After writing and directing several popular movies, including Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End, and Baby Driver, Edgar Wright released the fascinating Last Night In Soho in 2021. The movie stars Thomas McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy as two young women who meet under mysterious circumstances in London. Wright directed the movie and co-wrote it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Audiences and critics have noted that Last Night In Soho has its flaws. Ultimately, though, it's an enjoyable and fashionable movie and the story has some important themes about ambition and sexism.
From the compelling opening scene to the final conclusion, which is a bit controversial, Last Night In Soho is always stylish and never lackluster. What happens in Last Night In Soho and how does this movie end?
What Is Last Night In Soho About?
Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy is a fan favorite for many. It was interesting to see his 2021 thriller Last Night In Soho because it's so different. In Last Night In Soho, Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) who goes by the nickname Ellie is a young and aspiring fashion designer in London. She leaves her grandmother's house behind and dreams of making it big. While she's scared of the big city, she rents a room in a building owned by Ms. Collins (Diana Riggs).
Ellie finds herself in a strange and haunting dream world at night when she sees flashing lights outside her bedroom window. She travels back in time to the 1960s and meets Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), who wants to be a singer. But things aren't as they seem at first. Last Night In Soho is one of Anya Taylor-Joy's best movies and she is perfectly mysterious, captivating, and vulnerable.
It turns out that the men in Sandie's life treat her horribly. Ellie realizes that Sandie isn't able to achieve what she wants, which is heartbreaking. The worst character is Jack (Matt Smith), who tries to seem kind and charming but is just as bad as everyone else.
How Does Last Night In Soho End?
At the end of Last Night In Soho, Ellie learns that Sandie killed the men who hurt her. When Ellie goes back to her bedroom, she says that she won't help the ghosts of these men. Ellie also finds out that Ms. Collins is Sandie all grown up. Sandie/Ms. Collins is almost arrested and Ellie tells her not to take her own life. The apartment complex is lit on fire and Sandie dies.
Last Night In Soho is so interesting because instead of a time travel movie using machines, Ellie seems to have a kind of strange fever dream every night. This is a new way to show time travel and while sometimes it feels like too much of the same, for the most part, it's a cool way to show Ellie's coming-of-age journey.
Ellie becomes a designer who has the support of her family. She is able to move on from this ordeal and focus on following her dreams. But before she can truly relish in how good this feels, she looks in the mirror and there are Sandie and Ellie's mother looking back at her. Ellie is happy to remember what these women have taught her and she feels ready for what comes next.
Why Was Last Night In Soho's Ending Controversial?
The ending of Last Night In Soho was controversial because Sandie murdered the men who treated her in a terrible, sexist way and who used her. Not everyone thought that this was the right way for the film to go. However, it's possible to see this as a plot twist in a movie that was completely necessary.
Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the co-writer of Last Night In Soho, was interviewed by IndieWire and said that the ending worked. She said, “That original twist was always there, and that was, for me, the key idea to the female empowerment. I had never seen a villain like that before. I’d never seen a villain where I don’t agree with what she does, but I empathize with what she does. That was such a crucial element that hooked me in. I think without that twist, I might not have been as interested in the film.”
Whether audiences think that the Last Night In Soho ending is a satisfying horror movie ending or not, it's one that has staying power. Last Night In Soho barrels toward what has to be a shocking conclusion, and there has to be some kind of final interaction between Ellie and Sandie. It's possible to see Sandie as a representation of the person that Ellie wants to be as she's strong, confident, and trying to go after her dreams. When viewed through that lens, Last Night In Soho is a captivating movie about youth and ambition.