Last Night in Soho is a 2021 British psychological horror film starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Matt Smith. The film follows Eloise “Ellie” Turner (McKenzie) moving to London to study fashion design at the London College of Fashion. When she moves into a bedsit, she has fantastical dreams as a glamorous young woman named Sandie (Taylor-Joy) living in the 1960s, who desperately wants to become a singer. These dreams becoming living nightmares for Ellie when they interfere with her daily life as a student.
The plot of the film excites the viewer with Sandie’s mysterious allure and her love of the stage. After all, we’re seeing these visions of Sandie as Ellie, who is nearly the opposite of Sandie until she slowly starts to become her. As Ellie transforms into Sandie, the dreams also escalate, and we are lost in this fever dream in what’s real and what’s fantasy.
The pacing with the events were just right: we alternate well between Ellie’s real life and the life she lives as Sandie in her dreams, all the while keeping viewers on their toes with the growing suspense of their quickly unravelling lives. What stood out to me the most was the imagery and coloring throughout the film. The entirety of the film was beautifully edited. An example of this was the contrast between the bright daylight seen as Ellie went about as a student, and the seductive darkness of the nights that Sandie thrives in.
I thought the actors all did fantastic in each of their roles and displayed the various complexities of their respective characters very well. With each passing moment, the viewer learns more about each character and how they are not quite as they seem. This really played into the “psychological horror” genre that they aimed for, showing that their characters are more complex than you think.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this film, and I hope I can encounter more similar films like it in the future.
Review by apaulagizeVIP 3BlockedParent2023-10-15T02:07:21Z
Last Night in Soho is a 2021 British psychological horror film starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Matt Smith. The film follows Eloise “Ellie” Turner (McKenzie) moving to London to study fashion design at the London College of Fashion. When she moves into a bedsit, she has fantastical dreams as a glamorous young woman named Sandie (Taylor-Joy) living in the 1960s, who desperately wants to become a singer. These dreams becoming living nightmares for Ellie when they interfere with her daily life as a student.
The plot of the film excites the viewer with Sandie’s mysterious allure and her love of the stage. After all, we’re seeing these visions of Sandie as Ellie, who is nearly the opposite of Sandie until she slowly starts to become her. As Ellie transforms into Sandie, the dreams also escalate, and we are lost in this fever dream in what’s real and what’s fantasy.
The pacing with the events were just right: we alternate well between Ellie’s real life and the life she lives as Sandie in her dreams, all the while keeping viewers on their toes with the growing suspense of their quickly unravelling lives. What stood out to me the most was the imagery and coloring throughout the film. The entirety of the film was beautifully edited. An example of this was the contrast between the bright daylight seen as Ellie went about as a student, and the seductive darkness of the nights that Sandie thrives in.
I thought the actors all did fantastic in each of their roles and displayed the various complexities of their respective characters very well. With each passing moment, the viewer learns more about each character and how they are not quite as they seem. This really played into the “psychological horror” genre that they aimed for, showing that their characters are more complex than you think.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this film, and I hope I can encounter more similar films like it in the future.