Last Night in Soho

I have a soft spot for Edgar Wright. He's got a knack for style, crafting genre films with sharp editing and a relentless drive that makes you want to watch them over and over. But Last Night in Soho feels like he took a bit of a breather. The drive and snappy editing that define his work take a backseat here, reserved mainly for the 60s scenes. When the film plunges you into that era, it's fantastic. But outside of those moments, it drags and feels sleepy. The one thing Wright nails as always is the soundtrack — it's absolutely stellar. (05/24/2024)

Edgar Wright is a talented director, and unlike other filmmakers who make their own genre and play in their own sandbox, his genre spectrum is diverse, yet miraculously the result is almost always quality filmmaking, and Last Night in Soho is no exception. What we have here is a film that is, quite objectively and in all respects, excellent. If it's supposed to be engaging and funny at the outset, it's engaging and funny; if it's supposed to pique the viewer's curiosity from the first few minutes, it piques their curiosity; and if it's supposed to be bloody gritty, atmospheric, uncomfortable and depressingly schizophrenic, believe me, it is. The first half had me glued to my seat from the opening minutes and for me, it's the best 50 minutes of cinema in a long time because I literally ate up everything and all the components, including the characters, the atmosphere, the colourful audiovisuals and the horror elements were served in absolutely precise doses. The only minor complaint I have is the ending, which to some extent degrades the whole "uplifting" imaginative idea of the film, which from the very beginning seems to be "something more than just an ordinary film", slightly by its ordinariness and to some extent predictability, but it doesn't change the fact that Last Night in Soho is a film I will remember for a long time and few things can get under my skin like that. A full-bodied, depressing, atmospheric to the point of excellence spectacle that scores points not only with the film itself, but for me with perhaps the best movie trailer of all time. Oh, and by the way, Thomasin McKenzie is a treasure. (11/03/2021)

This is London, where someone has died in every room of every building and on every street corner of the city. I like Edgar Wright very much, everything he does. Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim were no fluke and this retro mystery horror outing is very well done, in fact I'm surprised at how satisfied I am. There is a mix of genres throughout the film, but thankfully it all holds together and not once does it fall apart under the director's hands. It mixes drama, retro-crime, coming-of-age, dreamy fantasy, horror and mysterious psycho thriller. The whole thing relies on the excellent young actresses Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, my darling and who excels again. The horror elements are impressive, there are some pretty nasty scares as well as a few brutal scenes, so in that respect I'm satisfied. The retro soundtrack, atmosphere, engaging plot with a surprising climax, strong stylization and very well-written dialogue are also good. It's definitely not a pure horror film, but it's a good enough film in almost every respect, so I have nothing to complain about. Together with Malignant, the most outstanding mainstream genre film this year. Story 4/5, Action 3/5, Humour 1/5, Violence 3/5, Entertainment 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 5/5. 8.5/10. (11/22/2021)

One sort of expects form over substance from Wright, especially in a film that wets both feet in the waters of Giallo, Lynch and the 1960s. Maybe I wouldn't have expected such a big split between the exquisite form and the empty content, but whatever. The hauntingly enchanting hallucinatory atmosphere makes up for a lot of it, likewise with Wright in some places of the first half, which although it's not without its hiccups, it definitely has something (and especially someone) to build on. Unfortunately, though, Wright decided to start grafting some content in the second half and ruined everything, especially during the final 20 minutes, which are unintentionally ridiculous. What is most fascinating about the whole shattering finale is that even the otherwise top-notch form betrays him during it. (11/03/2021)

A thoroughly intoxicating experience that drew me in like few films manage to do. After 14 years, Edgar Wright has made a film that I have nothing to reproach, and above all, the way he made it is breathtaking. Amazing visuals to the rhythm of superbly chosen music, clouds of directorial ideas, a clever (perhaps just a little too literal at the end) screenplay and a fantastic cast, of which Anya Taylor-Joy stands out, but Thomasin McKenzie keeps on her heels with his transformation until he eventually is on par with her, and Matt Smith is, as always, a great choice. I look forward to experiencing it all again. (11/26/2021)