Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho’s ending has some big twists and surprise idenтιтy reveals that work to tie together his era-spanning psychological thriller. Centering on Thomasin McKenzie’s Eloise “Ellie” Turner, Last Night In Soho melds together the present day with 1960s London, with dreamlike visions that give way to a nightmare reality. Wright worked to keep Last Night In Soho suitably mysterious and secretive through its marketing campaign, and it’s easy to see why. Aside from the movie’s core narrative device – that Ellie has visions of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ people – there are a lot of twists and turns as the movie has Ellie sink deeper into the past, and sees that world cross over into the present.
While Ellie is originally taken with singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) and longs to escape reality to follow her adventures, she uncovers the darker truth, with Sandie forced into Sєx work and abused by countless men, with Ellie having visions of the night she was ostensibly murdered in the same room she now lives in. This leads to Last Night In Soho‘s ending becoming a desperate fight to get justice for Sandie, with Ellie believing her killer is still out there, in the form of an old patron at the bar she works at, played by Terrence Stamp. Except, of course, it isn’t so simple. Last Night In Soho attempts to tie all of its strands and timelines together and pull off some big reveals, which tie into its core themes even if it’s not wholly successful.
How Do Ellie’s Visions In Last Night In Soho Work?
A Possible Combination Of Trauma And Supernatural Gifts
From the very beginning of this Anya Taylor-Joy horror movie, it’s established that Ellie possesses one very notable ability: that she can see what seems to be visions of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ people. At first, the movie presents this as though Ellie only has visions of her mother, who took her own life several years before the events of the movie, but it’s also clear this is something that’s been happening for a long time (perhaps since her mother died). When Ellie moves to London, though, it becomes apparent this extends beyond just her mother, as she begins to have visions of the 1960s and the singer Sandie, which then increasingly take over her reality.
Ellie’s grandmother refers to these visions as a “gift,” suggesting some kind of supernatural power. Last Night In Soho‘s twist ending, in particular, suggests otherwise. It’s mentioned a few times that Ellie’s mother had schizophrenia; Ellie herself is not diagnosed with any specific mental illness, but the movie does suggest she is experiencing some kind of psychosis, which can include hallucinations.
Last Night In Soho doesn’t delve too deeply into Ellie’s mental state or why she sees certain people, but she did suffer a great trauma at a young age and that is still with her now. Ellie being in the bedsit where so many terrible things happened then only adds to this, with a sense of the supernatural still there – when it’s revealed the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ bodies chasing Ellie around were men killed by Last Night In Soho‘s Sandie, then it implies they were trying to make her see what happened.
Either way, Ellie clearly has some kind of connection to the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, particularly if there is a strong link to them – whether that’s her actual relative or the sense of sound and place that so strongly ties her to Sandie and why she becomes more susceptible to having these visions. As Ellie herself struggles in the real world and longs to break away from her struggles at university, the visions initially offer a sense of escapism, meaning she welcomes them and wills them on. However, she is then unable to stop them later when things turn.
Last Night In Soho’s Twist Explained: Mrs. Collins Is Sandie
Sandie’s “Death” Was Symbolic
The big twist of Last Night In Soho‘s ending comes with its major idenтιтy reveal: that Ellie’s landlady, Mrs. Collins, is actually the Sandie Ellie saw 1965 flashbacks to throughout Last Night In Soho. Whereas Ellie believed the visions she had were of Sandie being killed in the bedroom she now inhabits, that wasn’t quite what happened. As Sandie/Mrs. Collins explains, she did die then, but in a figurative sense, as the abusers she survived stripped away her idenтιтy bit by bit. This refers to how she coped, essentially shutting down and closing herself off from the pain, and also how she ended up leaving Sandie before, killing that persona and forging ahead with a new path in the hope of leaving the past behind with her.
While Sandie died in a more metaphorical sense, there were countless murders in that bedroom: she killed and seemingly buried within the walls and beneath the floorboards all the men who paid for Sєx with her and abused her. To that end, it meant Sandie was always living with Mrs. Collins throughout the Edgar Wright movie; her return at the end was perhaps inevitable, because she never truly left the past behind, only covered it up. This twist flips the script on all of Last Night In Soho re-framing Ellie’s visions and actions, explaining why there were no records of a murder at the address, and complicating Sandie’s own story by turning her from victim to a survivor but always positioning her as a vengeful murderer.
Why Sandie Tries To Kill Ellie (& Lets Herself Die) In Last Night In Soho’s Ending
From Victim To Threat
The Sandie idenтιтy twist in Last Night In Soho‘s ending is combined with another surprise, as she then attempts to kill Ellie for dragging up the past and involving the police. This fits with Sandie’s actions somewhat, as she’s already shown willingness to kill when necessary, but it is also something of a dramatic leap given there’s little to link Mrs. Collins to Sandie or the murders (about which no one seems to know anyway).
As with Ellie, it seems that Last Night In Soho‘s violent trauma remains for Sandie and that she has not yet overcome it. It’s possible that Mrs. Collins tries to kill Ellie simply because she doesn’t wish to go to prison, but given her age and how big a step that is, it’s also plausible that it’s really because of the risk this poses to her mental wellbeing and the past she has worked to escape.
Ellie ultimately survives, and so too does John (Michael Ajao), who Sandie stabs in her desperate attempt to cover her tracks and avoid her secret getting out. Ultimately, Sandie has been living with ghosts for too long for it to be any other way; she is trapped inside that place, and that’s why her instinct – to kill those she sees as a threat – kicks in.
It’s also why she tries to take her own life and then stays in the burning building: while this seems like a Last Night In Soho headscratcher, the movie suggests a warped sense of her believing she deserves it and wanting to repent (as noted by her line that she “never wanted” any of this). However, it is also, perhaps, a chance for her to finally lay those ghosts to rest and find peace.
All The Clues To Last Night In Soho’s Sandie Idenтιтy Twist
There Were Several Hints Before The Ending Arrived
The Last Night In Soho ending twist is designed as a big reveal, but the movie does offer a lot of clues for viewers along the way that hint to Mrs. Collins’ true idenтιтy as Sandie. These are evident from the moment Ellie first visits the bedsit: Mrs. Collins informs her of a no men rule, which initially is seen as her trying to look out for Ellie (and it is), but in hindsight there’s a much clearer reason as to why she has such a specific rule in place.
Even the casting itself feels like a hint: the late, great Diana Rigg is not only the end of presence who demands a meatier role than mere landlady but is herself an icon of the 1960s and so perfectly fits with the idea of who Sandie was (or at least hoped to be). There are other ties to the 1960s as well: Mrs. Collins pointedly calls out the music Ellie listens to as being of her time; she notes that she hasn’t changed the room since the ’60s.
Similarly, Mrs. Collins mentions that lots of girls have come and gone, has the same ballerina statue as Sandie, and warns Ellie about covering up the bad smell, and even says she would have killed John if she’d caught him after the scene where she believed he was attacking Ellie. Individually, they aren’t necessarily remarkable. But taken as a whole, it’s clear just how much Last Night In Soho used 1960s nostalgia, among other things, to guide viewers to the ending twist.
Last Night In Soho’s Other Idenтιтy Twist: The Old Man Isn’t Jack
Edgar Wright Had Multiple Tricks Up His Sleeve
Of course, the Sandie reveal isn’t the only idenтιтy twist in Last Night In Soho‘s ending, as there’s also the old man Ellie keeps running into at the bar (Stamp). Ellie firmly believes him to be Jack, but after his death he is revealed to be Lindsay, a police officer in the vice squad who was aware of Sandie and even briefly met her in the 1960s (he appears earlier in the movie, played by Sam Clafin).
This twist again makes some sense: there was no sign of Clafin in the movie’s marketing so that he appears in what initially seems such a small role is a clue to the twist itself, and he looks more like Stamp than Matt Smith. One idenтιтy twist feeds into the other – if the old man isn’t Jack as believed but Sam Claflin’s secret cameo role aged up, then it begs the question of what happened to him, which sets up the reveal of Jack’s death and Sandie still being alive.
Lindsay’s interest in Ellie is still a little muddled; he does present himself as a womanizer and his actions are questionable, but he also perhaps knows the dangers she’s headed into. Lindsay’s death in Last Night In Soho‘s ending is also foreshadowed: Ellie is almost hit by cabs on two occasions, and then he is hit and killed by one.
Why Sandie Re-appears To Ellie In Last Night In Soho’s Ending
The Idea Of Sandie Ellie Had Been Helping Is Still Significant
Even though Mrs. Collins dies in Last Night in Soho’s ending, it isn’t the last time viewers see Sandie. The film skips ahead to the end of her first year at university, where she’s presenting her finished design at a fashion show. Ellie’s work is still very much influenced by the ’60s and by Sandie, and in the end of Last Night in Soho, Sandie appears to Ellie in the mirror.
This is the idealized version of Sandie that Ellie believed she’d been helping, the singer with a head full of dreams, a star on the rise. In one sense, this can be seen as Ellie showing forgiveness to Sandie, understanding what she did and why. But it also ties into the idea of either holding on to or being unable to escape the past, which is a more dangerous warning for Ellie; it suggests she hasn’t yet found a balance between past and present or that she isn’t able to let go of Sandie. Nostalgia remains a key part of her life.
What Last Night In Soho’s Ending Really Means
The Entire Movie Is About Moving Forward
The return of Sandie in the mirror in Last Night In Soho‘s ending fits with one of the movie’s core themes, which is the danger of living in or holding on to the past, and that the obsession with nostalgia isn’t necessarily a good thing. The way Anya Taylor-Joy’s character appears to Ellie is her being given a glossy sheen, which is how the past is often remembered: the bad bits are forgotten about or kept out of focus, and instead, imagery and iconography conjure up a strong sense of feeling and longing for a perfect place and time that never truly existed.
This is true of Ellie’s arc in the whole movie, from her move to London in the first place and the realities of what the big city and university life are really like to the dark underbelly of the 1960s dreamworld she envisages. Much like the Cornetto Trilogy movies dealt with perpetual adolescence, Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho is about how people reflect upon the past and don’t learn from it or grow away from it – and just how dangerous that can be.
There is also a sense of Last Night In Soho attempting to address issues of toxic masculinity, Sєxist behavior, and the abuse of women (including in the Sєx work industry), both in the past and present. This can be seen in the film’s presentation of Jack, a sneering, leering man who serves as the movie’s de facto villain, the old man at The Toucan (prior to his reveal), and the cab driver’s inappropriate comments towards Ellie.
Given much of the movie is based around Soho nightlife and the culture of going out and drinking, it’s easy to see Edgar Wright and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns trying to examine the inherent misogyny within that, as well as casting an eye over broader society. Whether it works, however, is another matter.
Why Last Night In Soho’s Ending Is Divisive (Does It Work?)
Opinions Were Definitely Split
Last Night In Soho‘s efforts are largely admirable and there’s no reason to believe its intentions are anything but good, but that doesn’t mean the ending ultimately works. Last Night In Soho is Wright’s most divisive movie, and much of that is because of its third act and its handling of sensitive issues. As mentioned, the film never takes the time to explore issues around mental health quite enough despite the plot necessitating it, but it runs into bigger issues as it looks to keep unfolding the surprise twists and maintain the sense of suspense.
In particular, the reveal that Sandie killed all of those men, then her attempts to kill Ellie and John, undercut some of the aforementioned themes and make Last Night In Soho divisive. In isolation, it might have worked better, but it’s worse when the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ bodies of her victims – but also, it shouldn’t be forgotten, her abusers – will Ellie on to avenge their deaths. The movie flips the script a bit too much in turning Sandie into a villain, muddling its messages completely.
The same can also be said for John’s storyline, in which he is caught up in an incident where it’s made to sound as though he is abusing Ellie, but in truth is anything but. That this is a black character who has to run away before the police come and who could potentially have been accused of rape is a problematic choice, and unfortunately, the movie never reckons with that decision; instead, John forgives Ellie to fulfill his role as the romantic lead and the one good guy she can trust in Last Night In Soho‘s cast.
Quite why he trusts in her, though, still isn’t really shown. Other logic issues arise too – Ellie comes within an inch of stabbing Jacosta (Synnøve Karlsen), perhaps fatally, yet it’s not really addressed either. As Last Night In Soho‘s ending has to shift away from its time-jumping narrative and fully bring the past into the present to give answers, there’s a sense of the movie slipping away from Wright’s grasp much like reality does Ellie’s. That doesn’t make the film bad – for two-thirds, it’s captivating and thrilling – but it’s not hard to see why the ending is divisive at best.
How The Last Night In Soho Ending Was Received
Accusations Of An Overcomplicated Finale Didn’t Deter Audiences
Last Night in Soho is a visually striking and narratively ambitious psychological thriller, though the final act split opinions. However, a divisive view of the ending didn’t stop Last Night in Soho being, overall, a success. On Rotten Tomatoes, Last Night in Soho holds a 75% Tomatometer score (critic response), indicating a largely positive critical response, while the Popcornmeter rating (audience response) of 89% reflects that general moviegoers embraced the film – its gripping and unpredictable climax included. Critics who praised the ending of Last Night in Soho emphasized how its twists subverted expectations.
However, not all critics were fully on board with how the movie wrapped up its story. Writing for Variety, Guy Lodge took explained their significant issue with the twists and reveals, claiming that they arrived far too early in many cases. What’s more, Lodge (like many of the movies detractors) felt that the middle and ending of Last Night in Soho significantly let down the story the beginning could have told:
“Eloise is at first exhilarated to go traipsing through the seamily glamorous vintage Soho of her daydreams, in the perfect physical person of Anya Taylor-Joy — here, as in “The Queen’s Gambit,” proving herself ideally suited to whole-nine-yards ’60s styling. (Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s era-blending, sugar-spun costumes are a high point.) As Sandie’s story turns ever darker, however, Eloise senses she’s a witness to something unspeakable, nearly 60 years after the fact. There’s promise in this premise, though a problem with Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns’ script is how quickly it reaches this point of realization, and how repeтιтively it runs in place for the remainder of the film’s inordinate two-hour running time.”
Guy Lodge wasn’t alone in their view of the climax being sub-par, either. Robert Daniels of Roger Ebert felt that Last Night in Soho, ending included, was simply too shallow a story for the many twists and turns to have significant impact:
“Beyond the initial themes, such as zealotry to the past and toxic men – there’s just not enough to carry the film. Wright doesn’t have anything to say about the Sєx industry, the casting couch or mental health beyond a surface-level understanding. Instead, he relies on cornball humor, copious blood and gore, and homages to far better films. Normally that’d be enough, and it has been in the past, but the tonality doesn’t quite square with the film’s heavy subjects this time. In fact, the twist ending won’t surprise many.”
Despite these criticisms, even those who found the ending excessive acknowledged Wright’s ambitious vision and commitment to a narratively rich experience. For many, Last Night in Soho’s final act was an exhilarating ride that delivered on the film’s promise of suspense and intrigue.
Whether viewed as masterfully constructed or slightly overwrought, the ending of Last Night in Soho undeniably left a lasting impression on audiences, solidifying its place as one of the most discussed thrillers of 2021. And, for all the divisive elements, the critics and viewers who enjoyed Last Night in Soho did so immensely, such as The Guardian writer Mark Kermode:
“For all its scattersH๏τ reference points, however, Last Night in Soho still emerges as Wright’s most personal film – you can feel how much he loves the material. Frankly, I felt the same way.”
How The Last Night In Soho Ending Could Set Up A Sequel
Last Night In Soho 2 Is Unlikely To Ever Arrive
Although it seems to give away all its biggest twists in the end, it’s also possible that Last Night In Soho‘s ending set up a sequel. Present-day Sandie, Lindsay, and the ghosts of Sandie’s victims may be gone, but Eloise can still seemingly see ghosts – most importantly her own mother. A Last Night In Soho sequel could therefore see Ellie continue to grapple with her mother’s story in even greater detail, either uncovering a specific plot she never knew about or simply learning about her mother’s mental illness as she navigates her own similar experience.
On a completely different note, Ellie could also uncover more unrelated mysteries from London history, even some as famous as Jack the Ripper. Since it’s still unclear where her ghost-perception and/or time-travel powers come from, the sequel could be quite flexible. Finally, it’s not out of the question that Ellie could continue to see visions of 1960s Sandie as played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Director Edgar Wright could go in any number of directions with the story, but Last Night In Soho‘s ending has already tied up most loose ends.
