I was glad I had a chance to see this film. Matt Smith aside, it’s one that definitely intrigued me when the ads were first coming back, and it has a superb cast. Really interesting film that stayed percolating in my thoughts.
Ellie, a fragile but hopeful Cornwall girl, is excited to be moving to London for fashion college. Her glamorous, nostalgia-fueled dreams take a hit when her classmates regard her as a “country mouse” weirdo with a granny aesthetic, but everything changes when she leaves the dorms and finds a room in Soho. Every night as she closes her eyes, she opens them to the luscious 1960s London of her dreams, following the exploits of a would-be club singer named Sandie. But the deeper she goes into her visions of Sandie’s life, the more Ellie realizes there’s something sinister buried within them.
I hate to bring up Woody Allen, but the film of his that I had the hardest time giving up was Midnight in Paris. Now, though, I’ve found a movie that scratches a similar itch without the creepy baggage. While the setting and aesthetic are different—a contemporary person obsessed with London of the ‘60s rather than Paris of the ‘20s—both films are about the powerful drug of nostalgia. How difficult it be to relate to the people around you when you feel like you belong in a different time, the notion that you wouldn’t have any problems if you could only live in your fantasy era, and so on. Ellie’s zest for this idealized past is infectious, and it’s really interesting to watch her try and bring some of the touchstones from her dreams into her waking life, to the point where she’s neglecting the real world in favor of the fantasy.
I also appreciate that the film doesn’t simply coast on the nostalgia and the aesthetic. It has a genuine story to tell, both in terms of Ellie’s character journey and the growing mystery over what happened to Sandie. What’s more, it has a lot to say, and it certainly stayed with me after viewing it. And I have to say the artistry on display is fantastic. Given the emphasis on fashion, it’s a no brainer that the designs are a knockout, but I also love the trippy, subtle way Ellie slips in and out of her fantasies. In the second half of the film, as elements from her dreams start to encroach on her waking life, it starts to have more of a generic horror vibe, but those early visuals are just stunningly shot.
I loved Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa in Jojo Rabbit, and she’s splendid here as Ellie. She manages the shifts in tone and the slides in and out of reality wonderfully. It’s great to follow her story through this complex and at-times overwhelming film. Anya Taylor-Joy is a fine choice for Sandie. She’s presented as everything Ellie wishes she was—glamorous and decked out in sumptuous fashions, yes, but also confident and independent. As the story goes on, it’s easy to get invested in her beyond just being Ellie’s fantasy girl. Diana Rigg plays Ellie’s landlady, in one of her final roles, and the film features Jessie Mei Li (Alina from Shadow and Bone) and Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair himself!) in brief appearances. I’m not familiar with Michael Ajao, but he's very good as John, the one student in Ellie’s classes that seems to want her to be present, not stuck in the past she longs for.
Matt Smith is the ‘60s sequences, playing Sandie’s manager Jack. From the moment we meet him, it’s clear that he’s just a little too charming, brusque but also alluring, and there’s an immediate instinct to want to warn both Ellie and Sandie away from him. Smith plays that slickness in a way that’s obvious but not over-the-top, and he moves nicely through the different shades of Jack that come out over the course of the film. It’s not the most demanding role, but Smith does well with it.
Accent Watch
London.
Recommend?
In General – I would, although it can definitely be heavy, and the horror-averse might have trouble with the second half. Still, it’s engrossing, beautifully filmed, and strongly acted.
Matt Smith – I think so. Even though it isn’t a huge role or the most complex, it is a pivotal role, and Smith is in good form here.
Warnings
Sexual content, violence, drinking/smoking, language (including sexist slurs,) and thematic elements (including references to suicide.)
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