History Film / LastNightInSoho

* BrokenAesop: Played with more nuance than it might appear:
** [[spoiler:The film has a powerful message about how women are too often dismissed and disregarded by authority figures as hysterical... that it undermines its climax. When Ellie goes to the police to report Sandie's killing by Jack, the officer doesn't believe a word, asking if she has a history of schizophrenia, if she was drugged, and if she's experimented with hallucinogens before outright dismissing her. Except he's ''right'': the murder she's claiming occurred never happened. Eloise was delusional, her vision of Sandie's murder was at best her misinterpreting one of her visions and at worst a [[MushroomSamba bona fide hallucination]] from being drugged by Jocasta. Furthermore, Eloise goes full YouHaveToBelieveMe, but all she can offer in the way of proof boils down to SuspectIsHatless and claiming that she saw ghosts enact it in a psychic vision. Granted, the cop was RightForTheWrongReason, but then it further turns out that the ''real'' murderer was in fact Sandie herself, further undermining the film's message.]]
** [[spoiler:However, the characters so far were antipathetic to Eloise at best and unnerving to her at worst (sans [[NiceGuy John]]), with few reliable authority figures who are capable of understanding her situation. The film's ending, with Eloise having a successful career, means that even if she was hampered down due to mental illness or supernatural visions, she still triumphed at the end. It helps that her last vision was of Sandie, and by that point she's fully aware of her past troubles, with the entire case chalked up to a burning house with a [[AxCrazy presumably unwell old lady who might've had a run in with the cops before.]]]]

* AloneWithThePsycho: Defied by Ellie who tells John to go look for her if she doesn't return from her apartment after 15 minutes. When she indeed doesn't, now in the fangs of [[spoiler: Ms. Collins]], John rings the bell and brings the EvilPlan down.

* BookEnds:

** [[spoiler: The hands of Sandie's victims crashing through the walls and grabbing Eloise]] is a homage to ''Film/{{Repulsion}}'', which Wright has stated in interviews to have been a major inspiration for his film.

* ThePlace / TimeTitle: Subverted as the title has no direct meaning to the story. It's actually not set during ''a'' night in Soho, but [[TitledAfterTheSong named after a song]].

-> ''"Do you believe in ghosts?"''

** [[spoiler: However, the characters so far were antipathetic to Eloise at best and unnerving to her at worst (sans [[NiceGuy John]]), with few reliable authority figures who are capable of understanding her situation. The film's ending, with Eloise having a successful career, means that even if she was hampered down due to mental illness or supernatural visions, she still triumphed at the end. It helps that her last vision was of Sandie, and by that point she's fully aware of her past troubles, with the entire case chalked up to a burning house with a [[AxCrazy presumably unwell old lady who might've had a run in with the cops before.]]]]

* DoesNotLikeMen: Ms Collins has a rule about bringing men back to the bedsit, and seems to dislike them in general. [[spoiler: Turns out she was a serial killer who specifically targeted men]].

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Ellie first gets an ImportantHaircut to become blonde and with a fringe resembling Sandie. It's initially worn in a Bridget Bardot-style blowout, but is grows increasingly straighter and more unkempt as the horror continues. [[spoiler: In the epilogue, she's reverted to brown, but with a slightly more contemporary version of the 1960s blowout]].

** [[spoiler: When Eloise is confronting the Silver Haired Gentleman, accusing him of killing Sandie, the Gentleman says "She was too good for the life she was in", which is exactly what the cop in '60s Soho said to Sandie. This immediately hints that the Gentleman is not Jack. He also says he's "tired of this line of questioning", which is a very cop phrase.]]
** [[spoiler: The pile of letters Eloise flips through at the end shows a letter addressed to "Alexandra Collins", a reveal that happens just before it's revealed that Ms. Collins is Sandie.]]

*** In addition, during the library scene, [[spoiler: one of the ghosts faintly yells "Help"]].

** [[spoiler: Ms. Collins' adamant attitude about not having men in the room at night time nor having a male tenant becomes clear when you realize she was Sandie and had all those horrible experiences in the room from Jack pimping her out.]]
** [[spoiler: After Ms. Collins mistakes John for attacking Eloise, she casually remarks to Eloise that she would have "killed" him if she had been in that situation herself. Following the reveal, it becomes apparent that she was not being hyperbolic.]]
** The Silver Haired Gentleman [[spoiler: telling Eloise that Sandie was not some innocent girl ultimately foreshadows that Sandie was really the one that not only killed Jack, but also committed multiple other murders.]]
** To foreshadow the fact that Soho is gradually revealed in-story to be a [[spoiler: red-light district that preys upon female dreamers]], the transitions to the visions of the past are cued by flashing lights outside Ellie's room, which [[spoiler:go between blue, white, and red, with red shining at the moment of the switch.]] This would have been more obvious with a working title for the film, [[spoiler:"Red Light Area"]].
** We see that Ellie's mother stays with her as a ghost in her home, and as the London visions progress and darken, Eloise becomes increasingly desperate to interact with Sandie and communicate with her to no avail. [[spoiler: That Sandie never seems to truly see Ellie and acknowledge her first seems like a consequence of being on a different plane, but the male ghosts contrast Sandie by actively stalking Ellie. At the end of the film, it turns out the difference is based on the fact that the men are ''dead'' spirits and Sandie is just a memory of someone still alive, rather than the reverse being the case. Ellie's mother and the behavior of the different spirits indicated that memories can't reach out to or see Ellie while the dead can.]]
* FreezeFrameBonus: Near the end of the film, Ms. Collins directs Eloise to a pile of unsorted mail. A letter showing [[spoiler: Ms. Collins' first name, Alexandra,]] appears for a split-second at the top of the pile, but Eloise quickly moves it aside to get her own letter. Eloise finally notices this letter after TheReveal.

* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler: Eloise mistakes the old man for the violent pimp, Jack but he turns out to be Lindsay, the friendly cop who had tried to help Sandie at the bar.]]

** Once he shows his [[BitchInSheepsClothing true colors]], [[spoiler: Jack is little more than a reprehensible pimp who repeatedly abuses Sandie while yelling slurs at her. Absolutely no one feels remotely sad when Sandie kills him in self-defense.]]

** [[spoiler: Eloise seemingly witnessing Sandie's murder only for it to actually be Sandie committing the murder]] is a plot device used several times by Creator/DarioArgento, most notably in ''Film/TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage''.

* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Once Ellie has sipped from the sedated CalmingTea, [[spoiler: Ms. Collins opens up about her identity and the murders]] believing that Ellie will take that knowledge to her grave.

* AMFMCharacterization: Eloise enjoys music of the 1960s, such as Music/TheKinks, Music/DustySpringfield, and Cilla Black.

** Eloise is also a more obvious example, as a timid young CountryMouse who starts the film like a Disney Princess literally dancing around the house in a homemade dress. She is hopelessly naive as to what life in London is actually like, namely just how expensive it actually is. On a darker note, it also doesn't occur to her that someone suffering from ISeeDeadPeople moving to what was once the murder capital of London might be a bad idea for one's mental health. [[spoiler: Or that shouting to everyone who can hear about a murder might spur the killer to take action.]]
* NearDeathExperience: Ellie is almost hit by a car a handful of times, to the point where it almost becomes a RunningGag. [[spoiler: Averted when the Silver Haired Gentleman is struck while talking to her in the middle of the street]].

* NoKillLikeOverkill: Ms. Collins mentions that [[spoiler: she killed Jack by stabbing him a hundred times]].

* OnceMoreWithClarity: [[spoiler: Eloise sees a vision of Sandie being killed and starts researching murders in the 1960s, all while dealing with specters of the various men who called on her. When she discovers that Ms. Collins is Sandie, she realizes the screams, stabbing motions, and being covered in blood were not from her being stabbed but from her killing all those men]].

* PerfectPoison: Subverted. [[spoiler: Ms Collins spikes Ellie's tea with something that makes her go drowsy after a few minutes. But once Ellie realises what's happening, she's still able to struggle up the stairs and get away from her. Although since Ms Collins was planning to make it look like a suicide, it might not have been poison, but just a sedative. Whatever it was, she appears to make a full recovery thanks to timely arrival by the paramedics]].

** Sandie's name (and [[SpellMyNameWithAnS the spelling]]) seems to be a reference to Sandie Shaw, also a 1960s singer who wore a lot of pink swing dresses.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Eloise begins the movie dressed in a more old-fashioned and conservative style, wearing layered clothing which she designed herself, showing her characterization as an innocent CountryMouse. After a cold reception from her more cosmopolitan classmates, and her dreams of Sandie's memories, she copies Sandie's appearance by dying her hair blond, embracing bolder colors and buying a white trenchcoat. When the dreams become more unsettling and cause a degree of SanitySlippage, Eloise begins to take on a LooksLikeCesare aesthetic, with dark eyeliner contrasting with her pale skin. [[spoiler: In the film's final scene, she reverts to her original brunette hairstyle, but paired with a red top, suggesting that she's adapted elements of Sandie's boldly colored and seductive style without fully trying to copy it, underscoring how she's matured beyond her nostalgia for the Sixties. The use of red also links her with her visions of her mother, who appears in mirrors dressed in a red sweater.]]
** Sandie also experiences a wardrobe shift, albeit one subtler than Eloise's, with her outfits becoming increasingly more revealing to reflect her objectification by Jack. [[spoiler: After her death, her ghost returns wearing the pink dress she was most comfortable in.]]
* SlashedThroat: What [[spoiler: Sandie did to some of her abusers]]. She also tries to kill herself this way at the end but Ellie intervenes.

* SmileOfApproval: Ellie's successful fashion show at the end garners three: one from Jocasta (implying she now respects her), [[spoiler: one from her mother's ghost, and one from 60s!Sandie appearing in a mirror]].

* TallDarkAndHandsome: Jack cultivates this image for himself (along with being a SharpDressedMan) [[spoiler: to make it easier to seduce and pimp out girls like Sandie.]]
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: Attempted when [[spoiler: Ms. Collins puts something in Ellie's tea with plans to kill her and [[NeverSuicide pass it off as a suicide]]. While it makes Ellie very drowsy, once she realises what's happening to her, she's able to push through and fight off her attacker. She appears to suffer no ill effects either, thanks to timely intervention from the paramedics]]. Granted it's not said if it was poison or just some kind of sedative.

** [[spoiler: Creator/SamClaflin appears in one of the flashbacks as a younger version of Officer Lindsay, played in the present narrative by Creator/TerenceStamp. The story plays with this, as the viewer is led to believe that Stamp is actually an elderly version of Jack (Creator/MattSmith) only for him to actually be Lindsay.]]

* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: [[spoiler: Sandie]] and [[spoiler: Eloise's landlady Alexandra Collins]] are the same person.

* TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive: When Eloise confronts the Silver Haired Gentleman, he notes in a threatening tone that he knows where she lives. Subverted when it turns out that [[spoiler: the man is actually not the villain]].

--> '''Ms. Collins:''' [[spoiler:[[ThatManIsDead A girl did die in that room, I suppose. The young me.]]]]

* {{Fauxshadow}}: Eloise comes to believe that the Silver Haired Gentleman is a now elderly Jack, aka the man who pimped out and abused Sandie. [[spoiler:It turns out that he is actually the police officer who tried to help Sandie get away from the downward spiral she was in.]]

* LookBothWays: The Silver Haired Gentleman is run over by a car in the street because he turned his back to the traffic to talk to Ellie.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Eloise asks Ms. Collins if anyone had died in her room and her response was basically that a city with a LONG history like London that someone has likely died in every room in every building. Eloise then tries searching for a specific murder sometime in the 1960s but is quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume. [[spoiler:The 'naturally' high death/disappearance rate in 1960s London even managed to effectively disguise a highly prolific SerialKiller.]]

** [[spoiler: When Eloise is confronting the Silver Haired Gentleman, accusing him of killing Sandie, the Gentleman says "She was too good for the life she was in", which is exactly what the cop in '60s Soho said to Sandie. This immediately hints that the Gentleman is not Jack.]]

** [[spoiler:Early in the film when Eloise tries to talk to Ms. Collins about a possible murder that occurred in her room, Ms. Collins almost dismissively talks about how people die everywhere around London. This foreshadows the fact that Ms. Collins was really Sandie committing the murders in the room.]]

** Briefly near the end, [[spoiler:it appears the movie is going for this when all of Sandie's victims begin begging Eloise to help them...but only for a moment as the help they want is for her to help them get revenge on Sandie for killing them. As they were all sexual predators, she quickly rejects them and a short time later agrees with the now elderly Sandie that they got what they deserved.]]

* ProductPlacement: A whole minor plot thread is devoted to cans of Coca-Cola, which are shown in close up several times. This is in contrast to Jocasta's entire fridge full of BrandX "Organic Planet" food.

* BrandX: The dorm's fridge is filled with nothing but "Organic Planet" brand food, with Jocasta's name scrawled on everything. She sure must love that nonexistent place! This is in contrast to Ellie's [[ProductPlacement very conspicuous]] can of Coca-Cola.

* PsychoStrings: Subtly invoked. The innocent Cilla Black song "You're My World", which is used in the film, has notable and perhaps jarring high-pitched string stings in the inztrumentation. These strings are ultimately reframed in the classic "''Psycho''" association when [[spoiler:Miss Collins/Sandie tries to stab Ellie on the staircase with a knife while the vision of Sandie sings a haunting cover of "You're My World"]].

* PsychoStrings: Subtly invoked. The innocent Cilla Black song "You're My World", which is used in the film, has notable and perhaps jarring high-pitched string stings in the intrumentation. These strings are ultimately reframed in the classic "''Psycho''" association when [[spoiler:Miss Collins/Sandie tries to stab Ellie on the staircase with a knife while the vision of Sandie sings a haunting cover of "You're My World"]].

** [[spoiler:Ms. Collins/Sandie decides to end her life by [[FaceDeathWithDignity waiting for the fire to consume her]] in the building. Elsie tries to stop her and convince her to not do it even after Ms. Collins/Sandie attempted to murder her and John. The scene is treated as tragic as Ms. Collins/Sandie by the end of the day was just a young girl who came to Soho to follow her dreams but was abused and taken advantage by men like Jack. Ms. Collins/Sandie's murder of Jack and the other men was just her getting revenge on the people that abused and took advantage of her.]]

** [[https://sandiesellie.tumblr.com/post/668404877588889600/something-that-struck-me-about-last-night-in-soho It's been pointed out that Sandie also experiences a wardrobe shift,]] albeit one subtler than Eloise's, with her outfits becoming increasingly more revealing to reflect her objectification by Jack. [[spoiler: After her death, her ghost returns wearing the pink dress she was most comfortable in.]]

* TimeTravel: Eloise apparently travels back in time to the swinging '60s, though she is merely an observer.

* CreepyRedHerring: The [[spoiler:Silver-Haired Gentleman]] has an unsettlingly familiar demeanor with Ellie and she soon suspects [[spoiler:he is Jack, Sandie's abusive pimp, in the present day.]] These suspicions are proven incorrect after [[spoiler:he is hit by a car and maybe fatally wounded and the bartender vouches for him and confirms his name is Lindsey.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Eloise's grandmother is worried about her mental health, partially because her mother was overwhelmed by life in London and killed herself, and she knows that at present-day Eloise at times sees her mother in mirrors. One character even asks if there is a history of schizophrenia in Eloise's family at one point. [[spoiler:But on the other hand she (and perhaps her mother) might just be sensitive to supernatural phenomena, as she begins to have visions of things she couldn't possibly know and begins be haunted by genuine ghosts that no one else can see. Considering that, naturally, nobody else would believe them, their supernatural powers were chalked up to being mental illness.]]

* We see that Ellie's mother stays with her as a ghost in her home, and as the London visions progress and darken, Eloise becomes increasingly desperate to interact with Sandie and communicate with her to no avail. [[spoiler: That Sandie never seems to truly see Ellie and acknowledge her first seems like a consequence of being on a different plane, but the male ghosts contrast Sandie by actively stalking Ellie. At the end of the film, it turns out the difference is based on the fact that the men are ''dead'' spirits and Sandie is just a memory of someone still alive, rather than the reverse being the case. Ellie's mother and the behavior of the different spirits indicated that memories can't reach out to or see Ellie while the dead can.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Are Eloise's visions are supernatural phenomena or simple hallucinations caused by a combination of her nostalgia for the '60s, pressure of big city, her sensitive personality and "legacy" of her mother? While the crime she sees is confirmed to have unambiguisly happened, [[spoiler:if not in the way she expected,]] the movie doesn't state definitely ''why'' she sees it.

* {{Giallo}}: The film borrows a lot of its look and style from the giallo films made by {{Creator/Dario Argento}} and {{Creator/Mario Bava}}. [[spoiler:Ellie seeing Sandie being murdered but it turning out to be Sandie doing the killing herself is also very similar to the plot twist in ''Film/TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage''.]]

* DarkReprise: Cilla Black's "You're My World" features in a glorifying context during Ellie's first vision of Sandie, but it returns in a haunting context as [[spoiler:Sandie/Miss Collins attempts to kill Ellie in the climax. Sandie's sung rendition of the song colors the loving lyrics (such as "you're every breath I take") more like an obsessive MurderBallad, while the violin from the song sounds more like full-blown PsychoStrings. The song shifts back into Cilla's rendition, but remains dark due to being ironically and tragically joyous]].

* PsychoStrings: Subtly invoked. The innocent Cilla Black song "You're My World", which is used in the film, has notable and perhaps jarring high-ptched string stings in the intrumentation. These strings are ultimately reframed in the classic "''Psycho''" association when [[spoiler:Miss Collins/Sandie tries to stab Ellie on the staircase with a knife while the vision of Sandie sings a haunting cover of "You're My World"]].

** To foreshadow the fact that Soho is gradually revealed in-story to be a [[spoiler: red-light district that preys upon female dreamers]]], the transitions to the visions of the past are cued by flashing lights outside Ellie's room, which [[spoiler:go between blue, white, and red, with red shining at the moment of the switch.]] This would have been more obvious with a working title for the film, [[spoiler:"Red Light Area"]].