‘How’s that for a slice of fried gold?’
Bare with me because I’m about to make a comparison that some people would consider to be unflattering but I mean it as the most effusive of compliments. Edgar Wright is Britain’s Kevin Smith. Both encapsulated slacker culture in their native land. Both have taken the idea of ‘just making a movie with my friends’ to its natural conclusion. Both are vociferous advocates for cinema and geek culture. And both of them love a Star Wars reference. The difference, I suppose, is that while Smith’s star has faded into obscurity and caricature, Wright remains a singular and vibrant voice on the cinematic landscape. You’ve got red on you…
7. Baby Driver (2017)
If Hot Fuzz was proof that Wright can direct big action sequences, Baby Driver is the natural endpoint to that particular strand of thought. While there is a nagging feeling that Wright’s fifth film is a little too pleased with itself at certain points, and Ansel Elgort’s protagonist is tough to warm to, there are sequences here that count among Wright’s best-ever work, namely the footrace set to ‘Focus’ by erm… Focus (from the album Focus). The supporting cast makes up for a drab performance from Elgort with Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx and Lily James all excellent. The latter particularly thrives in what is one of modern cinema’s great meet-cutes between Baby and Deborah at the esteemed Bob’s Diner.
It’s a testament to Wright that his fifth-best film is still essential cinema and a rare box office success for a director more concerned with artistic integrity than financial gain.
6. The Running Man (2025)
Now, the first thing to address here is that this is not an adaptation of Paul Michael Glaser’s 1987 film starring the big man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. No, this is an adaptation of Stephen King’s original 1982 novel (published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman). The differences between the book and the first film adaptation are stark. Wright tries to marry the camp ’80s feel of the latter with the grimy, bleak aesthetic of the novel, and does so in a mostly successful way. There is a strong argument that those two versions of this story are so different that it would be impossible to marry them together in a truly satisfying way, however. That being said, I got no real sense of this as an Edgar Wright film. To say that at one point he was one of the most original and innovative directors in the industry this is a little disappointing, and I think this is probably the main reason why the reaction to the film has been so muted.
The Running Man is not a bad film by any means. It’s fast-paced, occasionally thrilling and nearly always entertaining, but it also lacks substance and suffers in comparison to the other King adaptation set in a dystopian future released in 2025, The Long Walk.
5. Last Night in Soho (2021)
Last Night in Soho is one of Hollywood’s finest directors at the peak of his powers. This is Polanski’s Apartment Trilogy for the 21st century. The isolation of the big city. The loss of identity. Wright perfectly captures the feeling of being alone in a room full of crowded people. This is the London of Irvine Welsh. The London of Jarvis Cocker. The London that only reveals itself to outsiders who are swallowed whole and then spat out into the cold, unfeeling streets. And what a cast to bring this place alive…
Anya Taylor-Joy, effortlessly cool, dazzles once more. Thomasin McKenzie is right there with her. A literal mirror image. A character so vulnerable and so fragile that it’s impossible not to root for her. Matt Smith exuding charm and sleaze and menace and everything else that embodies the historic streets of Soho. And Diana Rigg. Doncaster’s own. Elegant and regal to the end.
This is what happens when a proper director, a proper auteur, is given the resources to paint his picture on 34-foot-wide canvas. This is what cinema should be. And in thirty years time, when nobody can remember what MCU stands for and every actor to have worn the Batsuit has faded from memory, new audiences will still be discovering Last Night in Soho and falling in love all over again.
4. The World’s End (2013)
I saw The World’s End at the cinema when I was 26 years old. Unsurprisingly, a story about a man who can’t escape the past didn’t really resonate with me then. I found Gary King (Pegg) to be annoying and I was sad that the final film in the cornetto trilogy didn’t live up to the standards set by the first two. Watching it again for this article for the first time in ten years was a sobering experience (no pun intended). As someone who organises a yearly pub crawl in his home town, this film hit much closer to home now that I’m pushing forty. I saw myself not just in Gary King but in all the characters that make up the Five Musketeers. I can see now that The World’s End is actually as good a film about growing old as I’ve ever seen and serves as a fitting end to one of the greatest film trilogies of all time. Shaun of the Dead spoke to my slackerdom as a teenager, Hot Fuzz chimed with my love of horror films, it has taken ten years for me to realise that The World’s End is just as relatable as the other films in the trilogy. This time round? I loved it.
3. Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Remember when comic book movies used to be fun? Sin City. Kick-Ass. And riding high over all of them – Scott Pilgrim vs The World. This should have been the film that dragged Edgar Wright into the mainstream but instead, it was a huge box office flop despite an incredible cast (Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Audrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Bree Larson, Kieran Culkin etc). Wright successfully navigates a conscious uncoupling from the cornetto trilogy and proves that he can play in a bigger sandbox if only someone would give him a chance.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World somehow manages to feel like a time capsule of 2010 as well as a timeless classic. It’s funny, innovative and inventive. It deserves more than mere cult classic status and it feels likely that the audience for this movie will only grow with the benefit of distance and hindsight. It’s also Chris Evans’ finest hour.
2. Hot Fuzz (2007)
Shaun of the Dead was a huge success but it was Hot Fuzz that pushed both Wright and Pegg into the mainstream. Watching it now for the first time in over a decade it’s easy to see why this film was so successful upon release. Sure, you’ve got the pop culture references and the nods to Wright’s previous work but more than that you have his visual flair and distinctive editing style as well as a script that is genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny. A cursory look at the supporting cast (Olivia Colman, Paddy Considine, Jim Broadbent as well as cameos from Steve Coogan, Stephen Merchant, Martin Freeman as well as many others – including a welcome appearance by my old friend Dr. Buckles) demonstrates Wright’s ability to spot talent and put it to good use. Most pertinently, Wright is excellent at world-building. The fictional village of Sandford feels authentic and lived in and Wright perfectly captures the paranoia of little England as seen in numerous folk horror films from the ’60s and ’70s.
Hot Fuzz endures because of Wright’s ability to take risks and trust his instincts. It is perhaps the last film in his oeuvre where he doesn’t second guess himself. A wonderful slice of cinema.
1. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The film that started it all. Along with the work of Kevin Smith, Shaun of the Dead is the film that most encapsulated my own existence in 2004. I was 17 when this film dropped and as my whole life revolved around work, playing video games and going to the pub (plus an obsession with pop culture), Shaun of the Dead spoke to me in a way that no other film had before. This was a film made for me and my friends.
To truly parody something successfully, you need to really love that thing in the first place. This is why the Scream films work but the Scary Movie franchise doesn’t. It is clear from every frame of Shaun of the Dead that Pegg and Wright adore zombie films. Sure, there are the nods to the past masters (Romero, Fulci and Ken Foree are all namechecked in one way or another), but more than anything it’s the mood and atmosphere that Wright creates that makes this film such a perfect piece of cinema. And it is perfect. At less than 100 minutes, not a single line of dialogue is wasted. As with Sam Raimi and The Evil Dead, this is a director bursting with innovation who gleefully paints every frame with invention and care.
Shaun of the Dead is a horror comedy that is both funny and frightening. It has moments of real pathos alongside the callbacks and the puns. Pegg is electric. The supporting cast excellent. Put simply, Shaun of the Dead is a film that demands superlatives. The best horror/comedy ever. One of the best British films ever. Heck, one of the greatest films ever. A genuine masterpiece.