Last Night in Soho: Nostalgia as Nightmare

Nostalgia drives Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho. It moves from the 1960s to the 1990s. “Alive” fails, “dead” fits, “unhealthy” applies. Wright turns nostalgia into a ghost-filled nightmare. He leaves behind comedy and crafts a narrative that serves the story rather than frames it.

Since his horror-comedy debut with Shaun of the Dead, he has worked inside familiar genres. He staged an alien invasion, plotted robberies, adapted Ant-Man, made Baby Driver, filmed a buddy cop story, favors thick accents, rapid cuts, tightly timed musical beats, and kinetic camera work.

In his new film, he contributes to the latest wave of giallo-style movies, similar to Malignant directed by James Wan. Wright borrows from Italian masters Dario Argento and Mario Bava. His style, masculine and exploitative, gains a sharper edge. He places a woman at the center. He creates a bleak world of exploitation, echoing Damien Chazelle’s La La Land transposed into horror. He updates style and substance.

Before Eloise, or Ellie, moved to London for college, her grandmother warned her about the presence of many bad people in the city. The setup underpins the film’s horror and nostalgia, shaping Ellie’s anticipation and her perspective on events. She reacts like a country girl arriving in a big city. The audience also anticipates and experiences everything through Ellie’s eyes, making Wright’s latest work an incredibly compelling psychological mystery or horror.

Nothing is scarier than a woman feeling attacked by men from all directions. Ellie’s insecurity about her living situation drives her to seek refuge in another era or time. Wright achieves this by creating a film that feels like a form of time travel. Every time Ellie sleeps in her boarding room, she is transported to the retro-filled 1960s.

Ellie views the world through Sandie’s eyes. Sandie pursues a singing career, while Ellie takes a different perspective and begins to aim for a career in fashion design. From the start, Ellie obsesses over 1960s style and longs to experience Sandie’s era and its glamour.

It is just the beginning. As Ellie struggles through her first night at the university dorm, she encounters a more mundane character. She feels alienated because her roommate, Jocasta, pushes her to leave the hall and find her place. For Ellie, the change of scene is welcome, but it is almost certainly the beginning of the real problem. Framed at night by the dazzling red and blue neon light from a cafe, her room looks deathly pale.

While lost in daydreams of ’60s shows and ballads, she is whisked away to an alternative, fantasy London. Ellie embodies and observes the character of Sandie, a confident, intelligent, yet ambitious young star played by Taylor-Joy, whose star power initially mesmerizes Ellie. During production, McKenzie joined the cast and reshaped Ellie. The film is split into two parts. It pairs a shy, humble student from the present with 1960s street stars. Over time, the boundary between the two characters blurred.

When Ellie sleeps at night, she enters a lucid dream, a mental portal to Soho some 60 years earlier. Through Sandie’s eyes, Ellie witnesses her journey to London in pursuit of stardom. Sandie meets Jack, who becomes her manager and love interest, and Ellie is fascinated by the surface details of her dream.

The next day, Ellie finds her fashion school designs inspired by Sandie’s looks, even changing her hairstyle and buying vintage couture to resemble her. Consequently, she begins to prioritize her 60s dream at night and withdraws from interactions with real people, living in a state of nostalgia.

The setting takes a twisted and terrifying turn when Jack’s true motives are revealed. The romanticized past that Ellie initially embraced becomes a nightmare as Sandie becomes entangled in a world of exploitation and abuse by entrepreneurs. Ellie, now a silent observer, follows Sandie’s experiences and witnesses the mistreatment of women. Quickly, it turns into the nightmare Ellie desperately wants to escape, a haunting trip to an unfortunate ’60s fantasy world.

Soho was once a vibrant hub of music and art, but most of it has been replaced by luxury shops and restaurants since the 1960s. Odile Dicks-Mireaux and Marcus Rowland successfully capture the splendor of the vintage style, from bold color patterns to florals. However, Ellie’s interests remain superficial, focused on fashion and pop music, while her knowledge of the harsh realities of everyday life proves limited.

Wright reveals Soho at its peak. Men treated women like objects. Women were used, discarded, and then forgotten. The neighborhood still produced iconic sounds and looks. Its party culture and claims of liberation opened space for exploitation. Predators such as Jack and his clients thrived.

Ellie lives in Sandie’s world each night. The dream traps her, folding consciousness, fantasy, and sleep together. Schoolwork suffers. She drifts from classmates, unable to tell where the dream ends and reality begins.

Wright cites Argento’s Suspiria, an Italian giallo that combines elements of horror, thriller, and mystery. Soho reflects these influences, exposing Eloise to her mother’s past and the threat of history repeating. Ellie drifts through the city, her identity fading into its crowded streets.

Ellie suffers vivid dreams that flip from fantasy to horror. Wright draws inspiration from 1960s exploitation films, particularly British B-movies. These films show women facing Soho’s dark corners. Last Night in Soho channels that tone, blending danger with nostalgic spectacle.

The film shows the risks women face when pursuing independence and careers. Soho reveals Ellie and Sandie’s fears and vulnerabilities, turning them into targets of a beautiful but threatening fantasy. It warns that no era is flawless and nostalgia can mislead.

Last Night in Soho not only celebrates nostalgia but also pays tribute to the city of London. While the city can be a beautiful place full of possibilities and dreams, it can also quickly crush and tear people apart. This reality applies not only to Ellie and Sandie but also to many others who came before them and will come after. London is a city of intrigue and mystery, but its power can be dangerous and dark, creating a world of exploitation.

Wright skillfully evokes a sense of unpleasant dealings in the late-night red-light district venues of Soho. The neighborhood itself becomes a character in the film, with an ambitious finale that is stylish and slick while remaining emotionally and thematically satisfying. Wright establishes a central character with believable emotions and leaves a trail of exploits that avoids the cheesiness often associated with original films.

The film serves as a flashback to a cultural product and its creators, capturing the essence of London and the complexities of human experiences within its streets.

References

• Day, D. (2021). Last Night in Soho Movie Review (2021). RogerEbert.com.
• Grady, P. (2021). Last Night in Soho – Review. Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
• Kermode, M. (2021). Last Night in Soho Review – A Deliciously Twisted Journey Back to London’s Swinging Past. The Guardian.
• Wright, E. (Director). (2021). Last Night in Soho [Film]. Focus Features.