Joanna Hogg’s 2019 film The Souvenir was not a natural choice to have a sequel. The semi-autobiographical drama about an aspiring filmmaker’s tumultuous relationship with an older man ended in a way that completed her story. Or perhaps it’s better to say now that it completed one chapter of her story, because now comes the aftermath.
Honor Swinton Byrne returns as Julie in The Souvenir Part II, who is now attending film school while also coping with her complicated feelings towards Anthony, who was played by Tom Burke in the first film but is not returning for the sequel. Other actors do return, however, including Honor’s mother, Tilda Swinton, plus Richard Ayoade, and Ariane Labed. New additions to the cast include a trio of heartthrobs: Joe Alwyn (The Favourite), Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats), and Charlie Heaton (New Mutants), so expect Julie’s relationship troubles to continue.
The Souvenir Part II opens on October 29th.
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction. Joanna Hogg’s shimmering story of first love and a young woman’s formative years, The Souvenir Part II is a portrait of the artist that transcends the halting particulars of everyday life — a singular, alchemic mix of memoir and fantasy.
