MovieChat Forums > Last Night in Soho (2021) Discussion > Intriguing start…

Intriguing start…

posted 3 years ago by Drooch (5333)
2 replies | jump to latest

… but gives way to a fairly generic ghost story.

The first half is bewildering but feels like it has emotional truth underneath - that feeling you get when watching a David Lynch film. The mystery is exciting.

Sadly that mystery doesn’t lead to anything especially profound or meaningful. It’s still fun and the twists are surprising but they don’t take us ‘deeper’.

I also found the boo scares and CGI ghost chase scenes too much. It would have been so much more effective with a subtler approach, maybe some prosthetics or in-camera distortion effects.

Finally, the white-men-are-evil messaging was obnoxious, tedious and distastefully sexist and racist. Sad to see Edgar Wright go woke.

He’s still got it when it comes to style though, the whole thing looked and sounded delicious, and the cast were fantastic. McKenzie is a serious talent. All in all a worthwhile experience but disappointingly thin after a very promising start.

[–] FootOfDavros (8681) 2 years ago

Excellent review. Sums it up very well...

[–] Ace_Spade (9654) 2 months ago

Yeah, that's sadly a pretty good summary of it.

I went in knowing nothing, and everything in the first half was this amazing series of curve-balls where I didn't know where it was going. By the time it started getting there, I was a bit let down.

The cinematography is gorgeous - the best of it is the first "dream/vision" that Ellie has - and the design of the movie is phenomenal throughout.

I liked the way it showed the danger that a woman faces out in the world just from casual interactions with men - that was handled well up until the bizarre tone to the ending, which (MILD SPOILER) basically justifies some criminal activity because men deserve it.

Overall, I like the movie, I just don't love it. Everything starts to unravel as she gets crazier. It feels like it's driving towards something really revelatory, but the revelation at the end comes with the weird, amoral messaging.