Julie, a film student, intends to make a movie about a boy, his mother, and their life in the city of Sunderland. She lives in a flat with another student and his girlfriend. She meets Anthony, a well-to-do-man who works at the Foreign Office, who moves in with her after her roommate moves out. He leaves a postcard with a picture of the girl in "The Souvenir." He later takes her to the gallery where the painting is hung. Julie says the girl looks sad, while Anthony says she looks determined. Anthony has to travel to Paris but returns with some lingerie, which he asks Julie to put on. While they are in bed, she notices some needle marks on his arm but doesn't know what they are, and he continues to ask Julie for money regularly. Julie starts to pay for their restaurant bills and is forced to borrow money from her parents. Julie and Anthony have dinner with two of Anthony's friends, who reveal to Julie during a moment alone that Anthony is a habitual heroin user. Julie is taken aback but does not mention anything to Anthony. Anthony explains over a meal at Harrods that he has had relationships with three other girls, including trips to Venice with at least one of them, who appears to have committed suicide while on the trip. He invites Julie to go to Venice with him. One evening, she returns to find her apartment has been broken into, and her valuable jewelry is missing. Later, on their trip to Venice, Anthony admits to doing it but didn't tell her to keep her from feeling bad. Julie becomes upset, but Anthony manages to convince her he had a good reason for doing so even though he doesn't elaborate on it, insinuating it is related to work and not to his heroin habit. Julie starts noticing when Anthony is on heroin, and she attends a self-help group. She starts to confront him some but doubts herself, and he manipulates and gaslights her. She begins to take on the responsibility of his addiction. One evening, Julie returns home to find a strange man in her apartment that Anthony must have let in. She also catches an illness from what she's being exposed to through Anthony. Finally, after finding out he was arrested, Julie asks Anthony to move out. Julie begins to put herself back together after the breakup, to the happiness of her friends and professors. Barbara, Anthony's mother, continues to call Julie to try to find him. They meet again, and Anthony appears clean long enough for Julie to invite him back in with her, and he soon goes through withdrawal in front of her. Soon though, he starts using again. Anthony goes missing and is later found dead, having overdosed in a public toilet.
Cast
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019. A24 and Curzon Artificial Eye acquired U.S. and U.K. distribution rights to the film, respectively. It was released in the United States on May 17, 2019, and in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2019.
Critical response
The film received critical acclaim upon its premiere. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90%, based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 8.17/10. The website's critics consensus reads "Made by a filmmaker in command of her craft and a star perfectly matched with the material, The Souvenir is a uniquely impactful coming of age drama." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Guy Lodge of Variety wrote: "Achingly well-observed in its study of a young artist inspired, derailed and finally strengthened by a toxic relationship, it is at once the coming-of-age story of many women and a specific creative manifesto for one of modern British cinema’s most singular writer-directors." Sight & Sound named The Souvenirthe best film of 2019 after polling an international group of 100 film critics from around the world.
Accolades
Sequel
In May 2019, it was announced a sequel would be produced with Swinton Byrne, Swinton, Ayoade and Labed reprising their roles, with Robert Pattinson joining the cast, although he later dropped out. A24 will distribute. Principal photography began in June 2019.
