This past Tuesday, Focus Features released the trailer and poster to Edgar Wright’s long awaited film “Last Night in Soho,” a horror thriller that stars Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise, a young girl who is passionate about fashion design. It co-stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the dazzling wannabe singer in 1960’s London named Sandy, whom Eloise idolizes. The trailer follows up a teaser that was revealed on Saturday Night Live earlier this week when Anna Taylor-Joy hosted. While the teaser was simple, it did its job and kept audiences waiting on the edge of their seats to see what a trailer for this movie would look like. In the end, it did its job and then some.
When the gloomy cover of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” plays in the beginning, it is clear this film is going to be a journey. Eloise seems to start out as a normal young girl living in a big city, but some shots of her imply that she’s not enjoying it. She then puts on headphones in her bedroom, and mysteriously enters the 1960’s. Eloise then enters a fancy restaurant and is facing a mirror, where the reflection is Sandy, a chilling scene where both of them seem to be acting as one. It will be interesting to learn what the connection is between Eloise and the wannabe singer Sandy. Is she simply just a singer in the 60’s, or is there a deeper connection between the two? The trailer incorporates the phrase, “When the past lets you in, the truth will come out.” It’s a very enticing tagline for what we hope to be an Edgar Wright masterpiece.
In contrast to all of his other films, this will be Edgar Wright’s first psychological horror film. His previous films such as “Shaun Of The Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” were slapstick/ironic satire comedies that quickly became cult classics. His most recent film, “Baby Driver,” is about Baby (Ansel Elgort), a getaway driver who hopes to score big one last time before leaving for good. This was a box office hit in 2017. With this being said, Edgar Wright has always had a loyal audience and it’s clear through social media that fans of his work are happy with the look of “Last Night In Soho.”
However, even with all the hype surrounding this movie, it can’t be ruled out that this film could be a bust. Take Edgar Wright’s 2010 film “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World,” for example, which was a product of online interest not translating into the general audience.
With Covid restrictions being lifted and movie theaters attempting to make a comeback, it is safe to assume that this film will probably achieve numbers akin to “Baby Driver,” which did $277 million on a $34 million budget. However, it could be possible that this production will make less than that $277 million due to audiences not keeping up with the delays. The film was originally slated for release on September 25, 2020, but was delayed to April 23, 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then ultimately pushed back yet again to this fall.
“Last Night in Soho” is slated for release in theaters on October 22, 2021.
By Jimmy Meyer