When The Worst Person in the World was released, there was a lot of buzz around it. Not only did lead Renate Reinsve win the Best Actress award at Cannes, it was also nominated for dozens of other awards including Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. That’s high praise indeed. All of this attention always makes me sceptical though; can it really be that good?
Directed by Norwegian Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World takes place in his native Oslo and follows a young woman who is completely lost when it comes to her career path and her love life. Encompassing a span of 4 years, the film chronicles how she comes to terms with who she is and how she wants to live in the world. It sounds like a simple plot, and really, it is. But the aim here is clearly to relate to as many millennials in the world as possible.
Here’s the best way to look at it: think Fleabag but Scandi… without the breaking of the 4th wall… and add some pure, heart-wrenching death. Yep, that’s The Worst Person in the World.
I, for one, am glad that the “messy young woman” is garnering more screen time in the mainstream media. (This isn’t exactly “mainstream”, per sé, but you know what I mean). For too long, women have been portrayed in film and on TV as perfect, unattainable, robotic or brainless, but this new trope buckles that trend. Women are so much more complex than how they’ve been perceived before, so these “new-fangled” stories about how women really think and feel can only be a good thing.
Reading other reviews, it seems like a lot of people relate to Julie because she’s “just like them”. Did I relate to this main character? Yes and no. The fact that she has absolutely no idea what the fuck to do with her life? I absolutely feel that. But do I like Julie? No, actually. She’s ultimately a bit of a prick. Yet that is exactly the point: people are complicated, and you can relate to them at the same time as disliking them. This film portrays this idea very well and it’s a theme that will make you think, that’s for sure.
Visually, there’s something very relaxing and simple about The Worst Person that is extremely pleasing on the eye. This all makes it very easy to feel completely immersed in Norway’s culture with its muted colour palette and straightforward aesthetic. The real stand out? Yep, it’s the running sequence in which everyone except Julie and her lover are frozen in time. It’s conceptually wonderful and some really great filmmaking, and it’s this scene alone that makes Joachim Trier’s future work all the more intriguing.
There are some pacing issues in which it feels like absolutely nothing is happening for sure, but this film’s subversion of the “romantic comedy” is brilliantly and convincingly executed, so there’s no wonder why it was one of the most celebrated movies of 2021.
The Worst Person in the World is available to rent on Amazon for £3.49 in the UK.
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Overall Enjoyability Rating: ½
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