Rent Last Night in Soho on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Edgar Wright (story by), Edgar Wright & Krysty Wilson-Cairns (screenplay by)
Directed by: Edgar Wrigh
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker.
Verdict
This starts out as a parallel between two different times and ends up as a horror/thriller. It's that twist that makes you wonder what this movie is or will be. This had such promise that just isn't fulfilled. The message I thought this was building in the beginning turns out to be a mistake on my part. This ends up being a lot shallower than I expected as it becomes part thriller, horror, and mystery. My expectations were higher than usual based on Wright's previous work.
It depends.
Review
Wright's last movie Baby Driver fused action and songs so that it often felt like a music video. This is his follow up, though my favorite film of his would be the unparalleled comedy Hot Fuzz.
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| Thomasin McKenzie plays Ellie |
Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) leaves her small hometown for fashion school in London. She doesn't fit in well with the typical crowd, but her classmates aren't all that kind either. They're quite cruel. I'm sure they're acting out of jealousy or another issue, but I didn't expect it mattered in this story and it doesn't. Ellie also experiences a culture shock coming from such a small town. She soon moves to an apartment to escape her classmates. I wondered how she was going to afford it. I get why she left.
This sets up Ellie seeing people that aren't there. This really kicks into gear at her new apartment where she has a vivid dream set in the '60s. That is Ellie's favorite time and place. It's such a cool sequence where Ellie and Sandie (Anya-Taylor Joy) switch places in the dream and see each other in reflections. I suppose it's simple compositing, but the mirror images are really cool. I was hoping to see more of that in the movie. Sandie has the confidence and attitude Ellie lacks.
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| Anya Taylor-Joy plays Sandie |
Ellie's dreams are blurring the lines of reality. I wondered if she was actually warping into the past. Is it her, the apartment, or something else. Sandie starts to influence Ellie who changes her hair and style. From this point the movie could go in a number of ways. Is this going to end up with Ellie trying to live in this dream world and neglecting the real world? It doesn't go as I expect.
This gets dark quickly. We're seeing the seedier side of entertainment. The movie falls farther into the horror genre. Ellie is freaking out and it doesn't seem like this will end well for her. Ellie then decides to solve a murder, and that seems like a needle in a haystack. This movie provides a few misdirections.
I thought this was going somewhere, and that there would be a reason for this strange connection Ellie has. I guess there is, but it also doesn't explain the visions Ellie has everywhere.
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