Director; Edgar Wright. Starring; Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith. Rated R. Color. 116 Minutes.
Growing up in a world where the glamorous life is so important is exactly what Eloise is struggling with. Living with her grandmother, the young lady dreams of 1960’s inspired dresses and being able to dawn them on Hollywoods biggest stars. Unfortunately, the naive young women is haunted. The demons surrounding her dream will not let her free because, after all, what right does a girl from a rural town have to succeed in one of the biggest fashion cities in the world such as London.
Thomasin McKenzie stars as Eloise, a true optimist in life. “Soho” opens with our heroine dancing through the halls of her childhood home wearing a beautiful gown made out of newspaper and magazine clippings. Her grandmother, allegedly, is watching over her with ‘Ellie’ receiving a letter that she has been accepted to a prestigious fashion school in London. The journey towards her dream includes a creepy Taxi Driver (Colin Mace) who thinks Ellie should be a model due to her sexy legs, a washed-up roommate Peggy (Rita Tushingham), and a charming black guy named John (Michael Ajao) who has an instant affection towards the small town girl.
The city is overwhelming. Something Ellie’s grandmother warned her about as Ellie’s mother killed herself while entering the same situation in fashion. A tragedy that haunts the young lady. Then, after moving out of a sorority girl style apartment complex, Ellie is inspired for some reason. Her obsession with the 60’s fashion scene becomes a reality as every time she goes to sleep she is transported to portray the mind of Sandie (Anya-Taylor Joy). Sandie is beautiful and determined to become the next great performer at the hottest club in Soho.
The gig looks good on paper. Eloise travels into a world she has always been obsessed with. Her apparent doppelgänger across time is talking her way towards an ultimate goal thanks to the help of Jack (Matt Smith), a “WELL KNOWN” agent. Turns out dreams are not as perfect as they appear.
Constant transportations from modern day back to Ellie’s perfect in her mind time zone begin to take a tole. Seeing and literally experiencing what Sandie truly went through in a time when women were simply toys for white men to do as they please with vastly removes the blanket of the glamours from the early days. Ellie almost loses the one guy who generally gives a damn about her in the process because of an obsession with a past time.
“Soho” is an incredibly well filmed movie. Director Edgar Wright and Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung do brilliant things when it comes to characters in both mirrors as well as dancing sequences. Both Mackenzie and Taylor-Joy are exceptional while playing dual characters from different as well as similar worlds. They just don’t know it yet. The ending of this film is a bit controversial. You make your choice. Myself, I believe it brought things full circle in an intelligent way. “Last Night in Soho” is an innovative way to look at the unexplainable thing that we as a society label as mental health, and is also a huge F-YOU to privileged white men. Now that is a message I can get behind.
SUCK FACTOR: 1 out of 7 (7 Means Your Movie Really SUCKS!)
The SUCK FACTOR! How it works. We have flipped the script on the standard ratings system. If you made a masterpiece, such as “The Godfather”, you get a clean 0 out of 7 SUCKS! If you make complete garbage, such as a Michael Bay movie, you receive an imperfect 7 out of 7. Meaning your movie truly SUCKS!
Greg Squared Films 