The name Joanna Hogg is one that’s floated about a lot when discussing the current state of British cinema. The path that she’s treading is light years away from many of her contemporaries and she is undoubtedly a visionary. Her films are exquisite deconstructions of the modern British psyche.

Her third feature Exhibition bears the same stylistic imprints of her acclaimed films Archipelago and Unrelated: improvised dialogue, minimalist use of music and editing, and neurotic British middle class protagonists. There is a lot to admire in Exhibition and you can see Hogg is growing stronger and more confident in her art. But unfortunately it is a hard film to love.

Married artist couple D (Viv Albertine) and V (Liam Gillick) decide to sell their conceptual, architect home in central London that they have lived and worked in for almost two decades. This process sets of an emotional chain of events for both of them as they come to terms with their life together.

Exhibition is essentially 100 minutes of nothing. It is stripped back so much in terms of narrative and action as to become something unlikeable and obnoxious. Scenes of D working at her desk or the two artists lying together on a bed, drag on forever without a cut. It is a style of realism that is painfully accurate of real life. But watching the small moments of a human life (doing the dishes, arguments over breakfast) hardly make for compelling viewing. Exhibition would have made a killer short.

There are some lovely touches throughout. The cinematography, as is always the case with Hogg, is like a breath of fresh air. London is captured in crisp, pastel shades and the sparsely decorated house the two artist’s share is utilised in genius ways. It is a character in its own right. Regular collaborator Tom Hiddelston pops up as the real estate agent in a couple of beautifully judged and cringe inducing moments.

As a filmmaker Joanna Hogg does silence and space so effectively. In Exhibition it’s simply a case of a little too much of both.