Joanna Hogg’s 2019 arthouse gem, The Souvenir, captivated audiences with its nuanced foray into tragic love, one bound by intimacy entangled in toxic patterns. Set in 1980s Britain, The Souvenir followed film student Julie (Honor Swinton Bryne), who gets involved in a tumultuous relationship with the charming, manipulative Anthony (Tom Burke), who later turns out to be a heroin addict. At the end of The Souvenir, Anthony is found dead in a public toilet due to drug overdose, leaving a traumatized Julie with the burden of unimaginable grief and the hypnotic lull of rose-tinted memories. Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II is a grander, more artistic portrait of a young woman on the verge of untangling herself from the clutches of the past, and this semi-autobiographical cinematic vignette shines brighter than its predecessor. Raw, powerful, and tonally balanced, The Souvenir Part II brings the fraught tale of a young, grieving artist to a wonderful, empowering finish.
The Souvenir Part II opens with a still-aching Julie, who is recuperating at the lovely, idyllic country house of her parents Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) and William (James Spencer Ashworth). While Julie’s parents are unable to truly relate to her struggles as a filmmaker and the acute loneliness after one loses their lover, they remain consistently tender and unflinchingly ive of their daughter throughout. In an especially heartbreaking scene, Julie visits Anthony’s grieving parents, experiencing a loss of words despite being deeply empathetic to their situation, as she is unable to express her grief or navigate the remnants of memory. While she attempts to fill the void of intimacy within her by sleeping with one of her actor acquaintances, Jim (Charlie Heaton), Julie gradually shifts her focus to her inner calling, struggling to figure out the challenges involved in making her graduation film, which also happens to be a memorial for Anthony.
The Souvenir Part II is much looser and more comedic in of its material, especially during scenes featuring the boisterously arrogant and opinionated Patrick (Richard Ayoade), whose unapologetic outbursts about cinema add an interesting dynamic to the film’s otherwise-somber tone. While Julie is hesitant and unsure about her cinematic vision, as she is still grappling with the seams of her trauma, she gradually learns to navigate the little and massive hurdles in the art of filmmaking, and the often-unpleasant practicalities involved in dealing with divergent collaborators.
However, a slow, yet steady shift takes place within her, as evidenced in the scenes in which she justifies her last-minute changes to a scene with fierce determination and calmly explains to an actor friend why she chose someone else for the part over her. In of performances, Swinton Bryne’s subtle, emotive expressions add an even deeper layer of depth to Julie’s character, and her transformation into an artist not bogged down by her trauma is actualized in a grounded, visceral manner. The rest of the cast also belts out stellar performances, standouts being Swinton’s portrayal of Rosalind, who seems a bit too lost in her DIY ceramics than engaging in a meaningful dialogue with her daughter, although this aloofness adds a rich layer of complexity to Julie’s relationships.
On the other hand, Julie’s peers add variety to her daily experiences, ranging from genuine faith in her abilities to mounting exasperation, especially when Garance (Ariane Labed) struggles to understand Julie’s dynamic with Anthony while recreating those scenes. “It’s what happened,” she mutters softly, as it is evident that her perception of herself is undergoing a shift when she looks back to those painful memories. It is often rare for a sequel to shine brighter than its predecessor, especially if the latter is an intricate, compelling piece of standalone cinema in itself.
However, The Souvenir Part II blooms in unexpected and refreshing ways, gently unraveling the process of healing, the unbearable weight of nostalgia, and the struggles of self-actualization when dealing with loss. In a way, The Souvenir Part II is a beautiful, dizzy, enthralling portrait of an artist as a young woman, a coming-of-age story that touches upon the varying emotions that ravage and fulfill us from within. By the end of the film, it is not only the completion of Julie’s personal arc — it is a euphoric moment of tender closure for the viewer as well.
The Souvenir Part II premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and released in limited theaters in the United States on October 29, 2021. It will be in wider theaters on November 12, 2021. The film is 106 minutes long and is rated R for some strong sexuality and language.
