The Souvenir

Director: Joanna Hogg
Year Released: 2019
Rating: 1.0

Or, "So you're dating a junky?"  Aspiring filmmaker Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne, daughter of Tilda) gets into a relationship with older government worker Anthony (Tom Burke), except he's a heroin addict and she's not good at making movies.  Hogg based this on a similar experience she had when she was younger, but it's odd because she doesn't give a lot of details about either of her characters and is often purposefully vague - it doesn't feel that personal - and we're left with two unlikeable leads: Julie's empty-headed and aimless while Anthony is arrogant and a liar.  If you can't guess what it leads up to - overdose! - I don't know what to say, and the insinuation that suffering through a toxic relationship with a self-destructive person makes someone a 'better artist' is repulsive.