"Last Night in Soho" (2021)

Last Night in Soho (2021) tells the story of Eloise, a young woman transported into the 1960s world of aspiring singer Sandie. As she experiences visions of those exciting days, a mystery begins to be revealed. Sandie is a victim. She is exploited, manipulated, and abused by men who promise fame and deliver harm. It begins to seem clear that she eventually met a grisly fate. Eloise sets out to uncover the mystery and find justice for Sandy.

Contemporary culture frames characters like Sandie as morally untouchable. Understandably so. Her suffering alone might make her socially appealing, deserving of admiration or sympathy. Edgar Wright complicates that narrative. As the story unfolds, Sandie’s choices reveal moral compromise. She enables exploitation, participates in violence, and ultimately harms others. The film refuses to allow victimhood to excuse wrongdoing. Being wronged does not automatically make one good. The supposed “pure victim” becomes morally responsible for her actions.

This subversion challenges a cultural assumption common today: that accumulating layers of victimhood grants moral authority. In social media and identity politics, people often intersect as many forms of victimhood as possible, using suffering to shield themselves from criticism. Sandie’s story exposes the flaw in that approach. She suffers, but she is not absolved. Her pain does not excuse sin. Moral evaluation remains necessary, independent of one’s suffering.

From a Christian perspective, this aligns with the doctrine of sin. All humans are fallen and sinful (Romans 3:23). Even those who are harmed remain capable of wrongdoing. Scripture teaches that sin corrupts the heart, but moral responsibility persists. Victims are not automatically righteous; they are accountable for their choices (Galatians 6:5; James 2:13). Last Night in Soho dramatizes this: Sandie is a victim, yet her responses are real, consequential, and morally significant.

The film also highlights the danger of idolizing suffering. Eloise and the audience are drawn into Sandie’s glamour and victimhood, but Wright gradually forces a confrontation with reality. Sympathy without discernment can blind us to moral truth. Christianity echoes this: compassion must be tempered by justice and truth. True redemption requires acknowledgment of sin and the pursuit of righteousness, not mere recognition of pain.

Ultimately, Last Night in Soho shows that victimhood is not a moral trump card. Suffering is real and tragic, but it does not eliminate the capacity for sin. The Christian worldview offers clarity here: all are fallen, all are accountable, and all need grace. Redemption is possible, but it is not guaranteed by being wronged. Moral responsibility remains. Sandie’s story warns us that even the hurt must confront the consequences of their choices.

The film unsettles because it challenges our instinct to valorize victims automatically. It forces us to wrestle with a deeper truth: suffering does not equal virtue, and moral agency is inescapable. Christianity agrees. Only in Christ does forgiveness and restoration come. Until then, pain does not excuse sin, and all must reckon with the choices they make.