Soho Square

• Director: Jamie Rafn
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Thriller
• Movie Type: Police Detective Film, Psychological Thriller
• Themes: Serial Killers, Haunted By the Past, Murder Investigations
• Release Year: 2000
• Country: US
• Run Time: 90 minutes

Plot

A young detective (Anthony Biggs) battles the demons of his past while chasing a serial killer through London in Jamie Rafn's Soho Square. As the detective and his partner (William Wilde) attempt to track down a psychopath who is murdering women and setting them on fire (not necessarily in that order), we learn through flashbacks that the detective is also dealing with a recent trauma involving his wife (Amanda Haberland). He finds himself fascinated by a local barmaid (Lucy Davenport) who resembles her. Meanwhile, a single mother (Emma Poole) who lives in his building and her precocious little girl, Claudia (Sasha Lowenthal), develop their own interest in the lonely, haunted detective. As the police close in on the killer, and the film jumps back and forth chronologically, it becomes clear that there is an even deeper and more disturbing mystery in play. Rafn wrote, directed, and co-edited Soho Square, his feature debut. It was reportedly produced for about 7,000 dollars, and had its U.S. premiere on the Sundance Channel in 2003. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Review

Jamie Rafn's Soho Square is not a perfect little thriller, but it's an estimable achievement, having been made for far less than the typical Hollywood production's makeup budget. Shot on video by Brendan McGinty, the movie has an appropriately gloomy mood, which Rafn manages to sustain throughout its running time. It's rare for a micro-budgeted production like this to have such consistently solid acting, but Rafn's cast never falters, with Anthony Biggs' good looks and brooding lead performance demonstrating true star potential. The style of the movie, with its jarring jump cuts, elliptical editing, and dissonant score, occasionally overwhelms one's interest in the narrative, which is effectively disturbing, but familiar, with a disappointingly misogynistic bent. While the story isn't strictly told from the main character's point-of-view (there are several scenes that take place while he's not present, and cutaways to things that he can't see, often to produce suspense), the female characters (in spite of the actresses' good work) seem mainly to exist only to the extent that they impact the detective's frazzled psyche. Soho Square is an engrossing little creepfest, and it demonstrates the filmmaker's resourcefulness and his promise, but its story falls a bit short of the mark. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Cast

William Wilde; Emma Poole; Lucy Davenport; Anthony Biggs; Amanda Haberland; Sasha Lowenthal

Credit

Jamie Rafn - Director, Jamie Rafn - Editor, Brendan McGinty - Cinematographer, Jamie Rafn - Screenwriter

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