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Last Night in Soho

Content Caution

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A well-dressed woman and man dance on a sidewalk.

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Bob Hoose

Movie Review

Ellie loves the idea of fashion and the joy of designing it. It’s something you could say she got from her mom, just like she got her passion for music of the ’60s from her Gran. But there’s something else she got from her mother. Gran calls it her “gift,” but anyone else would probably label it much more harshly.

Ellie sees things. She might see her dead mom in a mirror giving her a smiling encouragement. Or she might catch some other oddity from the corner of her eye. It’s a mental quirk that some say was the kind of schizophrenia that drove her mother to suicide. But Ellie doesn’t talk about any of that. And she keeps her gift buttoned away, nice and tidy.

In fact, Ellie knows that keeping things buttoned up will be an absolute necessity now that she’s heading from her little town to the big city of London. She was recently accepted into the prestigious London College of Fashion. It’s a dream she’s worked for, and saved for, her whole young life. And she doesn’t want to mess it up.

When she gets to school, though, things aren’t exactly as she invisioned them. Even though London was once home to Petula Clark and Audrey Hepburn, it’s now a bit shadowy and predatory, as many big cities are.

Then there’s her narcissitic roommate, Jocasta, who’s nearly impossible to live with. From Jocasta’s constant jibes to the fact that she drags random guys into their shared room for sex, it becomes clear that Ellie will need to find different lodgings.

Soon after, she spots an advert on the school message board and moves into a creaky old house belonging to Ms. Collins. She’s a strict landlord, but Ellie doesn’t mind strict rules and she loves the old atmosphere of the house. It reminds her of yesterday’s East London, the Soho of the 1960s.

In fact, during her first night at Ms. Collins’ house, Ellie dreams of stepping back into the mod and sparkling streets of ’60s Soho. She even follows along behind an aspiring singer named Sandie: a self-confident young woman who is everything Ellie wishes she was. In the dream, Ellie switches places with Sandie from time to time, and it’s a thrill.

It’s all so real and wonderful!

Ellie even makes drawings of Sandie’s dress and brings them to class. She dyes her mousy brown hair blonde, just like Sandie’s. She buys vintage clothes. Oh, and she dreams of Sandie and her life, again and again, night after night.

Sandie’s world seems almost as real as Ellie’s.

Maybe even a little realer.

But even a magical Soho of the’60s can have it’s problems. And sometimes dreams … are more than you think they are.

Positive Elements

Though Ellie has a difficult time adjusting to her new surroundings, she does end up becoming good friends with a fellow student named John. He’s kind and gentle. And he makes it clear that he “knows what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong.”

John soon recognizes that Ellie is dealing with some unexplained emotional struggles, but he doesn’t back away. He steps up to help the frightened young woman and give her whatever support he can.

Eventually, the two become more than friends. They fall in love, and both put their lives on the line to protect one another.

Spiritual Elements

Ellie sees “visions” of her deceased mom from time to time. She then starts seeing ghost-like images of a large number men who tend to swarm toward her and pop up around London to follow her. Later, we find out that these ghoulish specters are the ghosts of people who were murdered by a single killer.

Ellie gets a job in a pub and asks her boss if she believes in spirits. The woman replies that she only knows about bottled spirits. But, she notes, perhaps “all these high spirits have soaked into the walls.”

Jocasta derisively tells other girls that she gets a “born-again Christian vibe” from Ellie.

Sexual Content

A ’60s stage performance in a bawdy men’s club showcases a number of women in very revealing outfits that sport cleavage and near-naked backsides. The female performers are also compelled to sexually service some of the male patrons. We see a glimpse of implied oral sex and other sexual activities.

We see one young woman dancing and drinking with a parade of men. The scene is displayed in a montage suggesting that she is soon consumed by a lifestyle of booze and paid sex. We then we see her in lingerie laying on a bed as men approach her. In one scene, a woman is in bed with money on her bedside table as a guy steps out of the bathroom in his underwear.

Sandie kisses and then has a steamy make out session with a guy named Jack. The two fall onto her bed while removing their clothes before the camera cuts away. It’s later implied that Jack makes money both as a talent agent and a pimp. We see him kissing and fondling various women.

Ellie looks on these interactions while in her dream/vision state. And then while in her own bed she is approached by ghoulish visions of men. One of them removes his shirt and unbuckles his pants before Ellie fully wakes. The camera catches a fairly quick glimpse of ghost-like men standing shoulder to shoulder in a small room, all in various stages of undress. At least one of those men displays full frontal nudity.

Ellie and John go to a costume party that showcases women in everything from a full latex suit to cleavage-baring tops and short skirts. Men and women kiss at the party. Ellie and John end up kissing, too, and decide to sneak back into her room for sex. They make out on her bed, dressed only in their underwear, before a ghostly vision terrorizes Ellie once more.

We see Ellie and her roommate, Jocasta, in underwear and bras. After coming back from her dream world—where she slipped in and out, trading places with Sandie—Ellie discovers she has a hickie on her neck.

Someone tells Ellie, “Being a whore is like acting sometimes.” Young guys at a local London pub make some decidedly crude sexual overtures to the female college students on hand.

Violent Content

[Spoiler Warning] Though it’s not evident at first, the stylish and creative elements of this story swirl around a serial killer who murders scores of people. In that light, we’re splashed with some pretty bloody moments that only fully make sense once this dark tale plays out.

We see a number of men who are stabbed and hacked with a large knife from multiple angles in different scenes. We’re also shown corpses that were stashed beneath floorboards and ghoulish ghosts of murdered people. Were told of someone who committed suicide, and later we see someone slash her own throat while sitting in a room that’s being consumed by a raging fire. (Ellies roommate places bets that Ellie will “slash her wrists before Christmas.”)

Men pay to physically and sexually abuse women. And in that light, Ellie is attacked, punched in the face, chased by deadly menaces and painfully thumped to the floor. She fights back against an attacker, kicking the person in the face.

An innocent is stabbed in the stomach with a butcher knife. A drunken man in a club is punched in the face. A woman is held at bay by a knife held to her throat. Someone smashes into a mirror, and Ellie is left to pick up the broken shards of bloody glass. A woman slashes a man’s face with her fingernails.

Ellie has several flash visions of someone covered in blood. An older man gets hit by a speeding car, and we see his bloodied corpse. A house is accidentally set on fire, transforming into a raging pyre that nearly traps several people inside.

Crude or Profane Language

Sixteen f-words and a handful of s-words join multiple uses of “b–tard” and the c-word. God’s and Jesus’ names are both misused some three times apiece. The British crudity “bloody” is spit out once or twice. Women are called “whores” and “sluts.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Many people—especially those in the ’60s—smoke cigarettes regularly. People drink heavily—beer, mix drinks and champagne—in pubs and clubs both in the present and in the past. Some get drunk and stagger around. Ellie and John are given spiked drinks at a party. Ellie gets a job at a pub and drinks a gin and tonic during her interview.

We catch a passing glimpse of someone inserting a hypodermic needle. Ellie is given a drink that’s been spiked with poison. She stumbles around weakly before finding help.

Other Negative Elements

Jocasta is narcissistically driven and badmouths Ellie and others in an effort to elevate herself. A cabby starts out seeming like a nice guy, but it soon becomes evident that he is a predator.

Conclusion

Director Edgar Wright has pieced together Last Night in Soho with an interesting blend of horror and psychological thrills. He creates a brilliantly stylish London-in-the-’60s vibe that quickly sucks viewers into the creative mystery at hand. And performances by Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Diana Rigg all sparkle.

That doesn’t, however, mean that this film is free of problems. Not by a long shot. Style, nostalgia, and cinematic panache can’t hide this pic’s cringe-worthy levels of content—including pungent profanity, darkly misogynistic sexuality and hack-‘n’-slash goop.

Anyone “Wishin’ and Hopin’” for a family night at the flicks, or a carefree date night, should definitely look elsewhere.

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Bob Hoose

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.