DANCES WITH FILMS 2026 REVIEW! Director / writer David Ketterer Spencer spins a mystery through comedy into a bittersweet romantic drama in Souvenir. Old friends Kevin (Eric Berryman) and Dani (Ruby Cruz) chance upon each other unexpectedly in Manhattan. They haven’t talked in a long time, but quickly fall into an easy rhythm. They are comfortable with each other in a way that only comes from an intimate connection. They are safe and confident being candid with each other.
Dani asks Kevin about his odd-looking wallet with a leather fox embossed on it, which Kevin says isn’t his and that he found under a bench. It turns out Dani has a flyer about that same wallet offering $10K for its return. She calls the number on the flyer, and then suggests to Kevin that they try to find the owner, but she doesn’t mention the reward. They open the wallet and go to the address on the driver’s license, which is a condo up for sale. At the condo, they meet a woman named Cordelia (Janeane Garafalo), who conscripts Kevin into helping gather information for a lawsuit. It turns out the owner of the wallet recently died, and Cordelia is suing. Dani is desperate to get the reward, while Kevin is left bewildered at her intensity.
Using the contents of the wallet as clues, they try to solve the mystery to return it (so Dani can collect the cash). Despite their effortless manner together, there is still friction. Kevin is an introverted, thoughtful academic, while Dani is brash and outspoken and will say anything to achieve a desired result.
“… Dani asks Kevin about his wallet with a leather fox embossed on it …”
They meet Cordelia again, at an address from a note in the wallet, and she explains to Dani that the owner of the wallet knew her father, and she wants it, but she wasn’t the one offering the reward. The situation becomes complicated and contentious when Kevin finds out about the money. The events of the day twist and turn as it wears on, and Dani seems to have an endless series of secrets to reveal. Kevin learns that the owner of the wallet was a poet after he steals a book of poems from Cordelia’s apartment ,which he uses to decipher more clues. They explore the enigma of the wallet while traversing picturesque neighborhoods in New York City.
While Dani sets the events of Souvenir in motion, it’s Kevin who completes the emotional journey for himself, Dani, the Poet, and Cordelia. Garafalo hasn’t been on screen in a while, and it’s fun to see her. She still brings powerful, straightforward, cranky charm. Berryman and Cruz give us complicated, flawed characters who find truth and beauty in the unpredictable winds of fortune. Dani is something of a manic pixie dream girl, but Cruz subverts the trope in interesting ways.
The viewer slips into a poignant rumination on the nature of memory, to a day seen through what the Death Cab for Cutie song What Sarah Said calls “a faulty camera in our mind.”Dani voices the theme when she responds to Kevin’s opinion of their day, saying, “If that’s how you want to remember it.”
Learn more at the official Souvenir website.
Souvenir screened at the 2026 Dances with Films.
"…a rumination on the nature of memory"
