Mubi Monday: The Souvenir: Part II (2021)

If you look around for just a few seconds then you will find numerous glowing reviews of The Souvenir: Part II, the filmic continuation to the semi-autobiographical film from Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir. This is not one of those glowing reviews. Frankly, the number of critics hailing this as a modern classic is baffling to me. But maybe this just isn't my thing, which I suspected after also not enjoying the first part as much as many others did.

Honor Swinton Byrne once again plays Julie, a young woman now trying to move on with her life after the death of someone she was in a relationship with. Julie decides to try and process her feelings on this matter through the graduation film that she still has to make, asking people to play out certain key moments in ways that may allow her some sense of catharsis. Characters discuss the mingling of art and fiction, everything feels very precious and pretentious, and it's a real slog to get to the end.

I don't believe for one second that anyone will care about my opinion on this film. And I'm absolutely positive that both writer-director Hogg and her leading lady have moved on to other projects already, other artistic endeavours worthy of their time. So this review, as negative and contrary to so many others, is really just for my benefit. It allows me a bit of space to vent. I didn't expect to like this, but I was certainly willing to give it the benefit of the doubt (as I do with every film). The fact that it squandered a great opportunity, with most of the more interesting points hidden behind a veil of navel-gazing and vague pontification, makes it even more frustrating than the first instalment.

Not that Hogg isn't entitled to craft her movie however she likes, of course, and I assume that this is the way she wanted everything to turn out. It's just that what feels like a personal form of therapy through film doesn't, in my view, resonate with many people who will end up watching it. Whether or not it is true, everyone onscreen feels annoyingly privileged, as well as being in the very earliest stages of any career that they want to have in film. That combination makes so much of what we see happening here just tiresome, at best, and massively out of touch with many viewers. This isn't cinema as an escape, it's not cinema as a filter through which to view reality, it's cinema as a nicely-dressed window. This is the filmic equivalent of a humblebrag social media post, and there's rarely anything of real value in a humblebrag social media post.

I like seeing Richard Ayoade, and his scenes are the absolute highlight of this, but nobody else makes a very good impression here, not even the might Tilda Swinton, acting in a couple of scenes with her daughter. As for "Swinton Jr.", I think it's worth waiting to see how she works with stronger material. She's ultimately just too passive here, a blank avatar. Despite being a representation of Hogg herself, the writer-director seems much less interested in her than in showing the fragmented and meandering process to actually get a film made.

I doubt this review will put off anyone who is already set on seeing the film, but it's here anyway, for better or worse. Maybe one day someone will accidentally stumble upon this and agree with me. I won't be holding my breath though.

3/10

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In Fabric (2018)

Having been a fan of Peter Strickland since I discovered his talent in Berberian Sound Studio, I was excited when I first heard about In Fabric. Well, okay, I was partly excited and partly ready to poke fun at a plot that sounded superficially similar to I'm Dangerous Tonight (a movie directed by Tobe Hopper, and starring Mädchen Amick, that concerns a cursed red dress). Having now watched the film, I am not sure how best to describe it to others, which is going to make this review pretty bloody hard, but I know that I loved it.

There IS a cursed red dress. That is the best place to start. It is purchased by a woman named Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Things soon start to go awry. The dress eventually ends up in the possession of a washing machine repairman named Reg (Leo Bill), spreading the curse to him before moving immediately on to his wife, Babs (Hayley Squires). There are also a couple of bank management staff members (played by Julian Barratt and Steve Oram), the mysterious shop clerk (played by Fatma Mohamed), and a number of other characters who all act at least slightly odd in this surreal nightmare.

There's too much to unpack here, and I am not sure if it is all intentional or not (although I suspect it is, considering who made it). The first half lays all of the groundwork. As soon as Sheila first became interested in the dress, with viewers knowing it holds some power, I began to think of the irony of a woman being literally destroyed by her choice of clothing. It's a statement used far too often by the ignorant neanderthals who still think that women being dressed a certain way play at least some small part in causing any sexual assaults committed against them. "Look at what she was wearing", "she was asking for it", and "well, she was leading him on" are all statements that need consigned to the dustbin of history, and yet we still have quite a way to go, sadly. So it feels as if Strickland is highlighting the ridiculousness of those sentiments by turning them all into something literal. You also get a lot of sharp commentary on the general competitiveness that affects women every day, either in the workplace (where some people will "inform" on others for brownie points, while the whole workforce probably deserves to be rewarded more for their good work) or just in general contact with other women (there's no denying the double meaning when one character vacates the bathroom for Sheila, telling her "as I know you're desperate").

Things seem to get murkier in the second half, but a lot of the main targets are still exactly the same. It's just that Strickland tries to distract viewers by making the main character male for one portion of the runtime. He's quite atypical though, certainly compared to the kind of men we would usually see in genre movies. Reg is a decent enough guy, even if we first see him drinking too much on a big night out, he's fairly dull, and seems to be completely devoted to his new wife, in a way that makes him absolutely oblivious to the slight teasing from another woman.

I've not even mentioned the wilder moments here, and I won't. Things get pretty crazy early on. Be prepared for a number of moments that don't necessarily make sense, but do add to the atmosphere and collage of impressive imagery. That includes the ending, although there's an obvious interpretation there that allows the whole thing to end on an obvious comment on the fashion industry and consumerism.

Everyone involved does great work, all in line with the atmosphere that Strickland is creating. Highlights include the turns from Gwendoline Christie, who gets some great dialogue, any moments involving Barratt and Oram, the constant spookiness of Mohamed, and the weary turn from Jean-Baptiste as she navigates her work life, a home occupied by her son (Jaygann Ayeh) and his lover (Christie), and the dating world.

The visuals are lush, there's a wonderful selection of music by Cavern Of Anti-Matter (yeah, I've never heard of them either, but they work perfectly here), and everything is just spot on. There are no negatives I can think of, aside from a few moments that don't really nail down the tone, but that doesn't mean everyone will love it. If you DO love it then you will LOVE it. Many others could end up hating it though. I can't see there being much middle ground.

9/10

Buy the movie here.