Last Night in Soho (2021)

Last Night in Soho is a horror movie, surprisingly. It's also directed by Edgar Wright. Is this a dream? Someone, please make sense to me how this got made.

Written and directed by Edgar Wright, Soho is about a fashion designer who without spoiling the film starts to uncover a murder mystery from the 1960s and has to make sense of it all. It has everything you want from Wright's transitions and self-references but missing the comedy of his previous films. I feel like this movie was made on a dare much in the same way American Graffiti was made.

Thomasin McKenzie has really developed as an actress both in her ability to convey emotion but also with how she loses herself in the role. The last time I saw her was in Jojo Rabbit and True History of the Kelly Gang and I look forward to The Power of the Dog later this year. She plays the main character and does a wonderful job with her accent too. I can't go into detail about what happens to her without spoiling the film but she's certainly an actress to be on the lookout for from now on and carries this film. It would not be the same without her.

Anya Taylor-Joy has been great in so many films that it's easy to see her in this role as a 1960's aspiring singer. You might know her from The Queen's Gambit, but I know her from The Witch and Split. She's been in so much and yet she's so young and people don't give her enough credit. I can't wait to see her take on the role of Furiosa.

The film has a lot of themes and in a way is a feminist movie but written and directed by a man. The character does things that fly in the face of what a man would do in the same situation which might be the help from the screenplay writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns and I'm curious how much she changed from Wright's original story. That might sound scary calling this horror film a feminist movie but it's not in your face or shaming the audience in a way that many other films have in recent history. I'm looking at you Birds of Prey. It takes a tactful approach towards handling the mistreatment of women, especially in 1960's London.

There's no other film like it to compare it to and my closest feelings on it lie somewhere between Red Sparrow (2018) and Ex Machina (2015) both of which earned an A- in my book. I can say this is a great film with only one minor flaw in the convoluted way the movie ended.

Comments

Sleepwalker (2026)

Sleepwalker is a horror thriller written and directed by Brandon Auman , who quickly reminds us why his career has primarily been in television rather than feature films. Writing for children's television can sometimes get away with simplistic dialogue and storytelling, but those weaknesses become glaring when stretched into a feature-length horror movie. The screenplay is filled with clunky dialogue and predictable horror beats, while the jump scares rarely land. Instead of creating tension, the film repeatedly left me sighing in boredom. Hayden Panettiere delivers a strong performance despite the material she's been given. It's clear that many of her lines weren't written with much care, but she does what she can to make the character feel believable. Knowing this is her final film makes the performance bittersweet, especially because she deserved a much better script to go out on. Fortunately, her performance here doesn't diminish the work she's done in bet...

Lanterns EP1 (2026)

Lanterns is one of the few television shows I've felt compelled to review because I'm a big fan of Green Lantern , particularly Kyle Rayner and John Stewart . While the story focuses somewhat more on Hal Jordan , I'm glad we get a solid actor playing John. The first episode does a good job establishing that John is still green and new to the situation, pun intended. The show has a solid foundation, although its interpretation of the Green Lantern characters isn't always what I would have preferred. Aaron Pierre immediately makes an impression as John Stewart . I had never seen him in anything before this, but his presence is undeniable, and his chemistry with Kyle Chandler is one of the show's strongest elements. Their banter is entertaining and gives the relationship some much-needed energy. John being inexperienced works well for the first episode, but I'm hoping the character develops into the confident leader he becomes in the comics. Kyle Chandler play...

Mutiny (2026)

Mutiny is directed by Jean-François Richet , who directed Plane , and also who once again proves to be a better action director than character developer. The film's action sequences are staged effectively, but some of the quieter scenes feel strangely undercooked. I'm not sure if Richet simply ignored certain issues or chose to use the first take in order to save money, but several moments lack the polish the rest of the film displays. Writers Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis do a good job setting up the action and giving Jason Statham's character a believable reason to find himself out on a boat, but the dialogue can be atrocious at times. The story works when it focuses on its action, but the writing becomes a noticeable weakness whenever the characters stop moving long enough to talk. Jason Statham , known for The Transporter and The Beekeeper , does exactly what audiences expect from him and does it well. He commands every scene he's in, bringing his usual physica...

Movies, Film, and Chili

Search This Blog