The Souvenir

Being in love has this cunning way of tricking your brain into seeing no flaw in the person you're fixated upon. When people around you scream "dump him!", you turn a blind eye and convince yourself that the person you love is not the monster they say he is. The person you love will always be the most charming and kind, even when they're not.

The Souvenir tells a story about a privileged film student who involves herself in an intense relationship with a shady older man, who is full of charisma.

I can definitely see why this film is getting mixed ratings. The pacing was rather slow and the story was under-dramatized. I see a lot of reviewers really disliking this film due to the unbearable toxic romance between the two characters. I mean, I can somewhat agree. Seriously, just break up already! But sometimes relationships are just... like that. People often stay in toxic situations even if they can clearly see the red flags. People cling on to the slightest glisten of hope when everything is falling apart. As they say, it really... do be like that.

I loved the cinematic direction they took in this film. I felt like I was looking into the memories of the protagonist. The faded dream-like colour scheme really pulls the film together. I was really lured into the soft pastel universe that was created on screen. Did I mention how much I loved the cinematics?

What I couldn't see past was how unlikeable Julie and Anthony are. Julie is a privileged film student that tries really hard to be interesting, and Anthony is this pretentious, manipulative douchebag of a person. I just can't seem to find any redeeming qualities in the characters, which makes it hard for me to fully connect with this story. But maybe this film wasn't made for the viewer to be connected to any of the characters. Maybe this film was made to be consumed as what it is. A naive girl falling in love with a secretive older man.

Nevertheless, The Souvenir really made me sit and ponder about the film a lot. I'm still processing the emotions I've felt throughout the film and that should be enough for me to give it a good enough rating. I just wish it could've resonated with me in a stronger way.

Based on a true story: in the 1980s, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is a young British woman from a wealthy family and attending film school. She hooks up with Anthony (Tom Burke) who gradually takes advantage of her while trying to hide his serious personality flaws and habits.

Swinton Byrne does not, in any way, give a bad performance; in fact, it is rather good. But she lacks the depth and subtlety required to carry the main role in a two-hour movie. Adding to the trouble is Burke whose Tom is as bland as kale and as common as a condo construction project in downtown Toronto. This character is so lacking in charisma and charm that the film becomes an unintentional mystery as the viewer is left to wonder what Julie could possibly see in him with or without his shortcomings.

A sad irony is a scene in the film in which a film teacher explains that "Psycho" was a success as most scenes were normal, thus making its abnormal, frightening scenes stand out more. If only writer/director Joanna Hogg had followed the advice that she had written for one of her secondary characters. While the narrative of "The Souvenir" is consistent, it does not have any scene that stands out, making it long and dull.

A saving grace was the presence of Tilda Swinton (Swinton Byrne's real-life mother) portraying Julie's mother - emphasis on the word 'presence' which was missing in the primary performances. The film would have benefited with more scenes that included Swinton Senior.

"The Souvenir" is hyper-praised in the most baffling of ways by most critics. One of the praises is that it's based on a true story. Well, there are billions of true stories that don't make good films. Sadly, "The Souvenir" is one of them. - dbamateurcritic

'The Souvenir (2019)' plays out like a series of memories, a highlight reel of a distinct period in its protagonist's life. This is perhaps fitting considering that it's based on director Hogg's own past, playing out almost as a kind of catharsis for the emotional turmoil she underwent while in film school. It's nontraditional but considered. There's very little exposition, aside from when there's an overt amount of it, and we're often dropped into the middle a scene without any real context, left to piece together the plot through snippets of dialogue. It almost feels as though the thing is taking place to someone we know but aren't close to; we only understand what we see and we only see what we understand. The movie is relatively distant in this regard - although, the viewing experience is always active. It struggles to provoke a deep connection because we aren't really allowed to get close to anyone. Still, the affair is usually engaging. It isn't a masterpiece but it's always well-crafted and often enjoyable. It's a rather complex look at a complex relationship, subtly painting its characters in eventually fairly vivid colours. However, it does start to wear thin after a while, with a slow pacing that sees it drag towards its end. There also isn't a huge sense of escalation, even if the flick ends exactly when it should. It's a definitive narrative so the fact that it's apparently getting a sequel is rather strange. I'd still watch it, though. 6/10

Honor Swinton Byrne gives a profoundly subtle performance as an impressionable film student from a privileged upbringing who becomes romantically involved with an enigmatic, charming man who works for the British government. Tom Burke is a stark presence as the young woman's muse. They gradually become inseparable.

She is a thoughtful, sensitive person who soon finds herself navigating the pitfalls of his serpentine personality. The film proceeds at a very deliberate pace and is low-key to the point of being catatonic at times. The main criticism of this film is that its slow patches do go on for quite a bit. But out of this dry and methodical narrative eventually emerges a raw tension leading to a conclusion that is quite powerful.

Although this isn't quite the masterpiece that many reviews have made it out to be, I found it a worthwhile and subtly rewarding cinematic experience. Recommended to patient viewers.

As much as I enjoy the better-quality summer blockbusters, I also really appreciate good independent films in the summer as a welcome and refreshing alternative to all the franchise movies and explosions. With that in mind as well as this film's terrific reviews, I was hoping that "The Souvenir" would be an excellent film. Sadly, I was let down. While the film certainly isn't bad, it has enough flaws to make it seem a bit empty at times.

The film tells the story of a young film student (Honor Swinton Burke) who begins to fall in love. (I won't say anything else to avoid giving something away.) The film is impressive on a technical level, with strong cinematography and superb production design. Sounds are mixed well throughout the film's duration, and the film's understated editing is very well done. Unfortunately, the character development of the male lead is almost nonexistent, which really damages the movie as a whole. It's a very "cold" movie emotionally, which can work in some films where the characters' emotions are not on the front burner. But for a romantic drama that expects the viewer to care about its two leads, this stoic tone is both jarring and understatedly erratic. While Swinton Burke is fine in the lead role, and some of the short scenes discussing her interest in filmmaking are interesting enough, her performance is rather flat. Tilda Swinton is terrific (as always,) but she is very sadly wasted and given very minimal screen time. While the film's cinematography is often very good, it can also be repetitive. For example, just how many shots of the front of opening and closing elevator doors are in this movie? If you have to start thinking about that while watching the movie after the first several, then there are too many. I also believe the film would have been better if it had a score. I was really hoping to love this movie given how great the trailer and reviews from critics were, but I was left a bit disappointed. 6.5/10