The Souvenir

Being in love has this cunning way of tricking your brain into seeing no flaw in the person you're fixated upon. When people around you scream "dump him!", you turn a blind eye and convince yourself that the person you love is not the monster they say he is. The person you love will always be the most charming and kind, even when they're not.

The Souvenir tells a story about a privileged film student who involves herself in an intense relationship with a shady older man, who is full of charisma.

I can definitely see why this film is getting mixed ratings. The pacing was rather slow and the story was under-dramatized. I see a lot of reviewers really disliking this film due to the unbearable toxic romance between the two characters. I mean, I can somewhat agree. Seriously, just break up already! But sometimes relationships are just... like that. People often stay in toxic situations even if they can clearly see the red flags. People cling on to the slightest glisten of hope when everything is falling apart. As they say, it really... do be like that.

I loved the cinematic direction they took in this film. I felt like I was looking into the memories of the protagonist. The faded dream-like colour scheme really pulls the film together. I was really lured into the soft pastel universe that was created on screen. Did I mention how much I loved the cinematics?

What I couldn't see past was how unlikeable Julie and Anthony are. Julie is a privileged film student that tries really hard to be interesting, and Anthony is this pretentious, manipulative douchebag of a person. I just can't seem to find any redeeming qualities in the characters, which makes it hard for me to fully connect with this story. But maybe this film wasn't made for the viewer to be connected to any of the characters. Maybe this film was made to be consumed as what it is. A naive girl falling in love with a secretive older man.

Nevertheless, The Souvenir really made me sit and ponder about the film a lot. I'm still processing the emotions I've felt throughout the film and that should be enough for me to give it a good enough rating. I just wish it could've resonated with me in a stronger way.