--- title: "The Souvenir" year: 2019 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-souvenir" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 19 published: "2026-09-17T20:10:30.578018+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T20:10:44.450800+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Souvenir (2019) Directed by Joanna Hogg · 2h 00m · MPA R · Drama, Romance **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 86 from 19 reviews *In a sentence:* A film student falls in love, and we start worrying about her coursework > Joanna Hogg’s intimate drama makes a damaging first romance painfully understandable. Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke give it warmth and danger, though the gaps between episodes sometimes make Julie harder to understand than she needs to be. ## Synopsis In 1980s London, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is a film student beginning to find her own approach to filmmaking. She becomes involved with Anthony (Tom Burke), and her education develops alongside a romance that increasingly absorbs her attention. Her mother, Rosalind (Tilda Swinton), is part of the family life that continues around the affair. Julie wants to make films and understand the man she has fallen for, but her feelings complicate her judgement. Film school, family and Anthony make competing demands as she tries to work out how to live and what to make. ## Review *The Souvenir* is a quietly painful drama about a young film student learning how difficult it is to judge someone she loves. Joanna Hogg sets Julie’s artistic ambitions alongside her attachment to Anthony, allowing both to occupy her attention without neatly separating them. We recommend it for the performances and the care with which it follows a relationship that is doing damage. The slow pace is justified; some of the gaps in the telling are less helpful. Honor Swinton Byrne gives Julie a vulnerability that never makes her seem empty-headed. We were distressed by how hard it was for her to separate her affection for Anthony from her uncertainty about him. The performance holds those feelings together, and makes the temptation to offer sensible advice from a safe distance feel inadequate. Julie has artistic ambitions of her own, and Honor Swinton Byrne keeps them present even when the relationship occupies more of her attention. Tom Burke makes Anthony persuasive enough for the affair to be comprehensible, which is essential to everything else. His performance has warmth as well as the capacity to unsettle, and it avoids handing us a simple explanation for Julie’s attachment. Their scenes together have the uncomfortable familiarity of two people whose intimacy has made clear judgement harder. We can see the damage without feeling that Joanna Hogg has invited us to congratulate ourselves for spotting it. David Raedeker’s cinematography favours carefully composed images that let us look at people without demanding an immediate response. Stéphane Collonge’s production design and Grace Snell’s costumes give the 1980s setting the particularity the story needs, without turning the period into a parade of recognisable objects. The lighting helps these surroundings feel remembered, although the beauty occasionally creates a distance from Julie. The visual care works best when it gives the actors room, and less well when we become conscious of how carefully everything has been arranged. Helle le Fevre’s editing moves between episodes without filling in every interval, trusting us to follow changes in the relationship. That suits a film concerned with memory, where the moments that persist are not necessarily the ones that would make a tidy story. Sometimes, though, we need more time with Julie between encounters to understand what she has taken from them. At 120 minutes, the film has room for that, and its occasional distance from her thoughts leaves some of her decisions insufficiently explored. Tilda Swinton’s Rosalind gives the mother-daughter scenes a welcome tenderness, and makes the family relationship worth attending to in its own right. They broaden our sense of Julie beyond the affair, without pretending that family affection can settle her difficulties. The musical interludes also give the film a little breathing space. Joanna Hogg allows these passages their own time, and they help us stay interested in Julie’s life beyond Anthony. Romantic dramas can make destructive love seem inevitable simply by making it look attractive. Here, the performances leave us concerned about the person doing the loving, with her work and judgement still developing alongside it. Allow the film its silences, but do not expect it to answer every question about Julie; a few of those silences are more rewarding than others. *Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (19) - **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (5/5): The critic calls it one of the best UK films in years and by far Joanna Hogg's best work. They single out the brilliantly cast and almost perfectly composed autobiographical story of a toxic relationship. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-souvenir-review-a-disturbing-relationship-and-one-of-the-best-uk-films-in-years-a4224841.html) - **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (4/5/5): Hogg crafts a fragile, fascinating portrait of romance in bloom and decay through personal memoir. The piercing performances of Swinton Byrne and Burke, and their natural chemistry, form the beating heart of this tender yet stinging work. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-souvenir/) - **The Times**, Tom Shone (★★★★★): The critic calls the film an exquisite, unforgettable masterpiece that describes a first love affair with startling clarity and intimacy, like pages from a diary. It stands as Hogg's crowning achievement among British masters. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/the-souvenir-review-joanna-hoggs-glorious-reflection-on-love-is-a-masterpiece-2ppwlvmq6) - **Time Out**, Joshua Rothkopf (5/5): Hogg’s ravishing cinematic memoir of film-school days and a devastating romance achieves once-in-a-decade emotional precision. Swinton-Byrne’s thoughtful, immediate performance as the innocent Julie anchors the film’s gift of empathy amid self-destructive tension. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-souvenir) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as an exquisitely moving self-portrait of a young filmmaker's artistic and romantic coming-of-age. He singles out the intimate, observational direction, the nuanced performances (particularly Honor Swinton Byrne's breakthrough turn), and the tender yet clear-eyed handling of a flawed relationship. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-the-souvenir-review-20190515-story.html) - **Variety**, Guy Lodge (Critic's Pick): The critic hails the film as a brilliant, self-effacing memory piece and richly reflective work that movingly examines a young artist's growth through a toxic relationship. He singles out the piercing lead performances and Hogg's elastic, well-observed tone blending satire, whimsy, and emotionalism. [Read](https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/the-souvenir-review-1203120073/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (85/100, inferred): The critic finds Hogg's most personal film yet a subtle, mysterious and beautiful work that confirms her status as a modern visionary through its deft story of young love. The mother-daughter relationship and musical interludes stand out as quietly superb elements amid the austere plainness. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/29/the-souvenir-review-joanna-hogg) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the film piercing, personal and distinctive, praising its elliptical storytelling and Honor Swinton Byrne's layered performance as the young artist entangled in a destructive relationship. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/souvenir-film-review-sundance-2019-1177626/) - **Empire**, Terri White (80/100, inferred): The critic describes it as an understated, exquisite gem that will enthrall those who appreciate Hogg's style. They single out the extraordinary lead performance by Honor Swinton Byrne and the precise depiction of a woman developing her artistic vision amid a toxic relationship. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-souvenir/) - **Sight and Sound**, Kate Stables (70/100, inferred): Hogg delivers a gorgeously melancholy, lightly fictionalised portrait of her own youthful experiences in 1980s London. The film stands out for its painterly vignettes and the way it explores the line between emotional complicity and exploitation through Julie’s artistic awakening. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/souvenir-review-joanna-hogg-pulls-threads-doomed-romance) - **Slant Magazine**, Carson Lund (70/100, inferred): The critic views the film's stylistic shifts as a virtue reflecting the director's self-examination, highlighting the nuanced portrayal of a toxic romance and its impact on the protagonist's artistic growth. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-the-souvenir-is-a-knotty-trip-down-memory-lane/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film ambitious but frustrating due to its anecdotal structure and lack of psychological depth or exploration of the protagonist's inner experience. He praises the strong, well-calibrated performances of the leads, especially Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-souvenir-reviewed-joanna-hoggs-ambitious-frustrating-autobiographical-drama) - **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (5/5): The critic praises Hogg's slow, reflective and precisely detailed account of a young woman's toxic relationship and artistic growth in 1980s London. Extraordinary performances by Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke anchor this mesmerising study of memory, grief and the creative process. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-souvenir-review/) - **The Playlist**, Carlos Aguilar (A): Hogg's introspective, semi-autobiographical drama examines how a toxic romance fuels a young film student's artistic reinvention and personal growth. The director's subtle visual mastery and the standout debut performance by Honor Swinton Byrne elevate this exquisitely personal work. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/souvenir-joanna-hogg-sundance-review-20190201/) - **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (9/10): Hogg's impressionistic, vignette-driven approach creates an authentic, lived-in portrait of a year in the life of a film student navigating a destructive relationship. The quiet, genuine performances, especially by Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke, make the film ultimately stunning and rewarding for those who stick with its deliberate pace. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/564009/the-souvenir-review/) - **Paste**, Andy Crump (9.0): The critic calls the film an instant masterpiece and one of the year's most remarkable releases. They single out the exquisite balance in depicting Julie's ambitions and her relationship with Anthony, along with the lead performances. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-souvenir/the-souvenir) - **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (90/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a breakthrough that announces Hogg as a major cinematic voice and one of the year's most impressive features. They single out the technically superb images, the nuanced central performance by Honor Swinton Byrne, and the film's open-ended quality. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/10/movies/the-souvenir-joanna-hogg-movie-review) - **The Wrap**, Tomris Laffly (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as an exquisitely composed, precise yet dreamy memory piece that captures a coming-of-age tale through patient details and a toxic romance. They highlight the meticulous recreation of memories through lighting, costumes, and cinematography as sophisticated and cinematic. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-souvenir-film-review-sundance-grand-jury-joanna-hogg-tilda-swinton/) - **The Skinny**, Philip Concannon (4/5): Hogg mines her formative years as a film student in 80s London in this painfully intimate memoir of a toxic relationship that almost derailed her. The critic singles out Honor Swinton Byrne's delicately vulnerable performance as Julie for particular praise. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-souvenir) ## Details - **Director:** Joanna Hogg - **Director:** Joanna Hogg - **Writer:** Joanna Hogg - **Cinematography:** David Raedeker - **Editor:** Helle le Fevre - **Production design:** Stéphane Collonge - **Costume design:** Grace Snell - **Producer:** Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller - **Cast:** Honor Swinton Byrne as Julie; Tom Burke as Anthony; Tilda Swinton as Rosalind; Richard Ayoade as Patrick; Ariane Labed as Garance; Jaygann Ayeh as Marland; Jack McMullen as Jack; Chyna Terrelonge Vaughan as Tamara - **Runtime:** 2h 00m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 17 May 2019 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance - **Box office:** $2 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Al2nC0vzY ## Where to watch in the US - Tubi: free - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, sd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AU, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, EE, ES, GB, GR, HU, IE, IL, IN, LT, MX, NZ, PA, PH, PL, SG, US, VN. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize 2019: Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize (won) ## If you liked this - *The Green Ray* (1986): Another young woman’s uncertainty, observed with patience and room for awkwardness. - *An Education* (2009), Fi1m 82: A charming older man complicates a young woman’s education and judgement. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/an-education.md) - *Happy Hour* (2015): Four women’s friendships receive the sustained attention usually reserved for romantic affairs. - *A Woman Under the Influence* (1974): For the painful intimacy, though the performances are considerably less restrained. - *Exhibition* (2013): More artists, domestic unease and rooms that deserve careful attention. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-souvenir