of the director?
2. UK in the 21^st-century, home in Cornwall, life in Cornwall, the contrast with London, fashion design school, accommodation, bedsit, library research, police precincts? The contrast with swinging 60s London, the Thunderball hoarding, the clubs, the lights, Soho, clubs and interiors, atmosphere?
3. The musical score, the songs of the 60s throughout the film, mood, accompanying characters, situations, the relevance of the lyrics? Creating the atmosphere of the time?
4. Ellie’s story, her mother’s death, psychic powers? Her grandmother and her support? Ambitions for dress design, arriving in London, seen as quaint with her accent, her own clothes? The Mean Girls attitude of her fellow students, sharing the room, outings, scoffing at her? The encounters with the male students? Her reaction, at classes, successful? Wanting to move, the advertisement, replying to Miss Collins, the interview, moving in?
5. The introduction to Miss Collins, her age, her bedsit, in Soho for decades, welcoming Ellie, the strict conditions? Supportive? Her later reaction to Ellie’s behaviour, with John visiting, ousting him? Her criticisms of Ellie, yet relenting? The background for the final revelation?
6. Ellie, going to sleep, the dreams, the beginnings of the nightmares? Going back to Soho in the 60s, the interest, delight, the dress fashions of the time? Going to the club, the use of mirrors with the reflection of Sandy in one, Ellie in the other? The effectiveness of this device? Alter ego? Their interchanging actions, especially the dancing? Ellie identifying with Sandy, her ambitions?
7. The character of Sandy, self-confident, from the swinging 60s, her clothes, going to the club, ambitions, to sing and dance, recommended to talk with Jack, his role as manager, her audition, her success, at the clubs, Jack and his manipulation of her, becoming a pimp, her experience with the “gentleman”? Her reacting against this, defiance of Jack? Ellie and her visions, assuming that Jack had murdered Sandy?
8. Ellie going to the police, the explanations of her visions, going to the libraries, searching for information about missing Persons?
9. Ellie and her going to the clubs, the encounter with the mysterious elderly gentleman, his presence? Ellie, her working the diner, with customers, erratic hours? The discussions with the gentleman, Ellie suspicious that he was Jack, his going into the road, hit by the car? The explanation that he is the policeman, and Ellie remembering him in her dreams?
10. Ellie, with Jack, fellow student, his friendship, support, the search for the missing persons? The return to the bedsit, being ousted?
11. The effect on Ellie, her own work, the dress designs, the encouragement of the tutor? The reaction of the other students?
12. The dreams becoming intense, the horror tropes, the men, haunting Sandy, like ghosts, the zombies touch? The intensity and the effect on Ellie?
13. The buildup to the climax, Miss Collins, the confrontation with Ellie, the realisation that she was Sandy, that she had murdered Jack, mayhem with the “gentleman”?
14. The touch of the apocalyptic, the fire, Ellie’s escape, Jack and his escape, his help, Sandy destroyed?
15. The aftermath, Ellie success, her show, the models and the catwalk, Jack and her grandmother present? Success?
16. How effective a 21^st-century story, a 60 story, the blend, and the touches of horror?