Among [Hogg's] greatest talents as a director is her use of ellipses or concealment as narrative devices. Unrelated and Archipelago featured arguments in which conflict was overheard but barely seen, and The Souvenir acknowledges the benefits of this technique during a discussion about what Hitchcock omitted from Psycho.
This autobiographically inspired drama is also [Hogg's] most intimate film to date, boasting scenes that play like pages torn from an experiential diary.
[The Souvenir is] swift and inexorable, all of its artistic choices justified. The absolute specificity of this story makes it universal too. It’s the best British film for a long time.
The Souvenir does not often go to the places you expect. Shot in permanent shades of washed-out grey... the picture sits back at a respectful distance from its queasy action.
It’s multi-layered and beautifully observed – as much about the creative process as it is about obsessive love. It’s a glorious affirmation of how experience feeds artistic endeavour.
Hogg paints a precise picture of a woman trying to develop her own artistic vision while caught in the slipstream of a toxic relationship. An understated, exquisite gem of a film.
As a director, Hogg has always preferred to maintain a discreet distance, shooting long takes from a fixed angle and often grouping her actors in medium shots, but her filmmaking here feels warmer and more intimate... The Souvenir is the kind of film you don't want to end.
This elegant, engrossing film is the latest from Joanna Hogg, one of the great British filmmakers of her generation, and her ultra-controlled, rigorously formal style meets its ideal subject matter: Hogg’s own life.
[In The Souvenir,] Hogg achieves a balance of aggressive stylistic tropes, expert storytelling control, and a careful courting of audience engagement... that suggests a way forward for contemporary narrative cinema.