Film, 2019
The Souvenir takes an astoundingly clear-eyed view of the conflict and manipulation that pervade Julie’s relationship with Antony. It does so while still validating how compelling that relationship is and making Julie’s journey and self-growth thoroughly sympathetic.
I admire the way Hogg trims the unnecessary context from her scenese.g. we don’t see the moment Julie discovers that Antony had lied about her things being stolen, just the argument and leaves in only the moments that have the most to saye.g. Julie’s wordless presence at the support group is all we need to understand her determination to help Antony with his addiction. The narrative leaps, yet is rarely unclear, creating the exciting impression that we’re seeing just a slice of a rich world beyond the camera.
This worked really well for me in the scene where Julie explains to her film school classmate why she hasn’t been around for much of the last six months. As we see her tentatively describe her relationship with Antony to a friend who we’ve only seen briefly, I realized – oh yeah – of course Julie’s social life has taken a backseat because all her focus has been on Antony.
The two most wrenching moments of the film are depicted through the reactions of a loved one. Antony’s withdrawal is harrowing because of the utter horror it etches into Julie’s face. Julie is turned away from us when she learns of Antony’s death, but her grief is reflected in her mother, tasked with informing her daughter of news that will break her heart“The worst.”.