In writer-director Hayden Mclean’s short film, The Last Dance, Fox (Karl Collins) and his wife, Blanche (Martina Laird), are British immigrants from Jamaica. After years of hard work and raising a family, Fox opened the LA Bar, which became a cornerstone of Caribbean culture in 1990s East London. But just like that, Fox is on the precipice of losing his club due to a compulsory purchase order issued by the city council. When the appeal fails, Fox, Blanche, and their son, Paul (Hayden Mclean), prepare for the “last dance” at the LA Club.
As news of the club closure spread, the LA Bar became a meeting ground for shared memories and rising tension as each person grappled with what the loss of the venue meant. Regulars start to come out of the woodwork and join the effort, helping the community confront the tide of gentrification moving into their neighborhood.
Mclean drew inspiration for The Last Dance from his own family’s Windrush-era history, particularly his grandfather. This Jamaican mechanic built a new life in London and went on to own one of the city’s first reggae pubs. The film reflects the stories Mclean grew up hearing—stories rooted in reggae culture, Black ownership, and the communal spaces that helped Caribbean immigrants carve out a sense of belonging in an unwelcoming city.
“…Fox is on the precipice of losing his club due to a compulsory purchase order issued by the city council.”
When my family came to the United States, we were deeply entrenched in the Chinatown communities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, when I go to LA Chinatown, the busy center of community and tourism is barely there anymore. As the second generation moved on to more idyllic neighborhoods outside the city, it made me pause to wonder if gentrification is inevitable.
The Last Dance is a beautiful and thoughtful tale of time moving on and how difficult it is to hold on to culture in a land far away, such as the U.K. or even the U.S. Hayden Mclean is reflective in his tale about what matters to immigrants in a new land. He does an incredible job recreating the Windrush era in The Last Dance by featuring the vibrant music and communities of the 1990s, and this battle between nostalgia and culture today.
For more information, visit the The Last Dance official Instagram page.
"…beautiful and thoughtful..."
