Last Night in Soho (2021)

Laura’s Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, this psychological horror film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to generally positive reviews. The movie didn’t do especially well in the box office after its theatrical release, but was nominated for several awards.
The Analysis:
Inspired by the music and fashion of the 1960s, Ellie Turner (McKenzie) dreams of becoming a fashion designer and sets out for London to study fashion design. One night, Ellie has a particularly realistic dream, where she is transported back to the London of the Swinging Sixties. In the dream, she follows the beautiful and bold Sandie (Taylor-Joy), a young woman intent on becoming a singer. Night after night, Ellie returns to the past in her dreams, which initially gives her inspiration for her designs and bolsters her confidence in herself. Eventually, what Ellie sees in the past threatens to jeopardize her future as visions from her dreams start to haunt her during the daytime.
The set design and costumes for this film are absolutely gorgeous. It has a solid soundtrack and skillfully invokes 60s nostalgia in the first act. The initial scene of Ellie entering 1960s London had a very similar feel to Midnight in Paris. While highlighting the glamor and glitz of the time period, the movie also shows the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry in London at the time. The movie becomes more sinister and trippy as the lines become blurred between what is real and what is haunting Ellie from the past. The last third of the film does lose a bit of its initial style and finesse as the plot gets complicated and intense. Reveals are thrown at the audience at breakneck speed, which I found overwhelming but ultimately worth it.
Last Night in Soho was genre-bending and unique, with a blend of elements from coming-of-age, horror, thriller, and drama films. As a big fan of thrillers, I really enjoyed this movie and it left me thinking for hours after I was done watching. I definitely recommend the film.
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