The best film of all the major actors, according to IMDb
Edgar Wright’s first single horror film, Last Night in Soho, is anchored by rising stars like Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Last night in Soho.
While there are real scares in all of Cornetto’s films, Last night in Soho is Edgar Wright’s first full-fledged horror film. Fitting in perfectly with the psychological horror sub-genre, it tells the story of a young aspiring fashion designer who rents a studio in London and finds herself transported into a haunting and unglamorous Swinging Sixties.
Psychological horror is difficult to achieve. Instead of relying on bloody visuals or heavily altered tension, a lot of it relies on the performance of the cast. Luckily for Last night in Soho, its cast is filled with top talent like Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith and the late Grand Dame Diana Rigg.
6 Thomasin McKenzie – Bunny Jojo (7.9)
Thomasin McKenzie gives an amazing performance in the lead role of Last night in Soho. While the illusions created by her nostalgia for the Swinging Sixties are quickly shattered by some immersive time travel nightmares, Eloise is an easy protagonist to seek out. Thanks to McKenzie’s sympathetic turn, the audience is with Ellie through the whole supernatural ordeal.
McKenzie’s top rated work on IMDb is her starring turn in Taika Waititi’s satire on World War II Bunny Jojo. She plays a Jewish refugee that Jojo’s mother allows to hide in their house. McKenzie developed spectacular onscreen chemistry with his co-star Roman Griffin Davis.
5 Terence Stamp – Billy Budd (7.9)
All along Last night in Soho, Terence Stamp delves into the goosebumps of his “red herring” character, the enigmatic “Gentleman with Silver Hair”. Ellie is convinced that he is the current version of Jack who got away with the murder of Sandie, but she is shocked to learn – after hitting him and apparently killed by a cab – that he is in fact a former policeman who tried to save Sandie.
Stamp is most widely recognized as General Zod of the Superman films and Bernadette Bassenger from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. But his highest rated film on IMDb is The Historical Adventure of 1962. Billy budd. Billy budd was adapted from the play of the same name by Louis O. Coxe and Robert H. Chapman, which in turn was adapted from the short story of the same name by Herman Melville.
4 Diana Rigg – Last Night in Soho (7.6)
Last night in Soho opens with the words “For Diana,” dedicating the film to the memory of Dame Diana Rigg, the screen legend who plays Ellie’s landlady, Mrs. Collins. Rigg died before the film’s release, but completed her decades-long acting career with one of her most memorable performances. She is best known for her roles on television – especially Emma Peel in The Avengers (the ’60s spy series, not the Marvel superhero franchise) and Olenna Tyrell in HBO Game Of Thrones – but she’s done her fair share of the big screen work.
Rigg has appeared in such renowned films as Hospital, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (in which she played the only “Bond Girl” Bond ever married), and The Grand Muppet Caper, but her highest rated movie on IMDb is actually Last night in Soho himself.
3 Rita Tushingham – Doctor Zhivago (8.0)
Rita Tushingham was a perfect meta-casting choice to play Ellie’s grandmother, Peggy in Last night in Soho. Peggy is suspicious of her granddaughter leaving the British countryside to pursue her dreams in London. In the 1967 musical Shattering weather, Tushingham played a star-eyed character who did just that.
Tushingham was one of the greatest stars of British cinema of the 1960s, appearing in successes such as A taste of honey and Talent … and how to get it. His highest rated film on IMDb is the classic romantic epic Doctor Zhivago, in which she played the supporting role of Tanya Komarova.
2 Matt Smith – Lungs (8.3)
Matt Smith plays the guy with a disturbing performance as Sandie’s abusive manager turned pimp Jack in Last night in Soho. Smith is charming as always, but his character has a surprising dark side. Smith’s highest rated film on IMDb is a hybrid of film and play.
Three months after the coronavirus pandemic closed UK theaters in 2020, Smith and Claire Foy reprized their roles in the play Lungs at the Old Vic in London. The audience had to connect through Zoom, so it’s technically a movie. The play revolves around a couple debating whether to have a child in a world of overpopulation and economic recession. It struck close to home for many viewers who had similar discussions at the start of the pandemic.
1 Anya Taylor-Joy – Last Night in Soho (7.6)
Edgar Wright recently revealed that he originally intended to cast Anya Taylor-Joy as Ellie in Last night in Soho. However, after seeing To divide and The witchWright realized that she had already played the role of a last sympathetic girl twice before. So he instead gave her the role of Sandie, Ellie’s counterpart in the ’60s – and, of course, she took him out of the park.
Like Rigg, Taylor-Joy’s highest rated film on IMDb is Last night in Soho himself. With his roles in Last night in Soho, To divide, and The witch, Taylor-Joy has established herself as a modern-day “scream queen” in the era of so-called “high horror.” With his lead role in Netflix The Queen’s Gambit, she has also proven herself as a dramatic actress outside of the horror genre.
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