Movie Review: Last Night in Soho

 Ideas of the past are often inherently romantic. There's something really appealing about being able to escape from the problems of today's world and dive into the most idealistic cultural aspects of a bygone era. But is there such a thing of going too FAR with the glamorization of the past? This is the question driving Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho and at least in the case of the events of the film, the answer is a hard yes.

The alluring nostalgic vessel Wright chooses to explore here is the swinging London nightlife neighborhood of Soho in the 60's. The protagonist Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie in another great lead turn) has become obsessed with this era/location as a way to numb the pain inflicted by her tragic upbringing that included dealing with the death of her mother at a young age and being viewed as a social outcast due to her quiet, awkward demeanor. Ellie finally gets to see what Soho is all about as she heads to the London College of Fashion, but her excitement quickly wains as she is overwhelmed by the vastness of the city and continues to struggle to make friends. Shortly after moving into an apartment off-campus on account of being overwhelmed by the people and activity at her school, Ellie's dreams finally come true as a dormant supernatural gift of hers is awakened that allows her to transport back into 60's Soho during her sleep. These adventures sees her becoming transfixed by the life of nightclub singer Sandy (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her manager turned lover Jack (Matt Smith). After a few nights of being swept away by Sandy's life (and subsequently changing her own look to reflect Sandy's), these magical moments quickly turn into crippling nightmares as Ellie begins to believe that Sandy was murdered by Jack. Thoroughly shaken, Ellie dedicates her entire existence in the present to discover the truth about what happened to Sandy-even if it comes at the expense of her own sanity and safety.

While far from Wright's most accomplished film, Last Night in Soho does provide proof that he's capable of tackling darker material without numbing the palpable giddiness that drives his craft. Wright and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917) penned a solid script that balances the intoxicating glamour driving this colorful era of London with critiques centering around the danger, exploitation, general seediness, etc that was sitting right underneath its posh exterior and a strong coming-of-age character arc for Ellie while the stunning neon cinematography from Chung-hoon Chung fuels this hallucinatory nightmare narrative where reality is questioned nearly step of the way. The actual meat of the time travel-based mystery isn't as strong as the visual pop or delivery of its messaging, but Wright's signature confident energy behind the camera, some clever twists in the final act and ace supporting performances from some of England's most beloved character actors (Terrence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, the late Diana Rigg) that add to the ample misdirection present prevent it from ever spiraling into negative territory. Whether or not all of the smoke and mirrors behind its central mystery will stand up to the scrutiny of the rewatch viewings that have typically elevated Wright's films to the next level remains to be seen, but for now at least Last Night in Soho is a stylish, spellbinding psychological thriller that's easy to get swept away by and hard to forget.

Grade: B+