The Souvenir

The film is a semi-autobiographical account of Hogg’s experiences at film school. It stars Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, and Tilda Swinton.

It follows a young, quietly ambitious film student who embarks on her first serious love affair with a charismatic and mysterious man.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2019, where Hogg was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.

It was theatrically released in the United States on 17 May 2019, by A24, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 30 August 2019, by Curzon Artificial Eye. It grossed over $2 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics.

It was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2019 by the National Board of Review and was nominated for Best International Film at the 35th Independent Spirit Awards.

The film earned eight nominations, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (for Burke), and Most Promising Newcomer (for Swinton Byrne), at the 22nd British Independent Film Awards.

A sequel, The Souvenir Part II, was released in 2021.

She lives in a Knightsbridge flat with another student and his girlfriend.

She meets Anthony, a well-to-do man who works at the Foreign Office, who moves in with her after her flatmate moves out. He leaves a postcard with a picture of the girl in a painting called The Souvenir.

He later takes her to the gallery where the painting is hung. Julie says the girl looks sad, while Anthony says she looks determined. Anthony has to travel to Paris but returns with some lingerie, which he asks Julie to put on.

While in bed, she notices some needle marks on his arm but doesn’t know what they are, and he asks Julie for money frequently. Julie starts to pay their restaurant bills and is forced to borrow from her parents.

Julie and Anthony have dinner with two of Anthony’s friends, who reveal to Julie when he has left the room that Anthony is a heroin addict. Julie is taken aback but does not mention it to Anthony.

Anthony explains over a meal at Harrods that he has had relationships with three other girls, including trips to Venice with at least one of them, who appears to have committed suicide while on the trip. He invites Julie to go to Venice with him.

One evening, she returns to find that her flat has been broken into, and her valuable jewellery is missing. Later, on their trip to Venice, Anthony admits to doing it but says he didn’t tell her to keep her from feeling bad.

Julie becomes upset, but Anthony manages to convince her he had a good reason for doing so even though he doesn’t elaborate, insinuating it is related to work and not to his heroin habit.

Julie starts noticing when Anthony is on heroin, and she attends a self-help group. She starts to confront him sometimes but doubts herself, and he manipulates and gaslights her. She begins to take on the responsibility of his addiction.

Julie returns home one evening to find a strange man in her apartment that Anthony must have let in. She also catches an illness from what she’s being exposed to through Anthony.

Finally, after finding out he was arrested, Julie asks Anthony to move out. Julie begins to put herself back together after the breakup, to the happiness of her friends and professors.

Anthony’s mother calls Julie frequently in an attempt to find him. Anthony shows up again and appears clean long enough for Julie to invite him back in with her. He goes through withdrawal in front of her but eventually starts using heroin again.

He goes missing and is later found dead, having overdosed in a public toilet at the Wallace Collection.