Last Night in Soho starts out innocently enough. Granted, Eloise struggles with some issues (it feels like a country girl heading into the big city to pursue her dreams) but things get a little strange. After renting a room on the top floor of an old house, Eloise finds that when she goes to sleep, she is seemingly transported to the 1960s — a time period that holds nostalgia even though she is not nearly old enough to have experienced it herself.

In this dream, Eloise gets to follow around Sandie, a young woman in a similar situation; new to the city, trying to find her way around. Only this life is much more appealing to Eloise, and she relishes the opportunity to live vicariously through the exciting world of Sandie. That is, until the fantasy becomes a nightmare as she witnesses the dark side of 1960s Soho. 

Last Night in Soho stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, and Terence Stamp. Written by Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Wright also directs this visually stunning, Hitchcockian thriller.

Here are five screenwriting takeaways from Last Night in Soho:

1. Foreshadowing the perils of the city

Eloise starts off the film singing a '60s tune while dancing around her bedroom, even mimicking the iconic Audrey Hepburn pose in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a poster she has hanging on her wall. For all intents and purposes, this movie looks like it takes place in the 1960s. The audience soon discovers we're in the present day.

Eloise, having been accepted to a prestigious design school in London, is leaving but not without her grandmother (Rita Tushingham) foreshadowing some dangers in the city. "London was not good for your mom," she claims. Eventually, we see Eloise's mom — who, we soon learn, died by suicide — in one of Eloise's hallucinations.

Yet, Eloise is eager to head into the city with the expectation it will be inviting and beam with the nostalgia of the '60s. When a taxi driver acts a little too much like a perverted stalker and her roommate is a snob, we see how the city in today’s day and age is not friendly and pushes the lead character out of her element.

Writers can observe how to start knocking down the lead from their current place, gearing them up for their story arc and introducing both external and internal conflict.

2. Contrast between two worlds

Eloise is not a party girl — not in the sense of a modern-day dorm party, that is. When her roommate comes into the room drunk and hooking up with someone, Eloise is stirred from her bed. Even the headphones she uses to escape into her musical world aren't enough to block the things she doesn’t care to see. So, she heads to the community room, but finds a party raging on. Her only refuge is taking a seat on the couch as those around her pound shots, move around sloppily, and do everything that college kids are supposed to do.

When she is whisked into her 1960s world, there is a contrast. Suddenly the loud music is made up of the songs she loves and it doesn’t seem so bad. Men and women are dressed up and partying at a swinging 1960s club. She is entertained and loving every moment as she vicariously lives the life of Sandie — it’s exciting and a bit dangerous, but not threatening.

This is the start of a contrast between the two worlds: one of perceived nostalgia and class and another that, on the surface, is modern and unsophisticated. Writers can see how to build two worlds and, at points, have them coincide. For instance, the room that Eloise ends up renting doesn’t change from the time periods, with the exception of her alarm clock.

3. Similarities between two worlds

Just like there are differences, there are plenty of similarities between Soho today versus the 1960s. Only the similarities aren’t necessarily in the worlds themselves, but the characters living in them. While Eloise’s shyness and discomfort contrasts with Sandie’s personality, they have a lot in common. Both characters are new in town and have big dreams that stem from the artistic world of Soho.

Both characters have grand dreams of being big in their professions, and why not? They’re both amazing at their respective skills; Eloise’s fashion design and Sandie’s singing and dancing. They love Soho in the 1960s; Sandie is in awe of her surroundings and as previously mentioned, Eloise is nostalgic.

Finally, a subtle similarity has to do with their names; both Eloise and Sandie are unsure of their names. Eloise flips to Ellie or Elle while Sandie goes through a variety of names in a dark turn of events in her life.

Writers can see how to create subtle similarities in a story where one person strives to be like another.

A different example is a monologue in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in which Ford, who all but worships James, recites their similarities over dinner.

4. Character transformation

At one point in the story, the coquettish young girl begins to transform herself into the person she sees in her dreams. Sandie is the embodiment of what Eloise strives to be. Sandie is self-confident, determined, and commands the attention of any room she walks into. Who wouldn’t want to have that?

Eloise becomes inspired in her real life to emulate this world she lives in while dreaming. She gets her hair styled just like Sandie’s and begins buying vintage clothes to match the look. She also creates the same style in one of her fashion design classes, to the amazement of her teacher.

The increasing obsession for the time and the people in turn transforms Eloise into someone happier and more confident — until the fantasy takes a sinister turn.

5. Creating the Hitchcockian thriller

Alfred Hitchcock, a master of suspense, is a storyteller many filmmakers strive to be. Modern twists on some of his classic films such as Rebecca, The Woman in the Window, and Disturbia to name a few, are examples. 

While Last Night in Soho isn’t a new take on a Hitchcock film, the style of suspense is there. To build this film, Wright, who was born in 1974, had himself started obsessing over the music of the 1960s. As a filmmaker, he felt compelled to explore that obsession of nostalgia and wonder if it was healthy or a way to not deal with the present.

With the premise, he and Wilson-Cairns crafted a story of the unrealistic expectations of trying to make a perceived time great again. Writers can see how through paranoia, fear and danger, the filmmakers can skew the perception of a bygone era and put the realities of Soho in the '60s on display. Sure, it was glamorous, but nothing is what it seems on the surface.

Writers can also see how the filmmakers set up red herrings, craft major plot twists, and mess with the audience as they make them doubt what’s real and what’s not.

Last Night in Soho is currently in theaters.