Last Night in Soho & Blind Nostalgic Romanticism

Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho (2021) is a psychological thriller that pays homage to blind nostalgic romanticism and violence against women in 1960s London.

Image via IMDb

The music, the costumes, the mystery and the violence all add to a film that really does have something for everyone. It nods to Midnight in Paris - but with murder and mystery. The dynamics at play are also similar to that of The Talented Mr Ripley. Ellie, an aspiring fashion student, moves into a room in London where every night she is able to travel to the 60s - a period in pop culture she also happens to adore very much. In these episodes, she watches the life of Sandy - a young girl who moves to the city with big dreams. But in her time travels, she is not just watching Sandy, she becomes Sandy.

The film's stunning cinematography encapsulates the bright lights of the Soho nightlife. It is the vivid, vibrant atmosphere that draws you in and makes you want to be there too. As Sandy descends the stairs to the underground bar, mirrors decorate the wall all the way to the bottom. These mirrors recur throughout the film, a perfect display of the Ellie/Sandy dynamic. It hones in on how they are different but also how much Ellie admires Sandy - and how she is living in her world, even if it's for the worst.

Image via Ciné Télé & Co.

Anya Taylor-Joy was absolutely enchanting as Sandy, calling upon the Ripley-esque dynamic between her and Ellie. Ellie changes her hair, buys 60s-inspired clothes, and uses all these adventures as inspiration for her designs at school - making the audience question her sensibilities when they later have to. The tone is set at the beginning when the wide-eyed Ellie is, to some level, haunted by her mother's ghost - as she appears to her in every mirror.

Mark Kermode of the Guardian film review cites how the film "slips seamlessly between harmony and dissonance" - and yes, it certainly does. Ellie's London is the modern London we know and love - and Wright seems to ensure that the city looks exactly as it does to any local, making the movie even more haunting and intrusive when Ellie's ghosts begin to appear in this version of London.

The film begins as a fun trip in nostalgia of 1960s London, a time that Ellie is obsessed with herself. But Wright quickly directs the audience to note that this time was not without violence and injustice - namely to women - and Sandy is just one of the many stories that are out there. Is he critiquing the modern draw to nostalgia and our romanticisation of the "vintage"?

From university mean girls to mothers, grandmothers, and snappy landlords - the film is dominated by female characters, save Jack (Matt Smith), John (Michael Ajao) and Lindsey (Terence Stamp). Perhaps except John, men in the film have no face - figuratively or literally. Little is known about them, and the uncertainty only means danger to Ellie. While I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a feminist film, it does have feminist readings - and I found it revolves more around the violence against women as a collective - rather than having dynamic female leads with complex narratives.

Image via Greg Williams for Universal Pictures

I perhaps would have liked to see more of an exploration on Ellie's mental health - and how these ghosts and her perception of them could represent a landscape of psychological struggle. Especially given that we are introduced to Ellie's ability to see ghosts by her seeing her mother, and discovering almost immediately that she had died by suicide. On top of that, Ellie's protective grandmother is a parental presence that hangs in the air, making us believe that we should worry for Ellie too.

The film, regardless, is fascinating in its cinematography, costume, soundtrack and characterisation. Its conception is certainly not the only thing that makes this film unique, for the story and its ending will have you at the edge of your seat too.