After a career more focused on comedy, with films like Scott Pilgrim, the Cornetto trilogy and more recently Baby Driver, Edgar Wright decided to embark on a new genre: horror. It is through this unprecedented prism that the British filmmaker stages Last Night in Soho. Through this dark and disturbing adventure, the director offers the story of a young woman from the countryside who moves to London. The latter, passionate about fashion, will then meet her idol who lived in the 1960s: every night she seems to go back in time. To carry his first horror film, Edgar Wright chose the young Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy. The rest of the cast includes Matt Smith and Terence Stamp.
Last Night in Soho: Edgar Wright on the Attack of Horror Cinema
Last Night in Soho is undoubtedly the darkest film of its author. Never before had Edgar Wright been on such a dark slope in his career. The 47-year-old filmmaker decided to deliver his very first horror film to his fans. Without being perfect, Last Night in Soho is a crescendo rather well managed, which thus offers a perpetual rise in dread. 
Edgar Wright, even if he masters horror a little less well than comedy, offers once again a licked and creative staging, of which he has the secret. Obviously, it moves a little away from its usual clipped approach, punctuated by a lively and over-cut Cornetto trilogy montage. Here, Edgar Wright is calmer, more mysterious, more nagging. His artistic vision finds its quintessence in the superb mirror games between Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy. As usual, Edgar Wright imposes a thoughtful staging, as evidenced by the opening sequence, totally out of time. A scene in which the viewer is unable to locate the era, thinking he is in the past, before the filmmaker reveals that this introduction takes place in the present of the English countryside. A nice sleight of hand specific to the Wright method, which confuses the audience from the outset.
The filmmaker has less mastery of the subject
However, Edgar Wright is more effective in what he usually knows how to do. Last Night in Soho is generally less creative, and especially less impactful than his previous works. Indeed, the filmmaker uses clichés sometimes quite crude to express his horrific springs. Less skilled in the expression of terror, the director opts for an expected materialization of demons. The specters, crudely treated, return regularly and too often to inspire real fear. Similarly, the finale sometimes turns a little mockery, as Edgar Wright adds elements on elements, and a succession of twists globally telephoned. Indeed, the grand finale of Last Night in Soho is unfortunately very predictable. 
Fortunately, Edgar Wright can count on the presence of an impressive cast. Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy simply burst the screen, and prove that they are two very great actresses in the making. Thus, Last Night In Soho is the darkest film of its author. Edgar Wright signs a horror thriller under tension, which owes much to its two main interpreters. And even if he sometimes falls into caricature, he offers a visual trick at the height of his talent. https://youtu.be/AcVnFrxjPjI
