ON THE COVER . LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
MYSTERY AND MALICE Thomasin McKenzie’s Eloise (right) dreams up a double life as the ambitious, troubled Sandie, played by Anya Taylor-Joy (left)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Coverage commitment DAZZLING SINGLE-TAKE DREAM SEQUENCES T homasin McKenzie stars in Last Night in Soho as Eloise Turner, a young woman in the present day that is obsessed with the music and style of 1960s London, and who travels there to study fashion. Once there,
promise is fulfilled here in the dance sequences. Exactly as he did with the jukebox combat of Shaun of the Dead and choreographed car chases of Baby Driver , these scenes were shot in a single take to preserve the stranglehold on the audience. “The key was to rehearse a lot,” says Wright. “Unbroken takes are very complicated bits of choreography – where there’s body switching and sleight-of- hand. The more you can do it in one take, the more you’re not breaking the spell of the movie, in the same way the spell is not broken for Eloise in the dream.” Wright has skillfully distinguished himself from directors of his generation by the evident joy he takes in telling stories through movement and placement of the camera. The DOP here, working with Wright for the first time, is the virtuosic Chung-hoon Chung, best known for collaborations with Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. “I’ve always been a fan of his work – it has a dark opulence to it. The idea of him doing Last Night in Soho was very exciting,” says Wright.
she finds herself transported back to the capital’s swinging past each night, through the ghostly, mirrored life of singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), who went to London in the sixties seeking romance and stardom. In her dreams, Eloise both watches and becomes Sandie, aiming for the stars but falling to the streets, as the sordid realities of London life hit home. A glittering 360º shot shows both women dancing with Jack (a superb, slimy Matt Smith), one morphing into the other when they enter and exit the frame. Another tour-de-force moment comes as Sandie, descending a mirrored staircase, sees her reflection broken up into a series of Eloises. It’s a beautiful image that illustrates the splintering of Eloise’s identity, as she loses herself in fantasy. Director Edgar Wright’s films always verge on becoming musicals, and that
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