The Worst Person in the World (2021) User Reviews (304)

not the usual

[ferguson-6 · 8/10 · 3 February 2022]

Greetings again from the darkness. It's often fun when an innovative filmmaker turns a stodgy genre upside down and offers us a new take. And who better to flip over the frequently stale mode of romantic-comedies than Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier? Co-written with his frequent collaborator Eskil Vogt, the film could also be described as a dramady or a thirty-ish coming-of-age tale. Regardless of the label, it's entertaining and thought-provoking, as well as being a bit dark in parts (some of these also being quite funny). This is being called the final film in Trier's "Oslo Trilogy", three loosely connected films including REPRISE (2006) and OSLO, AUGUST 31 (2011).

Each of the films represents quite a shift in tone, and this latest revolves around Julie, played exceptionally well by Renate Reinsve. Trier structures the film as 12 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue. The prologue is brilliant and allows us to quickly grasp what we need to know about Julie. She changes her life goals multiple times - from doctor to psychologist to photographer, and later while working in a bookstore, she decides to be a writer. Thankfully we are spared the details in her essay on oral sex in the #MeToo era. Julie is impulsive to a fault. She has confidence but can't commit to a direction - she's confident in her uncertainty.

As she approaches 30, Julie is struggling to find her way. She's not so much lost as struggling to deal with her jumbled thoughts. Can you lose your identity if you haven't yet formed one? That seems to be the crux of Julie's inner-struggles, even as she finds a seemingly good fit for a partner. Aksel (a terrific Anders Danielsen Lie) is a successful graphic artist, and he seems to understand Julie. Their relationship builds over time, even as their individual visions and goals diverge. The best life partner still comes with challenges when you still aren't sure who you are as a person.

Julie feels herself slipping away, and that's when her impulsive nature reappears. During a special event for Aksel, she walks out and spontaneously crashes a local wedding reception. This leads to a meet cute and flirty time with Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). Both he and she are in steady relationships, but only Bill Clinton could determine if the time Julie and Eivind spend together is cheating or not. Ms. Reinsve perfectly captures the spirit of Julie. Although she's often a bit flustered, when she does smile, she radiates like a young Shelley Fabares.

Much has been made of Ms. Reinsve's performance and she certainly deserves the accolades. However, we shouldn't overlook the outstanding work of Anders Danielsen Lie in a difficult role. Filmmaker Joachim Trier's previous work also includes THELMA (2017) and LOUDER THAN BOMBS (2015), and his creativity is most welcome. Two sequences stand out in his latest. In one, the world shifts into 'freeze frame' mode as Julie runs through the streets of Oslo to find her new love, and in the second, we follow her in the midst of a drug hallucination after experimenting with mushrooms. In the story, Trier focuses on the dynamics between partners and how the stages of life can complicate things. It's charming and funny, but also quite serious, as he certainly doesn't buy into the ideal that movies must have happy endings. In regard to the title, rather than describe Julie, it's more likely meant to explain how many people think of themselves as they make decisions and mistakes - it's really a show of humanity. And quite a good one.

Opening in limited theaters on February 4, 2022.

An excellent film

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 9/10 · 19 January 2022]

It's been a couple of hours since I watched this, and I'll admit, it's been hard to figure out how to give some thoughts on it through text.

I will say it resonated with me emotionally- far more than your average movie. I really felt it, y'know? Not in a way that's going to make me reshape my life or change what I'm doing day to day necessarily, but there was something to it that makes me sure it's going to stick in my brain for weeks, maybe months or even years to come.

I can't go much further than that. It's a wonderful, sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet, sometimes soul-crushing film, and all the emotions are explored and interweaved perfectly.

There are so many great scenes... the scene where time freezes, the "what is cheating" scene, the scene in and around the hospital, the scene with the magic mushrooms... it's almost like every single chapter in the film is a highlight, and it all fits together almost perfectly.

It's a special film- the more I think about it, the better it gets, and the more it resonates. Also features some of the best acting I've seen in a while from its two leads, Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie. They're so compelling it's almost alarming how invested you get in their characters, maybe because they begin to feel like real people, at a point. Especially in the last half-hour or so- I was blown away by how real they felt, and how easily I believed that these two characters had known each other for years.

Might be a 5/5 on a rewatch, in all honesty. Life being tough and all at the moment, I was distracted by some of my own problems while watching these fictional characters deal with theirs. But the moments of crossover were extremely cathartic, and as a film, it flows so well, and didn't feel two hours long, despite having pacing that wasn't afraid to slow down from time to time.

Well, how about that.

I actually wrote quite a lot.

Good films will do that to you.

Norwegian "Annie Hall"

[evanston_dad · 9/10 · 25 February 2022]

Renate Reinsve is giving one of the performances of the year in this turbulent movie about what it's like being alive.

I came home from this and told my wife how much it reminded me of "Annie Hall" at times. And then later I was reading a profile of the writer and director, Joachim Trier, which mentioned that "Annie Hall" specifically was a huge inspiration for him as a film maker. So there you go.

Is Reinsve the worst person in the world? Hardly. She's a warm, loving woman, trying to figure out how to give love to others and yet get what she needs and feels she deserves herself. What happens when those two things seem mutually exclusive? Welcome to human relationships.

The movie is very funny in its first half, and then gets very sad in its last half. But it's never emotionally manipulative. It makes the case that it's ok to look out for yourself and your needs, but also that part of growing as a person is learning that the world isn't all about you.

Grade: A.

An Achingly Accurate Portrait Of Millennial Angst

[CinemaClown · 5 February 2022]

An achingly human & frighteningly accurate portrait of an entire generation's existential crisis, The Worst Person in the World observes millennial angst through a young woman's quest for love & meaning as she enters into her 30s without any idea about her identity & purpose in life. Crafted with flair & told with utmost honesty, this contemporary rom-com is one of the better films of the year.

Co-written & directed by Joachim Trier, the story is narrated in chapters and covers her four years journey of love & enlightenment in which we see her throw herself into different career paths & new relationships yet never going all the way. While most episodes are interesting & aptly address the film's themes, few of them are way too brief and should've been either left out or integrated with others.

The first half is lighthearted & brimming with a restless, radiant spirit while the later chapters deal with heavier themes and are treated with required seriousness. Renate Reinsve anchors the film with a performance that hits the right emotional notes and is thoroughly convincing. Anders Danielsen Lie & Herbert Nordrum also chip in with strong support and their chemistry with Reinsve is seamless & spot-on.

Overall, The Worst Person in the World is a downright sincere & thoroughly engrossing effort that renders the humanity of its characters with authenticity & compassion. Heartbreaking yet not without hope, this Norwegian dramedy understands the dreaded existential cul-de-sac that comes from not knowing who you are or where you fit in as well as the the crushing feeling of playing a supporting role in your own life story.

You were the love of my life.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 9/10 · 16 May 2022]

'The Worst Person in the World (2021)' is a deeply moving experience. It resonates with me in a way that very few films do. I feel it. It isn't just entertainment, it's something more. Exactly what that is, I can't quite say. Through a seemingly simple story of one woman's life, the picture works its way into your mind, your heart, your soul itself and provokes powerful emotions that you didn't even know movies could provoke; not just sadness or joy or excitement or longing (all of which it provokes in droves), but the kind of emotions that can't be put into words, the kind that weigh on your consciousness and shape your relationship with yourself and the world around you. It's difficult to describe, really, and I'm sure I'm probably slipping into hyperbole. I've lost any sense of objectivity (what little I usually have, at any rate) when it comes to discussing this picture, because its ultimate impact is one that I just can't shake and I'm not sure I ever want to. It's a profoundly affecting affair, one that overcomes any of its initial slowness or slice-of-life limitations, thanks primarily to its uncompromisingly complex nature. It's one of the most honest pieces of fiction I've ever seen, crafting characters who seem like they could walk off the screen and representing reality - or, at least, our lived experience of it - in a way that most kitchen-sink dramas could only dream of doing. It presents a plethora of powerful and often poignant ideas that keenly represent the human condition, all while remembering that its protagonist is the one driving the action and that it owes her a fully-formed narrative that entertains as much as it stirs. Its infrequent formalistic touches are absolutely delightful, but it's the rock-solid 'regular' stuff that matters the most. These moments are told not with style, but with substance; the actors often tell entire libraries worth of stories with their eyes alone. Indeed, this is some of the best acting I've seen in a long time, capable of conveying thought and emotion without so much as a single word. It's often all in the eyes; you could get lost in the pupils of its two leads. The chapter-based structure lends vitality to a plot that may otherwise have felt a little aimless, and the writing is simply divine. The feature just nails everything it sets out to achieve. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It's the sort of thing that proves ratings are insignificant. How can you assign stars to something like this? I can't put my feelings into words, let alone stars. I can't quantify it by the same metrics I use for other films. Even if it isn't as entertaining as the ones I enjoy the most, it's almost certainly much more powerful; very few of them make me feel the way this one does. Maybe another viewing is necessary to determine the picture's true score. Then again, maybe this right here - what I'm feeling right now - is more than enough. It isn't the sort of thing I experience very often; as such, it's a bit hard to process. What else can I say? This is honestly the kind of film that I could see changing your life in one way or another, however small and seemingly insignificant. As I mentioned earlier, it's a deeply moving experience.

the story of an imperfect woman

[dromasca · 8/10 · 29 November 2021]

The heroine ofJoachim Trier's latest film 'The Worst Person in the World' (2021) is about 30 years old, but she still hasn't managed to find a profession that would give full meaning to her life, or the man she would like to be with and spend the rest of her life, or what could make her happy. It is, if you wish, the film of her searches and the failure of these searches in a hurried and individualistic world. This contemporary Norwegian counter-heroine is one of the most complex and interesting female characters I have seen on screen in recent years. Renate Reinsve's formidable performance brought her a well-deserved award for female performance at the Cannes Film Festival. This is one of the important reasons, but not the only one for which this film is worth seeing.

Julie (Renate Reinsve) is an intelligent and intellectually gifted young woman. She starts studying medicine and then gives up, starts studying psychology and abandons this as well, decides to become a photographer and works in parallel and as a bookseller at a bookstore. Her parents are divorced, she is closer to her mother (who is worried about her daughter's un-decisions) while her distant and indifferent father is a negative model that probably makes her wary of relationships with men. And yet she falls in love, not with one man but with two: with a comics book writer and cartoonist about 14 years her senior who wants a child and with a seller at a pastry shop who wants to have fun and maybe to get rid of his previous girlfriend who is more interested by ecology and vegetarianism. Time passes, life advances, but it is not clear in which direction.

I guess that one of 'Joachim Trier's sources of inspiration are Woody Allen's older and newer films. The organization of the story in 12 chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue, the well-matched use in this case of off-screen voice, the relationship between lovers separated by age gap, the presence of parents in the lives of mature people, all these they reminded Allen. Even the almost exclusively urban setting seems inspired by his films, with a local touch, of course. If you haven't visited Oslo (like me) by the time you finish watching this movie you will feel the desire to visit this city, which looks colorful, sophisticated, and ... warm (most of the story seems to take place in the summer). The location in time is clear, thanks to the pandemic masks that the characters wear in the epilogue. Just count a few years back. There are at least two chapters in the film with original cinematography that fits well into the logic of the story - the imaginary or real encounter between lovers looking for and finding each other with the rest of the world frozen around and the sequence of the 'experimentation' with hallucinogenic mushrooms. 'The Worst Person in the World' is the story of an imperfect woman with an imperfect life, as are the lives of most of us, a woman who is certainly not the worst person in the world, and the film about her is made interestingly and well acted. Recommended viewing.

Search for Virtue in Modern Society

[HenrikBakke94 · 8/10 · 17 October 2021]

The Worst Person in the World is Triers last film in his Oslo trilogy (Reprise, Oslo August 31th), and it's about a women named Julie (Reinsve) whom is struggling to find her place in the world.

Virtue is the quality of being a good person and doing the right things, both for yourself and for others. I believe that Trier is problematizing this in this film by asking the question about whether or not you should do whats expected from the world around you, like settling for a more or less standardized life in forms of career and familiy, or if you should be out there and experiment to find your place in a rather confusing modern society.

Julie is on her way into her thirties and is in a relationship with Aksel (Danielsen). She is an indecisive individual when it comes to what to make out of her life. Aksel, being in his mid forties, is ready to have a familiy of his own, but Julie is not ready for that just yet. Her search for an meaningful existence leads her to another man named Eivind (Norddrum), which she falls in love with. She leaves Aksel in hope for that this time, things will be different, but will it be so?

This film is beautiful and intelligent. The way it depitcs todays social relations and culture in Norway, and probably other places in the world, is spot-on. All characters are deep and profound, where everyone of them playes an important role in the story no matter how big their part is on the screen. Everything seems to be in its right place.

The Worst Person in the World is another great film by Joachim Trier.

Like being hit by a freight train - in the best way possible

[jtindahouse · 10/10 · 8 March 2022]

Sometimes a film cuts deep into your soul - in the best way possible. It happened to me in 2012 with 'Amour'. I wasn't right for a week after seeing that film. 'The Worst Person in the World' has a similar quality. Ultimately it is just showing the harsh realities of life. But man do they hit hard. This film is incredible.

This film wouldn't be what it is without Renate Reinsve. I haven't seen all of the Best Actress nominees for the Oscars this year yet, however I'd be shocked if all five could justify their place over her. She is mesmerising to watch. She puts everything she has out there. It is as fearless and captivating as performances come. I'm so glad she won Best Actress at Cannes.

The entire cast is great but I have to mention Anders Danielsen Lie specifically as well. He plays a crucial role in this film being what it is. It's a truly excellently written role to be fair, but he still plays his part in bringing it to life. He's the character that a lot of men who watch this film are going to relate to.

The dialogue in this film is on another level. It is so deep and thoughtful. The amount of lines that resonated with me were huge. The film never feels like it is trying too hard to impress anything upon you either. It simply puts stuff out there, and it just so happens that the stuff is so good it hits you like a freight train.

If someone asked me what this film was about I think I'd find that a very hard question to answer. I guess the best answer would just be "life". Maybe it won't resonate with everyone else like it did with me (although the film seems to be getting a lot of positive feedback which I'm stoked about) but I don't think many could watch this masterpiece and not get something out of it. 10/10.

Not the worst...but a contender

[indy-39 · 6/10 · 14 March 2022]

Certain films are very difficult to review. One such type, is a very well made film in which you absolutely hate the protagonist- and that dislike may or may not be what you are meant to feel in the directors eyes. "The Worst Person In the World" is exactly that kind of experience for me. I was not reminded of "Annie Hall", as were many, but rather imagine John Schlesinger's "Darling" if Diana Scott had no ambition or even, perhaps, a if Lewis Gilbert's "Alfie" with no balls (to at least own his bad behavior in the end).

Julie (as in Julie Christie?) is an unrepentant narcissist who may seem to some to be wandering aimlessly through her late twenties/early thirties. She lives by the seat of her pants- first jumping from major to major in college and then from man to man. The film settles on two relationships in particular to follow. But Julie is not totally aimless, she makes choices based on her own level of priority. When she feels insecure in some way- she moves on. Not cutting it in Med school? Try Psychology. Boyfriend's getting so famous that no one notices you? Flee the party and crash a wedding in which you pretend to be someone important (a Doctor) so you can lecture others on child rearing.

I wish I could say that as she gets older she gains insight- unfortunately, after leaving the "famous" boyfriend for the "barista" one she finds herself pregnant. Upon hearing that Aksel, the famous on, is dying of an incurable disease she feels she must go to him. She must go to him-while he is near death and ask him to help her with HER problem. Never mind he is pain, never mind he wanted desperately to have a baby with her, it's all about her problem. I thought it was one of the cruelest scenes I'd ever seen- but Renate Reinsve plays it like an innocent babe. Her great performance is something to behold- she's so good that many viewers seem to think she's a good person.

The movie cuts her a major break by giving her a miscarriage- where we all knew what the fate of that baby was going to be. When Aksel tells her she would be a "great mother" I almost choked. Just because someone is dying doesn't necessarily give them any special knowledge of the truth-perhaps he loved her, so it's possible he believed this- but he was also pretty smart.

This, therefore is my dilemma . If the film is, indeed, about a totally self absorbed woman who's life is skipping past her while she remains in a perpetual adolescence- then I say add two stars to make it an eight out of ten. Maybe it's a generational thing. Young people seem to find this funny- I'm not exactly sure what was funny. They also see her as "loving"-perhaps that's what passes for love these days. I just thought the title was meant sarcastically- but ,at least when I was 30 ,she would've been a contender.

About how woman's indvidualisation makes her seem the worst

[nataliapazio · 8/10 · 11 January 2023]

I'm rather into indie films and I was pretty satisfied with the movie. I liked the script, dialogues and cinematography as well. All characters seem to be real in their imperfections, every one was unique and different, have flaws but also virtues.

Main character was definitely like a Bambi, every leg in different direction on ice. Some parts of her were very relatable to me as a modern 30. Woman having some similar experiences, but definitely I'm different person and couldn't emphatize with Julia in many cases. Although I think she was pretty convincing and complex character.

I would like to highlight that this is movie is still male view on woman, as director is a man. I personally think that some male features were presented via female character, to make audience feel like she is the worst, because it is easier to judge women for general population. Still, men are permitted more whereas women are perceived the worst for doing more male things: being individual.

This is why she was charmed by Aksel's individuality and non-conforming attitude, even knowing he was making sexist stances and jokes in his comics.

He was like her mirror: immersed in his interests and a thought processes that was a bit pretentious at times, but at the same time very genuine, esp. At the end of his life. He also changed his mind and was indecisive towards having kids, just like Julia. But when he was forcing her to have a child at some point, without listening to her, it was repulsive for me and I'm surprised everyone here is concerned mainly on Julia's imperfections, whereas others questionable behaviors are less visible for reviewers here.

This film shows that similar behaviors are judged differently depending on gender: Julia writes provocative article and is not judged harshly, but Aksel is cancelled for his comics; Julia don't want to have a kid and is judged, but everyone overlooked that Askel changed his mind and didn't want to have kids. Julia hurt Elsvid, bc she wants more has some intelectual needs unmet, so she is the worst, but Aksel also used her to his benefit "as a break from his job", but this is "normal" for a male so it is unseen by the public. This film portray it perfectly!

It also seems that at the end she became like Aksel in some way.

Well shot tedium

[E Canuck · 6/10 · 18 February 2022]

The main character, Julie, became annoying in the first 5 minutes and stayed that way. Couldn't muster any empathy for her and as the film stayed with her closely the decent acting and cinematography couldn't engage me. One of those films where I was waiting for it to be over.

Brilliant

[CurbedEnthusiasm · 8/10 · 28 April 2022]

What a wonderful film. It's amazing how when you leave Hollywood behind, you find gems like this. Acting, script and direction are all excellent and the film is engaging from start to end.

Great film until the last 20min

[agasi999 · 7/10 · 13 March 2023]

I absolutely fell head over heels in love with this film until the last 20min when one of the characters gets cancer. This felt like a complete cop out in trying to bring in some emotional heft to the climax and help the lead character have some sort of break through. I was shocked that the makers went for this routine ending, considering how breath takingly fresh the movie was until the cancer revelation. I'd have admired the movie even more had they simply portrayed her as a flawed human being who finally gains some kind of emotional maturity. The way it stands the movie is good but it could have been great had they not gone down the whole cancer route.

Not very interesting

[PaulyFidgets · 4/10 · 3 July 2022]

I heard about this film on NPR. It got great reviews, so I was expecting a lot more. It was slow and tedious, for the most part. There were moments of beauty, for sure, but it just dragged on and on. The main character was so self-absorbed irritating.

I just watched Noah Baumbach's "Francis Ha," starring Greta Gerwig. That film also centered on self-absorbed millennials, but it was funny and engaging, even though the characters were unlikable. I can't say the same for "The Worst Person In The World." I think people overuse the word "pretentious," but that's exactly the adjective that came to mind during the scene where Julie kisses Eivind for the first time and every bystander is frozen in time. It was like some whimsical scene out of "Amelie," only it did not fit the downbeat tone of the film.

This wasn't the worst movie in the world, but it definitely tested my patience and did not live up to the hype.

Meandering

[breadandhammers · 26 February 2022]

While I appreciate the idea of a film that follows an indecisive and passive character ("the worst person in the world", Julie), I found this film to be extremely meandering and confusing. Ultimately, we are to understand that Julie ends up in a better place (she's a single, confident, photographer now!), I really felt like her transition happened only in the last five minutes. A lot is said about having not likable characters, but I just didn't like Julie and I found most of the characters pretty detestable. I'm really not sure what people are talking about when they said that this movie is redefining rom-coms. Maybe seek out 500 Days of Summer for a rom-com subversion movie instead.

Ennui Personified

[pauljonathancampbell · 8/10 · 21 December 2022]

A sincere, touching and unique portrayal of the doubt and restlessness involved in finding your own path in life and love and the impact this can have on those around you.

What starts out as a light romantic comedy tonally shifts to become a meditation on relationships; the process of how we decide what we value and prioritise in life, often discovering ourselves through trial and error, trying things and people out to see what fits whilst often ignoring and disbelieving the wisdom and perspectives of those closest to us.

Great cast and beautifully filmed in Oslo, a city not often captured on film.

European cinema at its finest (but...)

[chrisbidis · 8/10 · 21 September 2022]

The movie presicely depicts a woman's existencial crisis who tries to find that one person to understand her and her meaning of life.

Beautifully delivered by screen writer, director and actors, there's nothing I would change about it. While watching it there was not a single line I would remove or alter.

The director perfected the sad aesthetic matching with the protagonist's constant struggle to make people understand how she wants to live her life, without making it seem depressing and harsh.

BUT ! It's not for everybody and that's beacuse it's one of those films that people don't get they don't have to relate themselves to anyone of the characters, just appreciate the assortment of aspects and views on life.

One of those movies which remind us about the power of cinema

[gautammayya · 9/10 · 27 January 2022]

The new movie from Joachim Trier starring Renate Reinsve in an absolute star making turn tells the story of Julia in 12 chapters about her indecisiveness and her lack of empathy towards others and how she overcomes this.

Renate Reinsve carries this movie as she embodies the character so well. The character Julia, is fascinating. At first glance she is likeable, incredibly charismatic and she just makes you fall in love with her. But as the movie goes on we get to know her dark side. She really cant take a strong decision which she will stick to, but rather jumps from one place to another, thereby hurting people that love her. So basically the movie is about the responsibility of growing up and having to take decisions knowing full well that these decisions affect people around you too.

But the best thing about the movie, other than Renate's performance, is the atmosphere. It's as if you are in Oslo with those characters which we can attribute to the wonderful production and directing. Add to that there ae two surreal scenes which are probably the best cinematic moments of the year. One is where the world just stops and Julia spends a day with her new lover. The scene is so beautiful and so so sad too. The other scene is when Julia takes mushroom and has a trip where we get to know her character a lot (Similar to the dream scenes in Sopranos), her fears and insecurities. The imagery in that scene is truly magnificent and scary.

But I don't think the movie is flawless. I think the director was afraid of the movie being labelled generic, that he tried too hard to subvert from it. (For example, the ironic use of narration) I thought it was unnecessary as the scenes were so genuine and so well made that it didn't matter it was explored before. I think the director should have just trusted the actors and the plot more and just made it as it is.

In the end, I do think it is one of the best movies of the year, with probably the best performance of the year (along with KStew in Spencer) by Renate. Even if you aren't a fan of Romcoms, you will enjoy this as it is a wonderful character study of someone growing up and taking responsibility of her own life.

A great film.

[krzysiektom · 10/10 · 4 January 2022]

I loved it. The best film I've watched in 2021. It's not easy to classify, it is part psychological drama, part comedy. The film is certainly not for everyone, and distributors advertising it as "comedy" do not help. Surely the more serious, pensive elements dominate comedic moments. The soundtrack plays a huge role, it's excellent and adds much to the experience. Actors do a very good job, especially the main actress and the actor playing her most important life partner (there's a few of them). It is expertly directed and edited. All in all a great movie, never boring though it deals with important life choices and the weighty question of what constitutes a good life and what makes a person good or bad. I plan to rewatch it.

well-filmed but not convincing

[supremecort · 6/10 · 27 December 2021]

The protagonist is not the worst person in the world, but it seems throughout the entire movie that she undergoes very little character development. She goes from boyfriend to boyfriend, looking for someone to give her an exciting, full, ambitious life. But it seems she never actually tries to do much for herself, instead blaming her partners, berating them and cheating on them without evidently showing any remorse. In the end, she feels sorry for herself but still doesn't display any self-awareness about her role in all of her personal and romantic issues. Her partners seem to love her, calling her a good person and their one true love etc. But again I didn't see any on-screen evidence of her actually being a good partner. So I ended the movie wondering if we're supposed to empathize with this character, or whether the movie is actually meant to portray how the average person blames everyone else for their problems instead of taking responsibility for their own dissatisfaction in life. If it's the latter, well, we already knew that.

A flower that blooms

[howard.schumann · 10/10 · 30 March 2022]

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly" - Henri Bergson

Some people experience maturity at an early age when they are thrust by circumstances into a position of responsibility before they are ready. Some do not experience it until their twenties, thirties, or even forties. Others never do. In a society where maturity is defined by what you do for a living, who you are with, and whether or not you are emotionally and/or financially independent, lacking these attributes can lead to serious doubts of self worth. Brilliantly performed by Renate Reinsve ("Welcome to Norway"), winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Joachim Trier's ("Oslo, August 31st") masterful The Worst Person in the World tells the story of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman feeling adrift without concrete goals or relationships who, like Frances Ha in Noah Baumbach's comedy of the same name, must confront the idea that she is floundering and lacking direction in life.

Written by Eskil Vogt ("The Innocents") and nominated for Academy awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Film, the film is divided into 12 chapters with a prologue and epilogue thrown in. The Worst Person in the World does not contain any very, very bad people. The title, according to the director, derives from the idea that many young people in Norway conclude that if they fail at one thing or another, they are then "the worst person in the world." Trier says, "It's a Norwegian term." It's also self-deprecating. "Oh. I failed. I'm the worst person in the world." It's that feeling of misery and personal failure - in love, for example." "When was life supposed to start?" asks the narrator on Julie's behalf.

Drifting between a desire to become a medical doctor, a psychologist, a photographer, and a writer, on turning 30, Julie is certain about one thing. She does not want children until she is ready, especially to her way of thinking, not when she has so much unfilled potential. She is holding out for an undefined, perhaps illusory time when suddenly everything will come together. The issue crystallizes when she meets and falls in love with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie, "Bergman Island"), a graphic novelist whose cartoon creature "Bobcat" is modeled after a big Nordic cat. He is a man ten years her senior who feels that time for him is fleeting and he wants to raise a family but feels blocked by Julie's refusal.

After crashing a party, Julie meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum, "Amundsen"), a young, modern thinking, and relatively unambitious counter man at a coffee shop. He is a man of simple pleasures, very much unlike Aksel who does not make too many demands on her. Both married, in a chapter, ironically labeled "Cheating," they decide not to cheat on each other's partners, but it takes a more subtle, tongue-in-cheek turn. Julie asks him, "I don't want to be unfaithful; we both have partners, but are we allowed to do something, on the edge, that's considered not unfaithful?" We can figure out the answer.

After being together for a few years, Julie tells Aksel in a powerful sequence that she wants to separate, expressing her desire to move beyond needing acceptance to find a degree of self-realization. In one of the best scenes, the world freezes in space and time as Julie runs through the city looking to find Eivind after she leaves Aksel pouring her a cup of coffee. Filled with animated sequences, a psychedelic mushroom trip, and a peeing contest, the film does not fit our pictures about what a romantic comedy should look like. Trier said, "For a long time I have wanted to make a film about love. One that goes a bit deeper than normal onscreen love stories, where everything is so simple, the stories so clear-cut, the feelings so admirably unambiguous."

"The film," he continues, "doesn't dwell on hackneyed debates over the perils of living online, but it does ache for simple, tangible pleasures: The heat of touch and spontaneous human connection, and the luxury of stillness." Backed by a wide-ranging eclectic soundtrack that runs the gamut from Cobra Man, the Ahmad Jamal Trio, and Caribou to Billie Holiday, Harry Nilsson, and Art Garfunkel, The Worst Person in the World may be the worst film title in the world, but it is a work of warmth and freshness that thwarts our expectations at every turn, recreating the best of the genre, yet is also a film that has space for the pain of loss and regret. In its engaging way, the film tells us that who we really are is not about what we do or what we have but about our spiritual nature, the richness of character, and the ability to give and receive love.

As Art Garfunkel sings Jobim's "Waters of March" during the final credits, Julie discovers that who you are is: "A flower that blooms, A fox in the brush, A knot in the wood, The song of a thrush, The mystery of life, The steps in the hall, The sound of the wind, And the waterfall, It's the moon floating free, It's the curve of the slope, It's an ant, it's a be, It's a reason for hope, and the riverbank sings, Of the waters of march, It's the promise of spring, It's the joy in your heart."

Watchable Millennial Drama

[martimusross · 6/10 · 4 April 2022]

The Worst Person In The World

This movie portrayed a flaky millennial women, it was as if the script writer played with the key identifiers of this generation both positive and negative. The movie touched on the positives, albeit briefly, namely that of a dissatisfaction with the world around them and a naked ambition to achieve their goals, however Julie threw the towel in as soon as the going got tough. Flitting from doctor training, mental health, photography and ending up in a bookstore. The movie then cleverly, and without any apparent judgement (this was left to the viewer) showed all the millennials negative traits, namely lazy, narcissistic and spoilt, the so called me-me-me generation, and believe me this character had it In spades!

The movie had a light touch with no real overarching moralistic themes, we were merely observing this character as she progressed through her life. The acting was crisp from Renate Reinsve and she was never out of frame, I was convinced.

In truth Julie was a most unattractive, self absorbed, self serving person and as the movie progressed you really didn't like her, by the end she hadn't really changed much, no revelatory epiphany here in my view, however it could be equally argued that embracing a single life and actually sticking at a photographic career may show some promise of maturity for the future. I found the end overly contrived and perfunctory. I think the editing left in too much of "ill" Aksel that added little to the story.

I'm giving this a firm 6 outta 10, for holding my attention, recognising it is always difficult to judge the nuances of a subtitled movie.

Your movie

[arnekristofferwangholthe · 10/10 · 30 October 2021]

This will haunt you for the rest of your life, so much beauty and creativity. Great actors. Great script. It's like one of those films you never want to see again because you're afraid to ruin it.

Why do I love it, we'll it's because Trier always manages to make movies about you. If not you-now then a past-you. You can so easily relate to the storyline and the characters. So when you leave the theaters you feel really good about yourself. It stays with you. I'm really glad that I saw this movie.

The Worst Person in the World

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 7/10 · 11 April 2022]

7/10 - I was honestly expecting more from this buzzy Norwegian drama that in my opinion, had a stellar start but only a serviceable conclusion which soured what could have been a truly great film.

Did not work for me

[hassaan-35802 · 5/10 · 21 June 2022]

Had high hopes since people saying best film of the year. It was usual coming of age story albeit with a bit more serious tone. There were few places where I chuckled but very few and far in-between. And as title suggested this was not a pleasant person so was tough to care for her while she was confused and using people around her for her own benefits. Last thirty minutes I kept checking to see when it will be over. Girls acting was good but story and characters didn't affect on many ways. There were few scenes where you could tell they were trying to affect you or move you but fell flat on me.