Who Says An Arthouse Coming-of-Age Drama Shouldn't Get a Sequel?
In 2019, the English director Joanna Hogg gave us a lilting, episodic glimpse of her life as a young film student, woefully tangled up with a doomed lover, in the exquisite The Souvenir. The film drifts in and out of moments in Hoggswell, a stand-in named Juliesformative years. Its a lovely memory piece, sweet and sorrowful and gracefully offbeat. And its ending is one of the most piercing in recent years, a gorgeously staged image of a woman walking into the rest of her life. Only, it wasnt the end. Hogg has continued the storyher storywith The Souvenir Part II, which picks up very soon after the end of the first film. Its exceedingly rare that an arthouse film like The Souvenir gets a sequel, only I suppose its not really a sequel. Its just a carrying on, slightly shifting focus but still rooted fully in the same world, the same sense of gentle presence. The film, which premiered here at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, is a rich rumination on making art, one that stretches itself, in its final beguiling seconds, further into the realm of the meta. Honor Swinton Byrne once again plays Julie, daughter of a wealthy country family making her way through film school in 1980s London. Shes reeling in the aftermath of the overdose death of her beau, Anthony, at times muted and withdrawn, at others throwing herself back into the world with an impulsive hunger. In Hoggs wistful collage, we see Julie as so many of us were at that age: confused, awkward, horny, bursting with ambition and doubt. But Part II is, overall, less universal, less about all of our youths than perhaps the first film was. This is very specially Julie/Hoggs trajectory, as the director considers herself in all her flawed dimensions to maybe better understand why she makes the work she does. There is an aspect to Part II that is maybe a bit too navel-gazing, but Hogg also earned the self-regard with her more outward, welcoming first installment. And anyway, what Hogg finds in all that benevolent solipsism has distinct value. I left the screening feeling recommitted to my own creativity, determined to tap back into those adolescent fires, to remember my origins and better heed those lessons. Which is a pretty generous gift for a film to give, Id say. An arresting aspect of Part II is watching Swinton Byrne grow into herself just as Julie does. The Souvenir was essentially Swinton Byrnes first film, so the process of working with Hogg has been its own kind of primal education. In Part II, Swinton Byrne is much more confident, holding the center of the film with more sturdiness and intention. Shes grown up some, and precisely maps Julies kindness, intelligence, and naivete. There is a dawning class-consciousness in Part II that Hogg and Swinton Byrne illustrate carefully and keenly. As Julie begins to realize her privileged place in the worlds ecosystem, Hogg assesses herself more critically, further rounding the portraiture. Swinton Byrne is once again joined by her mother, Tilda Swinton, who plays Julies mother, Rosalind. Swintons is a finely textured piece of acting; obviously there is a natural rapport built into the casting, but she also creates a real character, a real bond with this semi-fictional daughter. Swinton is only briefly in the movie, though, as are the other supporting players. Richard Ayoade brilliantly returns as a weary, tart, empathetic filmmaker friend of Anthonys, who gives Julie the tough guidance she needs in one crucial scene. Though Part II is more focused on the development of Julies filmmaking craft, she does have a pair of fleeting love interests, played smartly by Charlie Heaton and, in one sweet and whisperingly sad scene, Joe Alwyn. I wont spoil what happens in that scene, but it is an example of the delicate way that Part II alludes to things happening in other peoples lives all around Julie. A broader worldview begins to develop, as it tends to in those tentative years of early adulthood, a dawning awareness of other peoples distinct, complicated narratives. I wonder if there could be a third installment of Hoggs exploration, though I think her ending is definitive enough this timethe curtain gently drawn back to reveal the heart of the piecethat I think she might be done. Im so glad she got to do one follow up, though. Hogg had more things to say, a fuller portrait of the artist as a young person to draw. Its a beautiful picture: a specific autobiography and a reminder of all the brushstrokes we ourselves have made as weve moved through time, sometimes so slowly, and yet always so fast.  Simu Liu Is Ready to Take On Marvel   From the Archive: Jackie and Joan Collins, Queens of the Road   Sign up for the HWD Daily newsletter for must-read industry and awards coverageplus a special weekly edition of Awards Insider.