By Carla Longo

Recently, cinema has been delighting us with a long list of films with stereotype-breaking female figures at their centre, characterised by grit, desire for self-determination and even some disturbing traits. While the beautiful Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023) is on everyone's lips, I would like to call to mind another story with central themes of exploitation of and violence towards women and the will to break from social norms. I am talking about Last Night in Soho (2021), a psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright; in this article, I would like to analyse its merits and flaws.

The film is about Eloise, a young girl with paranormal abilities who moves to London to study at a prestigious fashion school. But for a girl who has always lived with her grandmother and is haunted by her mother's suicide, a chaotic city like London 'can be too much', especially when she goes to live in an old flat in Soho. There, vivid dreams haunt Eloise's nights, through which she witnesses the tragedy of Sandy, an aspiring singer from 1960s London with great talent and a magnetic personality. Thus, Eloise finds herself trapped in a spiral of exploitation and death, developing an obsession with Sandy that will bring her to the brink of madness.

The two leading actresses, Thomasin McKenzie (The King, Jojo Rabbit) and Anya Taylor Joy (Emma, The Queen's Gambit) show great talent and sensibility, realistically portraying the rise and fall of youthful dreams. Edgar Wright once again demonstrates his directing skills with original framings, games of mirrors, and a bright colour palette. As a result, the film is a pleasure for the eyes, especially in the accurate reconstruction of 1960s London, characterised by an atmosphere that is both magical and disturbing. The city is depicted as a dispersive and engulfing metropolis, capable of hiding its darkest secrets behind the shimmer of modernity and false promises. Another merit of the film is that it has combined the horror genre with that of the musical comedy, thanks to a catchy soundtrack, which features both iconic 60’s songs such as Downtown (Petula Clark, 1965) and post-punk hits like Happy House (Siouxsie and the Banshees, 1980). A daring but successful mix.

Unfortunately, not everything is positive, and the story presents some problems that cannot be ignored. The main one is certainly the characters’ development; many of them do not show any growth, except for Sandy. This is most seriously seen through Eloise, whose arc of transformation is interrupted about a third of the way through the film: she becomes completely absorbed by Sandy's story and the anguish it causes her. I had hoped to discover more about this shy and naive girl and to see her evolve into a woman capable of facing her fears, but unfortunately, she will never really fight her demons. The same problem applies to the secondary characters, who seem to be forgettable theatrical masks created for the sole purpose of fulfilling their tasks as 'sidekick', 'villain', or 'love interest'.

The lack of depth in the villains particularly leads to some issues in the treatment of the theme of gender violence. All the crimes committed against Sandy are portrayed as belonging to another era: the villains are stereotyped, taking on 1950s mannerisms, and the misogyny of the past does not seem to affect the present. This is potentially dangerous in a film like this, because it leads the viewer to feel that the injustices are narrated as something distant and outdated. In my opinion, stories of this kind should instead aim to make us think about our everyday behaviour, even if this means raising uncomfortable questions. This is seen, for example, in films such as Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennel, 2020), a thriller that instead shows how rape culture and internalised misogyny are very present today, hiding underhandedly behind wealth and respectability.

Despite these flaws, I still appreciate the willingness to make films featuring unconventional female stories, which present important gender issues through new languages that appeal to the general public. I really hope that this new genre will develop more and more, continuing to offer us new, engaging, and daring stories. In today's society, we need them.

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