The Souvenir: Part II

Glad I took the jump and gave Part II a go, despite not being especially keen on the first.

My main complaint last time was the inaccessibility of Julie - this time she is and I can now say I don’t like her - which is fine! But it’s good to know where you stand with a protagonist opposed to being left in the dark with a bunch of nothing like in Part I. Beyond that, there’s so much more energy here, there’s momentum, the plot actually moves forward opposed to doing laps of the same scenario for two hours.

Shame to lose Tom Burke, as he’s fantastic. But Tilda Swinton still pops up a heathy amount thought and brings a nice calmness and breath of realism to the characters. Richard Ayoade once again is genuinely fantastic - he was my favourite in the film - electric.

I still think the story on a whole across these two films is far too personable to be entirely accessible to an audience. Julie / Joanna isn’t, or wasn’t, a particularly likeable person - but it’s okay, as she’s evolving like all of us. I think Hogg should do something very different for her next picture.

warmer and more engaging than the last film; these should be watched one after the other. the performances and writing remain stellar, while the style itself evolves with grander sequences and even more challenging narrative decisions. joanna hogg is quite a talent

I wanted to like this but didn’t work for me.

Glad I took the jump and gave Part II a go, despite not being especially keen on the first.

My main complaint last time was the inaccessibility of Julie - this time she is and I can now say I don’t like her - which is fine! But it’s good to know where you stand with a protagonist opposed to being left in the dark with a bunch of nothing like in Part I. Beyond that, there’s so much more energy here, there’s momentum, the plot actually moves forward opposed to doing laps of the same scenario for two hours.

Shame to lose Tom Burke, as he’s fantastic. But Tilda Swinton still pops up a heathy amount thought and brings a nice calmness and breath of realism to the characters. Richard Ayoade once again is genuinely fantastic - he was my favourite in the film - electric.

I still think the story on a whole across these two films is far too personable to be entirely accessible to an audience. Julie / Joanna isn’t, or wasn’t, a particularly likeable person - but it’s okay, as she’s evolving like all of us. I think Hogg should do something very different for her next picture.

warmer and more engaging than the last film; these should be watched one after the other. the performances and writing remain stellar, while the style itself evolves with grander sequences and even more challenging narrative decisions. joanna hogg is quite a talent

I wanted to like this but didn’t work for me.