Eloise ( Thomasin McKensie) is an aspiring fashion designer obsessed with the sixties and reliving the adventure of her mother's youth. She travels from her rural home to the vibrant city of London. Unused to an urban lifestyle, its cruelty and cynicism, she feels lost and a fish out of water. Leaving her shared dormitory room, she finds herself a private rented attic room in a house in Soho, owned by the elderly and crotchety Miss Collins (Diana Rigg)
Yet when she falls asleep in her new room, Eloise finds herself literally slipping back in time, transported to the world of sixties swinging London. Inhabiting the body and life experience of a would be singer Sandie. ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) Initially these night time adventures feed into her fashion creativity, emerging as reinterpreted versions of Sandie's fabulous cloths. But each night the experience begins turning more and more disturbing as Sandie's life goes seriously, dangerously off the rails. Eloise, begins to fear for Sandie's life, and that Eloise herself will lose her sanity, like her mother did. Meanwhile the attic room becomes increasingly crowded with vengeful male ghosts from the past emerging from its walls.
Edgar Wright's psychological horror story, fizzes with all the creative tension it can muster, between having fun and leaning it in to fearfulness. Evocative music, period details, and inventive set pieces, capture the confident ebullience, the snappy style, the seedy behaviour and mores of this classic, but very different era. Featuring cameos by acting stars from that era such as Diana Rigg's last film appearance, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp. It has all of Wright's usual sharply timed edits to music beats, his feel for the zeitgeist of this era's pop culture, with talismanic nods and knowing references. As we effortlessly slip from our own era back to this iconic period in British culture. An absorbing, cleverly executed homage, whilst also being a horror story, and a pointedly moral tale with a human heart. One that finishes with a truly surprising twist to the tale. Loved it.
CARROT REVIEW - 7/8
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