Edgar Wright's 'Last Night in Soho' Is a Thrilling Return to Horror
It's been more than four years since Edgar Wright's last film was released, and the road to his newest one, Last Night in Soho, included a few speed bumps, also known as Covid-19-related delays. So, forgive him for being excited about the movie finally coming out. So excited, in fact, that he's pushing his personal limits to make sure he can promote his new baby as much as possible. "I feel weird talking to Men’s Health, because I feel like shit today," the director says over Zoom with a laugh. "I’m doing so much press, and in different countries, I think my body is 60% espresso at the moment."
Soho marks Wright's return to horror (or something adjacent to horror; he doesn't care if you call the movie a "psychological horror," or a "psychological thriller," or, even, as one person called it, a "horror musical") for the first time since 2004's Shaun of the Dead, the cult-favorite horror/comedy that marked the opening chapter of his beloved Cornetto Trilogy (also included: Hot Fuzz, The World's End) with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
While this movie contains all the stylish flair and incredibly synthesized soundtrack-sync-up moments that fans of Wright's have come to expect, it also feels starkly different from hs other films, telling a twisty tory that puts viewers on the edge of their seats with little idea of what's going to come next at any point. The film begins in our present day, as Eloise (Jojo Rabbit star Thomasin McKenzie) heads off to London to attend school in pursuit of her dream of becoming a famous and successful designer. When she leaves her dorm and instead finds her own apartment, things change; she begins to see visions of a woman named Sandie (Queen's Gambit's Anya Taylor-Joy) in the '60s, and follows as her glamorous life in pursuit of a show business career takes a turn toward darkness.
That may sound like a lot, but it's just the beginning of this very twisty and frequently stylish story. Wright says that with Last Night in Soho, he wasn't necessarily trying to make a film that fit into any specific 'genre' box, but rather trying to capture a feeling that he misses. "There are certain films I watched growing up that I still enjoy to this day where the horror element or the suspense element feels sort of transgressive, and dangerous in a way," he says. "Just something that kind of puts me on edge in a way that’s entertaining."
He name checks the work of directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Brian De Palma, as well as Italian filmmakers Mario Bava and Dario Argento. "It’s something about the illicit thrills of their work that get me excited," he says. "In a way, making this movie was trying to find a way to subvert some of the content of those films into something more contemporary."
And with Last Night in Soho, Wright has crafted a thrill ride that takes viewers down a road they likely won't expect. Men's Health spoke to the director about Soho, horror films, his star blowing up, and the sci-fi musical he may want to make next.
Men's Health: I often feel like horror and thriller films are meant to put the viewer in a particular headspace. What headspace did you want us in while watching Last Night In Soho?
Edgar Wright: I think it’s good that it’s coming out around Halloween, because it’s a nice head-trip to go on. You experience the film along with the lead character, Eloise, who's coming to London for the first time and has a very vivid, supernatural gift in that she can see visions of the past. Because she’s in every single scene of the movie, you’re experiencing the film along with her.
So, people have said the film is like going down the rabbit hole, I think that’s a very accurate description. You want to take the audience on the same trip that Eloise goes on.
What should be someone’s biggest takeaway? What’s the moral of the story, all things considered?
I think the moral of the story is that whatever you do, you cannot change the past. You can only deal with the present and the future.
In that same sense, the movie deals a lot with nostalgia, whether that’s old music or creating an entire ‘60s period setting for large chunks of time. What was the most difficult part about blending that past with the present?
I think probably the most ambitious part of it was that we shot Central London for Central London. We didn’t fake it anywhere else, we didn’t shoot it on a set, and we didn’t do a lot of green screen. We made Central London—one of the busiest parts of the U.K—into the ‘60s, and that was a real challenge to do, certainly just from a practical point.
You know, London is one of those cities that cannot be tamed. So, the idea of just coming in and making it like the ‘60s and shooting these quite elaborate shots was definitely a white knuckle ride, but I’m very proud of how it turned out.
You guys shot the movie pre-Covid, and obviously the world has changed a lot since. How has the movie changed in that time?
I think, like a lot of cities, things changed during lockdown. One of the sad and disturbing things—and this goes for a lot of cities, not just London—is that even when the cities were shut down, it seemed like development continued to pace.
It’s funny. I noticed when I went back to Toronto for the film festival, I didn’t recognize the skyline anymore. In London as well, I was in Central London the entire time, and one of the most humbling and bittersweet things about continuing to make the movie through the lockdown is that we were in Soho, literally where we shot the movie, and I’d be mixing the film, or editing the film, and walk out onto the streets and find them utterly deserted, like at 5 p.m., which was just really, really spooky.
And this isn’t a spoiler at all, but in the end credits of the movie, you see these shots of empty Soho. And those shots were shot during lockdown. We went out one night, with the city’s permission, to just shoot the empty streets. And, so, a place like the famous Piccadilly Circus, which is so busy usually that there’s a phrase named after it—“It’s like Piccadilly Circus in here!”—you say that about something being completely crazy. And then to stand in Piccadilly Circus and not see a single car or pedestrian, and shoot it empty, was very humbling.
In the same sense of things changing, I read that you cast Anya Taylor-Joy after seeing her in The VVitch. Obviously she was still a super talented and successful actress, but I think it’s interesting that in the time since you filmed this movie she’s totally blown up to an even greater extent—mainly because of The Queen’s Gambit. Did you imagine she would explode in that way when making the film, and what do you make, now, of her presence as this central character in the movie?
I always thought with Anya—even before I shot Last Night in Soho—that her becoming a superstar was not a matter of if, it was when. So, in my head she always was a mega-star, and when The Queen’s Gambit blew up, I was like, “Yes, finally! The world has caught on.”
I’ve known her for six years, and I think when I met her after The VVItch she was only 16 or 17, and talked to her about doing Soho last then, to play the part of Eloise. Then, over the years I changed my mind and decided that she should play Sandie, and luckily she agreed.
I was just very impressed in seeing her grow on camera. She’s just a wildly talented person. I was talking to her the other night at the premiere, and she said to me, “You didn’t know I could sing before you asked me to sing in the movie.” And I said “I guess not. I guess I asked you 'Do you sing?' and you said 'Uh, yeah.'” But I guess most actors when they’re asked if they can sing, they’re worried about not getting the job, and they just say ‘Yes.’ But, as it turns out, Anya Taylor-Joy has a voice worthy of a pop megastar. So, we really were lucky there.
I’m so glad you bring that up, because in doing some research beforehand I couldn’t find anything about Anya singing in the past.
It’s funny—we talked about it only the other night. Because she said “What a leap of faith you took!” And I said “I just had a sense that you could sing!” [LAUGHING]
I mean, one of my favorite actors singing in a movie is Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia. It’s not particularly good, but I find it very endearing. So, I think it would’ve worked out either way, but it just so happened that she was actually really good.
I don’t think the scene in Last Night in Soho would’ve worked as well with Pierce Brosnan singing “SOS."
[LAUGHING]
I got the right song, didn’t I? That is the song he sings.
You absolutely did. As a big Mamma Mia fan, you nailed it.
Showing my ABBA chops.
Part of what I like about your filmography is that you do dabble in so many different themes and genres. What’s a sort of movie, whether it’s a genre, or a specific franchise, that you haven’t gotten to make yet but would like to in the future?
I guess there’s a point where you think all of them. I guess I’ve never done a true story. That would be really interesting, to do either some true story or historical story. To do a straight musical would be like a dream, if I could find the right material, and something I felt like I could really do would be really exciting. To do a hard Sci-Fi film would be really exciting as well. I’ve never done that. The World’s End is the thing that comes closest, but to do something that’s actually a straight Sci-Fi film would be really exciting. I would say all of the above. [LAUGHING]
Edgar Wright’s Dune. Edgar Wright’s Mamma Mia. All of the above.
[LAUGHING] What about Dune with ABBA songs?
Perfect. I’m 100% in.
There’s gotta be an ABBA/Dune pun in there, but I’m not sure what it is.
This interview has been condensed for content and clarity.
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