After Tangles and Knots (2017), Renée Marie Petropoulos comes back with her second short film, Souvenir. 

On a vacation at a tropical resort with her family and her girlfriend, Zoe (Emily Grant), 16-year-old Keira (Tanzyn Crawford) must navigate what it’s like to be in a relationship while still being closeted, and try to confront Zoe’s hold on her, especially after she took unconsensual pictures of her while having sex. 

A souvenir is something that you want to keep as a reminder of an important or beautiful moment or experience, something you want to cherish. But as much as you want something to remind a certain moment, not everything is meant to become a tangible souvenir. 

Navigating first relationships is not always an easy thing to do. You don’t really know what’s okay and what’s not. You’re trying to navigate things and to learn. Sometimes you’re with a partner who has more experience; sometimes you’re not, and you explore things together, and that’s okay. But when you’re in a relationship with someone who has an unnerving hold on you, as Zoe has on Keira, things can get quite difficult to deal with. It can be hard to express what you really want and what you really feel because they’ll only make you feel bad about it and never acknowledge that what they did is wrong.

We’ve all been young; we’ve probably all done things that made us feel uncomfortable because we thought it was the right thing to do. But the thing is, when your gut tells you it’s wrong and when you don’t feel comfortable, you have the right to say no. And no one should make you feel bad for that. And if someone truly likes you, even loves you, and cares about you, they will never ask you to do something you don’t want to do. And that is what Petropoulous reminds us with her 14-minute short film.

Crawford and Grant are great in their role as Keira and Zoe, and both portray what it’s like to be in a manipulative dynamic so well that you can actually feel the emotional weight and discomfort that Keira carries when the only thing she should be doing is enjoying her vacation with her family and her girlfriend. 

Souvenir will have its North American premiere at SXSW and is part of the Narrative Short Competition. Narrative Short Program 3, presented by Vimeo, will screen six short films featuring exceptional storytelling that captivates, surprises, and excites on March 13th. A second screening will take place on March 16th.