Last Night in Soho is a British mystery horror film directed by veteran filmmaker Edgar Wright. Edgar is the man behind uniquely styled action comedy films, such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, to Baby Driver. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Hartcourt McKenzie, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, and Diana Rigg. The film premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and has now been publicly released. With a different genre this time, can this film be in line with the best works of the filmmaker?
Ellie (McKenzie) is a young country girl who dreams of becoming a costume stylist. To achieve his dream he ended up taking studies at a design school in the city of London. A cultural collision was unavoidable, Ellie, who was not familiar with the style of the city’s youth, finally chose to live alone in an old apartment in the middle of the city. It turns out, Ellie has metaphysical abilities, and she is connected to the spirit that once lived in the house. Ellie is transported to the past which makes her drift between her studies. Not realizing it too, this adventure led to a tragic incident that had happened there.
The filmmaker’s style has been a favorite since Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. His style thickens in Baby Driver through his fast editing, montage, dynamic cinematography to the use of music and songs. In Soho, Edgar still provides dynamic editing and cinematography with the dominance of songs and music throughout most of the film. One thing that is different from the previous one is the artistic side, namely with the dominance of the past setting of the “nightlife” of the City of London which is presented very impressively. A perfect example of the filmmaker’s style plus his artistic style, is presented in Ellie’s first flashback as Sandie. The charming combination of mise_en_scene, cinematography, editing, and mirror tricks, to the music and songs makes this the best segment of the film, even one of the best in its genre.
This charming aesthetic achievement is unfortunately not matched by the development of a biting story. With such a promising premise, the filmmaker was unable to process the tone of the script so that he was able to maintain the rhythm of the mystery scene by scene. The second half seemed too long, with several statements that should have been revealed without having to present unimportant things, and not difficult to anticipate. This makes some moments look tiring because the observant audience will not be fooled by the little tricks that are presented. It was too naive for Ellie to accuse someone as she thought without a solid argument. Twists are no longer surprising, especially if you are really observant.
By highlighting the strong mise_en_scene, editing and music with a distinctive touch from the filmmaker, Last Night in Soho is not able to process the uniqueness of the premise so that it is more bite and the direction of the story is not difficult to anticipate. Some of the logic of the story seems to be stuck even though it doesn’t need to be revealed here. However, it is undeniable that apart from the filmmaker’s energetic style, which is still his mainstay, Soho is also noted for being able to explore the supernatural horror genre with a fresh approach. Edgar Wright is indeed a highly talented filmmaker who is waiting for the moment to become one of the best filmmakers ever, even though Soho is still not the answer.
