Last Night in Soho’s Edgar Wright doesn’t want to give you homework — but will

Edgar Wright’s new horror-thriller Last Night in SohoIt is full of visual references. Cinephiles may recognize a shot from Roman Polanski’s Repulsion here, a color scheme from Dario Argento’s SuspiriaThere. He loved Rita Tushingham in Tony Richardson’s 1961 drama Honey: A Taste of HoneySo much so, that he named her his grandmother Soho. He admired the Café De Paris in 1961’s West End JungleHe re-created the set as a notable one for his own collection. Soho’s key scenes. He has a long list of films that he considers to be his inspirations. They extend to music, as well — he’s said the entire film started as a series of impressions around the ’60s playlist he curated from his parents’ records.

But he wants viewers to understand that they don’t need to know any of this to watch the movie, which stars Thomasin McKenzie as a shy London fashion-school student having visions that connect her with a 1960s wannabe stage star (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her unsettling new love interest (former Doctor Who star Matt Smith). Ahead of the film’s release, the writer-director of Shaun Vs. The Dead Hot Fuzz Baby driver Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and more indelible referential movies spoke to Polygon about the movie’s horror roots and inspirations, the giant playlist of films he gave his cast to consider as inspirations, and why he doesn’t want to play the Stanley Kubrick auteur game.

Photo by Focus Features

There’s been a lot of conversation about Which Last Night at SohoShould be considered as a giallo movieIt is. Are you invested in the debate, or in how it’s categorized?

Edgar Wright: Yes, I love giallo movies, which was a big influence. But in a weird way, I found myself tumbling backward to find the source of those movies’ influences as well. These were films I looked up for inspiration, ranging back to British directors Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger.

I’m not going to deny the influence of Deep RedOder The Bird With Crystal PlumageThese films are my favorite. It was interesting to me, however, what were the influences for these directors. Black NarcissusAlthough it is not a giallo movie, there are many elements. Black NarcissusThis clearly inspired the giallo films. The best part about those movies is how expressive and operatic they are, with a slow burn between things. Endings are a great idea. Last Night at SohoOperatic terror was always my destination.

Thomasin McKenzie has said that when you brought her on the film, you gave her a playlist of 50 or so movies to watch —

I will say this — I always say this. I gave everybody on the cast and crew a hub, and said, “Watch as much as you want to, or not!” But the two most diligent people were Thomasin and Odile Dicks-Mireaux, my costume designer, who I think watched all of them. She didn’t have to see all 50. She’s just a very diligent young lady.

How did your crew and cast want to be able to use the list?

Well, they weren’t all horror movies! In fact, more than half of them were ’60s dramas, with some documentaries as well. I pointed people to different things. With Matt and Anya, it was interesting for me to show them movies from back in the day, since screen acting was quite different then. So I asked Anya to watch John Schlesinger’s DarlingFilms such as [Edmond T. Gréville’s] Beat Girl

I think all of them, Matt and Anya and Thomasin, watched Ken Loach’s Poor CowIt’s not because Terence Stamp is the only reason. [who has a significant role in Last Night in Soho]It is there. It’s also interesting to contrast a movie like Darling with Ken Russell’s work. Because what’s interesting in something like Poor Cow, or even in the documentaries, is that you see the reality of the ’60s, rather than the movie version of the ’60s. In movies from the ’60s, you obviously have costume designers and maybe a slightly heightened style. But sometimes when you watch documentaries, or even lower-budget fiction films, you’re getting real, off-the-rack clothes for costumes. There’s a film called like How to be a Windmill Girl: SecretsPauline Collins. It’s not the best movie of all time. It’s pretty exploitative, a moralistic drama. But because it’s quite a cheap movie, it feels pretty accurate in terms of the actual clothes of the time.

Photo by Focus Features

You’ve talked about how this movie started with your own giant 1960s music playlist, and then there’s this film list. Does your work have a curatorial component? Is it your goal to bring people to the movies or to music you love? Are you more interested in expressing what you are passionate about?

I guess it’s a bit of both! It’s funny, doing the press for this movie, I’ve written more lists [for cultural outlets]More than ever before. Next movie I make, I’m not going to write any lists.

The thing about me when it comes to working with crews is that my default position is total transparency. So many directors get this idea that they should be some sort of dark, mysterious auteur of never telling their crew what the hell’s going on, and saying, “This is my method, nobody should know what I’m doing.” You hear too many stories about people trying to be the next Stanley Kubrick, and shutting the rest of the crew out. I’m not gonna mention any names, but I go the opposite way. I will say to my cast and crew — particularly working with a crew where we’re doing a lot of ’60s scenes — “I will give you as much to listen to, watch, read, look at as you could want, and you can, but it’s not required reading. If you want some stuff to dip into, this is interesting.”

The same goes for movies. Sometimes people ask me, “What films should I watch before Last Night at SohoAre you interested in? You don’t need to watch any films before watching it! The film should work if it’s the first movie you’ve ever seen. [Laughs]Think about it. Last Night at Soho was the first movie you’ve ever watched. However, it can be used on its own terms. All the other stuff is just, like, further reading, “If you enjoyed this, listen to this.” I put out a playlist for theaters, “Here are things to get you in the mood. Here’s a playlist, if theaters want to play this in the auditorium before the film. These are songs that are not in the movie, but they’re all in the right time, just as mood-setter.” But I don’t want to give anybody homework! It’s just further reading.

It is my goal to locate the first person I ever saw in a film. Last Night at Soho. There’s got to be SomebodyThere are many.

However, they might need to be young.

Yes. If they are raised by irresponsible parents, then yes.

Polygon is going to have more from Edgar Wright as he takes us through the steps of filming one. Last Night at Soho’s most complicated and compelling scenes.