Last Night in Soho, A Review

A murder in the past, a mystery in the present.

Last Night in Soho follows Eloise ‘Ellie’ Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) an aspiring designer who moves to London to study at the London College of Fashion. Moving into the university halls Ellie soon clashes with her fellow roommates, having a much quieter and timid personality then roommate Jocasta (Synnøve Karlsen). Deciding to move out, Ellie rents a room from the elderly Mrs Collins (Diana Rigg), falling in love with her Soho based townhouse. In her new home Ellie soon behims dreaming of 60s singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit), living Sandie’s life as she meets talent manager Jack (Matt Smith, Doctor Who) who hopes to make her a star.

Continuing to dream about Sandie, Ellie soon begins emulating her in real life, adopting a new 60s style in her own clothes and uni work. The dreams however soon take a darker turn when Sandie is forced into prostituion by Jack, as a way to make ends meat. The lines between past and present soon begin to blur for Ellie as Sandie’s life gets worse and worse. Is such a dark fate also awaiting Ellie or can she take back control of her own life and work out what really happened to Sandie before it’s too late?

Last Night in Soho was a brilliant thriller with a clever and unique concept. I loved the idea of Eloise jumping into Sandie’s life and living out her 60s fantasy, living vicariously through Sandie and using this in ger own rising fashion career. The then darker twist and reality of life in the 60s gave the film a much darker tone, playing into the horror genre and allowing for some real scares. Last Night in Soho was the perfect blend of fashion, ghost story, horror and thriller and I really enjoyed watching.

I absolutely loved how heavily the 1960s featured throughout Last Night in Soho, I’m a massive fan of the 60s and anything set in the era (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Ms Fisher Modern) and I just loved to visually appealing everything was. From the wardrobes to the music to just the overall look of the film, everything about Last Night in Soho was beautiful. I also liked how the film didn’t try to overly glamorise the past and highlighted how dangerous it was to live in London during these times, it’s not exactly the same as living through a war but there are just as worse fates, especially for young and vulnerable women.

Last Night in Soho was just so incredibly creepy, playing out like a classic Hitchcock thriller. From the younger and vulnerable lead (on both sides of the story) to the downright terrifying ghosts that chase Eloise around, Last Night in Soho was pretty chilling all around. The film was able to blend the supernatural with a very real but just as terrifying threat, in the form of predatory man and sexual assault. These are very real horrors that a lot of people unfortunately face every day and the film was able to blend it with the ghost story to create something that was quite brilliant.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Last Night in Soho’s ending and if I’m being honest it left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I liked the twist of Sandie still being alive and being Mrs Collins but I didn’t like how the film tried to turn it into some sort of serial killer, vilifying her actions when she was clearly the victim in the situation. What’s worse is that the film and try to make you feel sorry for the dozens of men who had assaulted her, having them I’ll beg and plead Eloise to save them and even attempt to help her escape Mrs Collins. It just feel like completely the wrong message to be sending out, Trying to make you feel sympathy for a bunch of rapists and make an assault victim into some sort of cliched horror villain, it was a bit disappointing really not the ending I was looking for.

Overall Last Night in Soho was A creepy and visually appealing piece and apart from the film’s ending I really enjoyed watching. The 60s clothing, music and location were completely spectacular and I loved how Eloise jumped from past present, intertwining the two decades. The mystery aspect and witnessing Sandie’s tragic life and how Eloise is haunted in the present also added a real creep factor to the film, showcasing a very real horror even in a ghost story. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the film is ending but aside from this I did really enjoy watching and would definitely recommend to any horror or thriller fans.