Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho mostly praised in first reviews
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Edgar Wright's first movie since Baby Driver is almost here, but will Last Night in Soho be worth the wait?
The time-hopping psychological thriller has now received its premiere at the Venice Film Festival and the first reviews trickling out suggest that the film has, mostly, been a hit with the critics.
Last Night in Soho introduces us to aspiring fashion designer Eloise (Jojo Rabbit's Thomasin McKenzie), a Cornwall girl who makes the big move to London in order to study at the London College of Fashion. But her love for the 1960s, instilled by the grandmother who brought her up (60s icon Rita Tushingham), makes her a target of ridicule for some of the other students.
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Eloise decides to move into her own place and rents an apartment from the mysterious Miss Collins (the late Diana Rigg), which looks like it's stuck in the 60s itself. And things take a strange turn from there, as Eloise starts finding herself being transported back to the era on a regular basis.
In the 60s, she finds that her life is entwined with that of ambitious young singer Sandie (The Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy), who is hoping to make it big in London. Sandie soon meets the charming Jack (Doctor Who actor Matt Smith) who promises to help her make a name for herself.
But despite Sandie's promising career, and Eloise's delight at having a window to the time period she idolises, things soon take a very dark turn for both of them.
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Last Night in Soho has been well-received by most critics, being labelled "an intoxicatingly distinctive, delirious creation" by IndieWire, but the movie hasn't been universally praised, with Variety calling it a "murky, middling blend of horror and time-traveling fantasy" and a "surprising misfire".
We've gathered a selection of reviews below to give you a flavour of how the film has been received by critics:
"Taylor-Joy is perfect for her role. She oozes charisma and star quality. Her performance of 'Downtown' is spine-tingling. Wright captures both the exhilaration of the era and its darker, seedier side: the misogyny and sexual violence.
"The Sixties interludes, though, are only one part of Last Night in Soho. The story is also set in the present day – and unfortunately the contemporary scenes are nowhere near as vivid as those from half a century ago."
"Last Night in Soho is a surprising misfire, all the more disappointing for being made with such palpable care and conviction. Wright's particular affections for B-movies, British Invasion pop and a fast-fading pocket of urban London may be written all over the film, but they aren't compellingly written into it, ultimately swamping the thin supernatural sleuth story at its heart. Which is to say that Wright has lovingly made Last Night in Soho for himself and, well, it's not clear who else."
"Left behind is (Wright's) trademark hyperactive editing and insistent post-modernism; in its place is flowing movement and intense emotion. It's not just different from his previous films; it's different from everyone else's previous films ... Last Night In Soho is still an intoxicatingly distinctive, delirious creation that soars out of every pigeonhole you put it in...
"Last Night In Soho twists and turns between being a perky sitcom about the hassles of student life to a rollicking time-travel romance to a full-on horror movie. And I do mean full-on. Not all of the jokes are brand new, and not all of the plotting stands up to inspection, but the skill with which Wright navigates between tones and time periods is exceptional."
"Leave it to Edgar Wright to play with genre expectations and deliver yet another delightfully off-kilter thriller that also thrills with its undeniably trippy atmosphere and blast to the past of swinging 60s London...
"A more vibrant and exciting addition to the genre would be hard to find. McKenzie makes the most of this full blown starring role, well out of whack with what we have seen her do to date, and brings it home. Taylor-Joy is a perfect counterpart to Eloise. Smith is properly gangsteristic".
"Edgar Wright takes a grab-bag of 1960s ingredients, paints them up and makes them dance to his tune. His film is thoroughly silly and stupidly enjoyable.
"Wright's film struts into its premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival glossy with new life, still warm from the editing suite and already looking like something of a relic itself."
Last Night in Soho is due for release in the US on October 22 and in the UK on October 29.
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