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London Stalling

Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” is like many of the director's previous films: the story and set up have been explored many times over in other movies, but they haven’t been told through Wright’s distinct lens. That lens generally offers immense style and pizazz in the hopes of distracting from a screenplay that could use some polishing. Wright's latest, which premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival, is no different.

“Last Night in Soho” fits squarely into the current phase of Wright's career. He made a name for himself with his Cornetto trilogy (“Shaun of the Dead” “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End”), along with “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” which has found a cult audience in retrospect. He’s moved from comedies (where the results were more successful than not) and into highly stylized genre movies, including 2017’s “Baby Driver,” which mixed action thrills with a cheeky soundtrack. “Last Night in Soho” feels like a natural follow-up to “Baby Driver,” never coming up short on mood and looks, but that focus comes at the expense of a solid screenplay.

Rising star Thomasin McKenzie (“Leave No Trace,” “Jojo Rabbit”) stars as Eloise, who wants to become a fashion designer. She leaves her home, where she lives with her grandmother, when she is accepted into a fashion school in London. Eloise is meek and timid (McKenzie’s persona serves such characters well), but tries to become friends with her outgoing roommate and her friends. When that isn’t successful, she decides to move out on her own, renting a room from Ms. Collins (the late Diana Rigg), who has a long list of rules Eloise must promise to abide by before Ms. Collins deems her an acceptable fit for the rental.

Eloise is not in London for long before something strange starts happening to her. She is having dreams and visions set in the 1960s, where she encounters an aspiring singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, coming off her great success with Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit) and her pseudo-manager Jack (Matt Smith). How Eloise has become enmeshed in this world is the movie’s central mystery.

Wright relishes the opportunity to disorient his audience, and he does so effectively, because the first two acts of the movie remain entirely ambiguous. This could prove frustrating and alienating for some viewers, but Wright is someone who is willing to take that chance in the name of creating something bold and original. Wright’s screenplay has a third act problem, where the revealing of the whats-and-hows aren’t as interesting being lost in the whys. He creates a dizzying mystery, which runs the risk of feeling deflating in the end if not landed just right.

An audience will find its way to “Last Night in Soho,” which would be a win for an original movie, especially in the pandemic-era, where the film industry remains in such a precarious state. Wright has established himself to the point where his movies draw a modest audience, and if you choose to see his latest, it’s a good one to dissect as you leave the theater. It’s just frustrating that the movie didn’t come together in an entirely satisfying way.