[Joanna Hogg] makes brilliant use of shallow focus to keep you keyed in to specific details.

Superbly crafted and acted on every level, The Souvenir is one of the best British films of recent years.

Hogg's lighter touch discourages easy judgment. Despite this she has a knack for the kind of vignette that speaks volumes about a relationship.

If there isn’t the conventional pleasure of catharsis, or of the satisfying resolution of a three-act structure, an equivalent joy can be found in a film that assumes an engaged and critical viewer.