a review of last night in soho 🔪👢⏰ 

I absolutely adored this movie but I agree that Ellie's final designs were insulting at best.

I think the reason Ellie sees a vision of Sandy dying is because in a way she did die. The light and drive in her was killed everytime a man took advantage of her. A piece of her died little by little until finally Jack took the last bit of her. Until she was completely gone and was no longer the Sandy with a dream or passion. So in a way, Jack did kill her

As far as Ms. Collins’ past tenants, she actually mentions the fact that many past tenants left in the middle of the night without a word, which is why she initially wanted Ellie to give her so much money upfront. It’s heavily implied that they saw visions too, and left because they got scared

I will literally watch anything with the queen Anya Taylor Joy

I really enjoyed this flick, especially Thomasin, Anya and Matt's performances. The set design and cinematography was gorgeous, especially when Eloise first arrives in 1960's London, and the various sets allowing Ellie to peek into Sandie's life.

ellie is a medium, that's why she can see the visions. she's sensitive to people and energy and there's so much in that room that she can fully be transported back there. they mention at some point the idea of important events leaving a mark on the place it happened in, and this is the thought behind the paranormal aspects. the room where sandie lived not only held the memories of her, but the men who were murdered there. this is why she is seeing sandie even though sandie is not dead, the imprint of the memory is so strong. the fact that ellie is a medium is why she can see her mom and sandie in mirrors, they've left marks on her, so she carries a bit of them around with her. i know that not everyone would get this whole thing on one watch or even at all, but it explains a lot of the paranormal stuff, i think.

I don't think they showed a wrong vision when sandie got stabbed, i think it was more about the mental feeling of abuse, it was so traumatizing, and considering that the room kept that trauma more than being haunted per se, that when she was being abused she felt like dying that moment was her turning point and it was then when Sandie lost the person she was before for good.

I LOVED watching ellie's ghost eye makeup as it slowly gets ruined.....I often replicate it just to go to the grocery store. From the cheap party city white and black face paint that would run at the slightest drop of water. It's so amazing that within the first few hours of it on her face, the white has already wiped off, and the black started streaking in the rain. However I've found that even though it's cheap clown makeup, it sticks in the weirdest places. So for it to still be on ellie's eyes the next day is completely realistic

I couldnt disagree more about her schizophrenic visions of her mom. That was vital in establishing our main character as an unreliable narrator. If they didnt do that, then we might have believed her when she started having these visions and the end twist wouldnt have been so successful. The movie was fantastic in my opinion.

I really hope it gets nominated for Best Costume because they were absolutely gorgeous!!

i think the ghost of ellie's mom is there to imply that she's schizophrenic and that her mom was too (i don't remember the exact words but ellie tells the rest that she killed herself because of mental illness), like we're meant to wonder if ellie's visions are actually real or if she's just delusional, at least at first.

Regarding Ellie's vision being wrong when she sees Sandy die; I interpreted that as the effect of her being roofied earlier in the night, I assumed that her being drugged messed with her perception, she saw struggle and blood, and assumed that Sandy was the one who died, because Jack was clearly already established as a violent person to Ellie.

It’s nice to hear you liked it even though it has flaws-I feel the exact same way, and it was kind of disheartening to see how critics just ruthlessly bashed it. (Also, I’ve been wondering if you were going to do a video on this!)

My theory was that the detective who seemingly tried to help Sandy actually ended up taking advantage of her just like the rest and that's why he had such a sinister aura about him

I thought the "don't overromanticize the past" message was very minor. Everyone says that's what the movie was about, but it seemed kind of irrelevant. Ellie liked the fashion and music and culture, she wasn't saying there was no crime or bad people or anything. The movie seemed to be mainly about sexualization and abuse of women and how harmful that is. That a woman can be so talented and men will still want her to take her clothes off.

As a black person, John character was most definitely giving parental black friend/overly supportive black friend vibes. Like the way he was so enamored and stood beside Ellie through ALL OF HER EPISODES even though he barely knew her and her situation was just so… odd lol. Also that part where she and him were about to get intimate and the visions of Sandy’s murder happened at the same time kinda left a bad taste in my mouth because obviously she was the only one who saw what was happening and from a stranger walking in it looked like a black man was about to assault a white woman and that situation could’ve got really bad really quick so that bothered me. But besides that I actually really enjoyed the movie it kept me on the edge of my seat and it was STUNNING visually I can’t wait till it gets on steaming sites so I can binge watch it !! lol

I watched a different video that explained the type of ghosts the movie was going for. Basically the ghost aren’t people haunting and area, it’s the physic energy of an emotionally charged moment that is trapped in a space. Going off that I see Ellie’s vision of Sandy’s death as the methodical death of Sandy. Once she killed Jack the person that Sandy was at the beginning of the movie was dead. Killed my circumstance and trams. So it wasn’t that her vision was wrong, it was more like it was as literal as we had originally assumed.

Why did Ellie wake up with a hickie but then that physical connection between them never comes up again? Why could Ellie see Sandy's "ghost" when Sandy is still alive? (I know she symbolically "died" but is that how ghosts work? Is Ellie not seeing ghosts but just memories?) I really liked this movie right up until the third act, then it became so over the top and silly.

Honestly this movie was so good but at the start (before her visions) the vibe of the movie felt like it was already shot quite in the past and i was almost shocked to see the use of technology and the mention of kylie jenner

one of the most visually stunning films i have EVER seen. so much inspiration for a mod/swinging 60s nerd like me. there were a few plot holes that bothered me a bit and i felt like the boyfriend wasn’t really utilized much but it wasn’t enough to ruin the experience as a whole. everyone in the cast killed it, designers killed it, director killed it, writer killed it, overall a great film and maybe my favorite that i saw this year. *eta* as a survivor of numerous SA’s, the twist really took me by surprise and shocked me to my core. i don’t know that i can watch that part again if i choose to do so but in a weirdly sardonic way it almost felt like my own kind of revenge fantasy that i was watching play out in front of me. i can’t say for certain how others that haven’t been in that situation reacted to it but it really left a mark on me.

(Copy/pasting my comment from Amanda The Jedi’s review of Last Night In SoHo, hope you don’t mind!) I think that John definitely suffers from Edgar Wright Love Interest Syndrome (see: Debora from Baby Driver) where he doesn’t really give them a life outside of being there for the main character through thick and thin. It’s also pretty loaded that John is the first Black protagonist Wright has ever written, and having him not only have no personality or motivation outside of caring about his white maybe-girlfriend, but ALSO having him very casually brush off that he was accused of raping her and was physically attacked as a result of that…it really didn’t sit well with me. I absolutely love this film, but Wright still has things to learn as an artist, especially regarding characters of color.

i'm so glad i'm not the only one who enjoyed this movie and thought the costumes were gorgeous. i will say hearing you call matt smith a "veteran actor" truly shook me as in my head he's still a 26 year old newcomer

i think the fact that ellie sees her mothers ghost is very important to the story. it’s implied that her sensitivity to the supernatural is why she can see all the apparitions and no one else can. ellie seeing her mother is an early indication that she is sensitive to that kind of thing.

i didn’t love Ellie’s designs at the end either !! they were so underwhelming and just not what I was expecting based on her sketches she’s still a student so I’ll cut her some slack lol

Last Night in Soho reminded me so much of 1997's Perfect Blue, which I thought was executed absolutely perfectly-it follows a very similar vision and idea, but I think the main difference between them is that I don't know whether the visions of Sandie are hallucinations or reality, which confuses me, rather than in Perfect Blue where the lack of clarity is what makes it thrilling. Anyways, love love love Anya Taylor-Joy and if you love this genre of film, pls check out Perfect Blue! The animation, use of color, lighting, everything is so perfect.

I thought the supporting character/boyfriend had no personality and story of his own, except for being overly nice and having no boundaries with a girl he barely knows (basically doing anything for her). Which is a shame. He could have been interesting. But besides that and the fact that it lacked subtlety at times, I thought it was very exciting, and I loved the fact that the horror of the movie was something actually very real and disturbing about society (and not a scary ghost or a random psychopath). Still, I was also disappointed by the last scene. I was hoping that she would have turned the dress into something kind of gory but in a stylish and impactful way. Instead, it's simply the dresses she saw from the past with a small twist of modernity. Oh, I also thought he was inspired by Repulsion but I didn't know about the film Don't Look Now. Sounds interesting.

Jocasta in 7:42 is acrually the protagonist of scottish horror miniseries Clique, where she portrays brilliantly the dark underground of womanwood in a univerity setting. it's shocking and amazing, you'll like it if you liked this film.

This movie was also heavily influenced by Giallo films from the 70s. She’s far too obscure, but there’s an actress named Edwige Fenech, who was like the 70’s scream queen in Italian horror. Her look and style is just flawless.

Ngl, I definitely swooned when Sam Claflin made his brief appearance in the film (had no idea he was in this), and from the moment I saw him, I was like, "Oh, he's definitely a good guy. There's no way he's as skanky as the rest of Sandy's clients." And I'm just glad that I was right about that lol too bad he made no sense as an elderly detective in terms of his character aside from being a red herring

Last Night in Soho was, without a doubt, my favourite film this year! Thomasin, Anya and Matt were absolutely BRILLIANT in their respective roles! The cinematography, the lighting, the costumes and the music absolutely knocked my socks off!! STUNNING!! And that dance scene with the switching between Thomasin and Anya!! Some of the cleverest camera work I've seen in a film!! Also, loved seeing the Phelps Twins together on screen again :)

I didn't really think those were literal ghosts tbh, they felt to me more like some form of energy tied to the trauma in that house

At first I was sooo into this, the visuals, the costumes and the first 60s flashbacks/visions were amazing imo. As time went by though I kind of lost interest as things became too messy for my liking. The ending wasn't that interesting and the love interest, John, was basically a manic pixie dream boy with nothing going for him

Ms. Collins/ Sandie explaining that the house smells to Ellie foreshadows that there’s actual corpses in there.

I really loved the movie in general, but I found the way fashion was integrated in the plot a little bit disappointing. It is implied that Ellie is an amazing design talent, which has brought her from a little English village straight to London College of Fashion. And we also see this, the craftsmanship of the paper dress she probably did for the application is amazing, as are the clothes she says she made herself, and her general sense of style. I think this makes it feel weird when Jocanda and the girls dunk on her for her clothes, when it so obvious that Ellie is much more skilled when it comes to fashion. But I agree that this happens. I also think that this is what John immediately sees in her, that she is at LCF because of her talent, not because of clout. That makes it so infuriating that her recreation of the 60s dress is so basic. And when she dresses more like Sandy, i find it very apparent that this look does not suit her, or at least she applies it like a 16 year old who has just discovered vintage fashion. When you interpret this as her having a mental breakdown that turns her 60s interest into an obsession, this makes sense, but the other characters, like her teacher and John, don't seem to mind and compliment her on her suddenly subpar fashion. The fashion show at the end is similar, Ellie returns to her usual, great style, but the outfits she has designed look like someone much less inspired riffed on the 60s dress Ellie did (though it looks reasonable as something someone would do for their first fashion show). Personally, I think fitting for Ellie, and also fitting for 2021 would be 60s inspired street wear fashion, but that of course would lose the direct visual symbol of the dress.

I kinda interpreted the visions / Ellie’s ‘gift’ as extreme form of being an empath, with the strong, intense emotions that sandy (and the men who were murdered) felt trapped within the walls of the flat and then absorbed by Ellie and shown to her in visions. This would also explain why Ellie saw Sandy get ‘killed’ as in sandy’s mind, Jack metaphorically killed her over and over and who she was. The grief Ellie feels with her late mother and from her grandmother also would also provoke the intense emotions to see her mum’s ‘ghost.’

I agree that Ellie having the ability to see ghosts from the beginning was a mistake. I was also wondering throughout the film why she didn’t see them more often and it also made the instances where she is meant to question her reality feel unrealistic. If she’s always had the ability to see the dead why would she suddenly begin to question herself? Her extreme reactions to some of the apparitions also dosen’t make sense, because if she were truly used to seeing ghosts she would likely have a certain amount of self control when seeing them. If she had this ability all along, wouldn’t she have caught on that showing any reaction to the ghosts would cause her to face ridicule/scrutiny from those around her? It, along with the jump scares in act three really took me out of an otherwise amazing film.

This is just a matt smith appreciation post cuz he was my fave doctor growing up.

I've met many girls like Jocasta. Everywhere you look you'll find one these days lol. I think it was realistic as well.

I absolutley adored this movie and am very happy to see my favorite channel talk about it! While It did had its flaws the experience was almost otherworldly for me, especially since I love visual storytelling

Caught this movie in cinemas and let me tell you, the men look more menacing on the big screen.

I went to watch this by myself in a cinema in Soho, London, and cried because I related to so much of the pre-horror part as an expat who moved to London from a small town and fell for the charm and inexplicable gravitational pull of the Soho area (also having the dream of a fashion design career and in love with retro and vintage, but not being able to afford fashion school atm😩) The film has a layer of meaning that can be better appreciated by those who know the Soho area of central London these days. How much it has changed from the swinging sixties but how somehow some eerie and scary phantoms of glamour and debauchery remain in the ether of it when you walk through (especially it at night)

Finally there's someone speaking about this film! I absolutely loved this movie and I'm sad to see that so few people have even heard about it

I remember after watching this movie I had the distinct feeling of being unsettled for hours afterwards, which was probably a good thing for it being a psychological thriller. I also felt that the message at the end got a little muddled for me and I couldn’t quite figure what the intended message was. It felt like it started off as “hey nostalgia is good and all but don’t romanticize the past bc it’s not as nice as you think” and I thought that got lost as the movie delve deeper into the ghosts and hauntings and I couldn’t tell if we were meant to feel sympathetic towards the dead men. But I overall liked the movie and absolutely adored all the actors’ performances.

adored the wardrobe and makeup for this film - so insane

A part two on the fashion? Or about 60's fashion? Fab video, loved it

to be honest,i loved this whole. the concept,and the way that it makes you tense without a jumpscare. the way Anya Taylor-Joy makes us feel sympathy for her even at the ending makes movie so terrifying. in this society,unfortunetly,men tend to take advantage of womans that persuade a dream or ambition,(not a reason to kill them but still,)i honestly felt sorry for Anya's character.

Loved the movie despite everything can't wait to hear what you think!

Hooray, a new video from ModernGurlz! Thanks for reviewing this movie, it looked quite good!

You had me at Edgar Wright, Tessa. And the fashion in this movie from what you’ve shown is the cherry on top. I’m definitely going to check out this film thanks for the review!

I was loving the first half, but the end started to loose me. The ending felt so force that I thought Eloise was hallucinating again. I wish there was more depth to the guy friend and grandmother and less cgi pls. Should of used actual film effects from the 60s. Would of been so cool and more immersive.

I LOVE their hair, I think I'm going to show a picture of Ellie's blonde look to my hairdresser

I've watched so many of your videos, sometimes binging them and find that they are incredibly well done! Everything is on point! The format of the videos, your voice, the descriptions and analysis of the movie/costumes are all superb!

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

as someone who was downright pissed off by how awful i thought the movie was by the end, i appreciate you going into more detail about your criticisms. i’m definitely in the “don’t even know where to start” camp, which i find sad considering i’m probably the exact audience member they had in mind and went in excited to find another favourite movie

This channel is just pure therapy

I watched it twice in the cinema and that really tells everything about how much I liked it. But to add on to that: both times I watched it not a single person got up and walked out during the credits. Everyone just sat there until they finished. Not even when the lights turned on halfway through them did people start to leave. Whilst John was very much given a supportive black friend role, I think he tried to make the most out of it and was genuinely super funny with his running gag of South vs. North London which he delivered perfectly. The second time I watched it was with my best friend who was back in Norway on break from her first semester at uni in London which was obviously added so many layers seeing Ellie experience some of that as well.

im so happy you did a review for this film

Thank u for going over this film!

i love anya taylor joy so much!! i love her acting.

Oh my god I‘ve been waiting for you to make a video about this movie!! Thank you soo much!! ❤️❤️

I remember someone telling me it’s not a 6th sense that Ellie has but an extra sensitivity to unrest energy. Amanda the Jedi explains the exact psychological theory this comes from.

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

I absolutely loved this movie, especially because we haven’t seen movies like this in such a long time.

Odile Dicks-Mireaux understood her assignment! All the outfits were cest magnifique! I especially want the scarf/Vinyl coat/gogo boots/mod sunglasses. I would wear the hell out of that ensemble!

First time being early, just wanted to say I enjoy every video you watch! Keep up the good work 🤠

I've been torn between watching this so this video is going to be excellent! I just dunno if I can handle so much of that voice

This was my absolute favorite movie in like two years! It was so good!

One of the best films I’ve seen In a few months so good.

I've been waiting for you to do this one🥰

Literally stopped this review to watch the movie first. I liked it. Love this channel!

I WAS WAITING FOR YOU TO DO A REVIEW😱😱😱

I've watched this movie 3 times and still can't get enough of it

The outfits and the fashion/set/art direction of the 60s were brilliant. I didn’t think all the acting was that good (excluding Anya and Diana Rigg) and for a Edgar Wright film, I didn’t feel the same magic as before. There was a moment close to the end, which almost ran the story in the completely wrong direction and I’m so glad the story didn’t end up going that way, I was about to leave the screen all together if that happened. I was really looking forward to this film but for personal reasons I found it extremely triggering and incredibly hard to watch. I know it’s extremely important to talk about these issues and stories like Sandie’s have to be heard but I don’t think it should be within a film that was marketed as a spooky, edgy halloween film. Something about it just completely unsettled me and I felt stick to my stomach when I left. I don’t know if that was just through my own personal experience or whether it was something about the way the film was made, I still can’t pin point it. The hair and costumes though 😅 they were incredible, especially for Sandie.

Great video! I really liked this movie, specially the cast, the costumes and set decoration.

I did find her designs at the end hideous but then I thought that she is a first year student (i just graduated from graphic design) so after thinking about it, Im kinda glad they were kinda meh, I remember my first projects looking soo bad, so while they did maintain some similarities, I like to think the weird designs were thought to be "almost good" since she has little experience, maybe other people who have studied things related to the creative area (arquitecture, designs, etc) can kinda get my point? Maybe is a stretch but maybe not since most of the costumes were so beautifully executed, justa. thought

I loved the film! I agree that having all the visions be accurate except for one was odd, and confusing to the story. He said in a Polygon interview that it isn't solely a giallo film or a murder mystery based on Alfred Hitchcock and the likes, but that he took elements from some of his favorite directors and also looked deeper into the inspirations of those directors. Dario Argento, famed Giallo horror director of Suspiria and Deep Red (Deep red being quoted as a direct influence to the film by Wright, and the neon light color scheme being an homage to Suspiria) actually went to see the film, and Edgar Wright considered it an honor, and said on twitter that many scenes were inspired by Argento's work, including one direct reference he supposedly made to Argento's film Inferno. I think that with that knowledge, Wright may have included more giallo horror inspiration than he is putting on, and if that's the case, most of the giallo films are horror mysteries with twist endings that don't always add up... which may explain the disjointed ending or the loose ends that weren't tied up. Many directors are resurrecting the giallo in a modern way, such as Malignant, which also came out this year and had similar story of dreams that disorient and reveal truths, leading to a twist ending. But all the directors and the fans of horror will swear up and down that any modern attempt is NOT a giallo film, putting the genre on a pedestal, as if it can't be touched or replicated. In reality, many of the original giallo films were flawed in terms of story arc or traditional film-making, but they changed the way we think of filmmaking and stories, and that's what makes filmmakers want to try their hand at it, hoping to crack the code to a perfect giallo. The paradox being, the perfect giallo they may have made, but it will be considered a flawed film to the regular movie goer, because the story doesn't completely add up, but that's also what makes it perfectly giallo.

So well put! Everything you said is true)

This is thoughtful and professional-level criticism; eloquent and well-written. I contrast that to many other reviews of this film I've seen on YT and elsewhere that are off-the-cuff and ill-thought-out. I've now read or seen or listened to just about everything I can get my hands on relating to this film, and this is one of the best, including when measured against seasoned professional critics in prestige MSM outlets (NYT, New Yorker, Financial Times, etc.). It is perhaps no accident that the better criticism has been from women than men.

Girl if you don’t get to reviewing the house of Gucci 😭

I love “bad movies are so bad that you don’t even know where to start fixing them”

I love this review!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree with you on every single point.

I agree with almost all the points you brought up, except the (spoilers) wrongness of the vision of Sandie dying. The second time I watched the movie, now knowing the twist, I payed more attention and it is never shown who is stabbing who, but because of the way it's edited, cutting between the vision and the things happening around the room (Mrs. Collins knocking and yelling, and John trying to run), as well as seeing that right before the stabbing Jack had the knife and was on top of her, you assume what happened, without it really showing. Also that scene is why it's important you know Jocasta probably put something in her drink at the party, it confused her and she also assumed that she saw something she didn't. I couldn't agree more on the ugliness of the clothes that Ellie designed, that was my biggest beef with the whole movie and I would LOVE to see you make a video dissecting the costume of this film!

First bc your videos are fantastic.💕

THIS IS GONNA BE GOOOOOWDDD

That Pink dress has captured my fashion imagination. I LOVE it

We need a year review and next year predictions. So many right predictions!

I agree with everything you said! I loved the film but had many specific critiques. I thought they tired to hard to convince us that the old man at the bar was matt smith, which made me instantly sceptical that he was. I thought the reveal of his character would have landed better if they had made him more "normal", even charming to Ellie, in the way he was to Sandy years ago. The audience would still think he was older matt smith. Also, I thought it was a bit odd to cast Sam Claflin as the cop, but then not develop the cops character in the 60s? the final third of the film was just so weird and sloppy? It felt like we were watching a draft of the script - where the characters are still caricatures and the plot wasn't fully develop but the general idea was there. I think it needed a few more rewrites before going into production.

Short answer: absolutely yes

Great video! I loved LNIS but I totally see your points.

I thought the end designs in the movie made sense because originally she is so infatuated with 60’s she is literally just recreating the dress that Sandy wore. In the end you see a more modern take along with the styles, showing her living in the present but taking inspiration from the past. I thought it showed her growth as a character through her work, since she no longer saw the 60’s through rose tinted glasses

Sorry haven’t watch the video yet but I saw it and loved definite yes. Also thank you for posting this!

This movie is AMAZING!

I love everything about this movie

I haven't seen this yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Thomasin McKenzie is a wonderful actress, and it's good to see Diana Rigg once more, as well as Terence Stamp. You make some excellent points, but I see that you really liked the film, regardless.

Hey girl wake up ModernGurlz just posted

these are all excellent points. I felt the same way, and I really enjoyed the film

Omg The Craft reference with Jocasta! I didn’t peep that! I really enjoyed the movie and I agree about the criticism!

Since you mentioned it, please review Vertigo!

Initially this kind of reminds me of perfect blue 💙 I haven't seen it this movie yet but they seem like they have a few similar themes

Couldn't agree more with everything you had to say! Such a small thing, but it made me laugh so much when Jocasta etc showed up to that party dressed as Nancy etc from the Craft