Rent The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Not quite the worst film in the world, but a big, long bore - The Worst Person in the World review by JR

This is two hours of the naval gazing of a self obsessed, commitment phobic, libidinous young woman. Her character is so charmless, so lacking in insight, contrition or compassion that one soon gets very bored with her. It's like spending two hours of reading agony aunt columns in a women's magazine, but without the genuine suffering.

Who knew Norwegians could be so talkative and sentimental? - The Worst Person in the World review by Philip in Paradiso

This is a romantic comedy/ drama set in today's Norway. It is a film about sentimental relationships between young men and young women. The focus is on a girl called Julie, who is the central character. She works in a bookshop to fund her studies. She changes courses, not being too sure what she wants to study and aim for. She meets a range of men and, with some of them, has serious relationships. (I don't want to say too much not to spoil the story for the reader of this review.)

The film is, somehow, charming and insightful. It is realistic overall, in my opinion, although there is a 'magical realism' episode in the middle of the movie that sits there rather oddly. It is most likely the viewer will recognise many of the situations depicted in the film in relation to dating, sex, relationships, marriage, children, splitting up, love, etc. The acting is good; in fact, I found the acting of the male lead actors better than that of Julie's, but she is a convincing young woman on a quest. She is not sure what she wants and what she should aim for. She is not sure who or what she is. She is looking for meaning in her life in order to make the right choices. She is not sure she wants a partner who is intellectual (too intellectual is boring...) or not intellectual (too unintellectual is boring). At times, she is annoying because of her behaviour: there is something immature, egotistical and even selfish about her, at any rate in the first 70% of the film. Towards the end, the movie changes as the narrative changes and, with it, Julie.

Overall, I enjoyed it, although I found it a bit too long. It could be a good TV drama. It is not a bad film. If you like sentimental dramas of this kind, you will be delighted, I think. And young Norwegians seem to be surprisingly talkative, articulate, sensitive and sentimental - all of it expressed in their rather guttural language. But is it a great film, as some reviewers have implied? Certainly not. The story is simple, somehow. It is moving in places, but it is not a masterpiece. It is even a bit shallow, in some respects, because Julie can be viewed as profound in some ways and rather superficial in other ways. Still, it may make you think about the characters, what they are, who they are, why they did what they did, etc., after you have seen the film, which is always a good sign.

Watchable and engaging - The Worst Person in the World review by PD

This highly enjoyable piece stars Renate Reinsve as 30-year old Julie, who has a smile that could light up whole cities. Though the character is something of an millenial archetype, Reinsve is very good at conveying her character's forcefulness and frustration; believably rendering Julie clever enough to become anything she wants, but also naive enough to feel blindsided by the realisation that she’ll eventually have to choose what that will be.

The film's a bit soap-opera/netflix light and frothy at times, but it's so vibrant that you can't take your eyes off it for a second, with touches of vintage Woody Allen: the film is never more fun than when Julie is second-guessing herself and/or trying to keep time from slipping through her fingers. There's good chemistry with Anders Danielsen Lie as Askel, a 44-year-old cartoonist whose underground success frees her to work in a bookstore while she waits for inspiration to strike. Julie begins to write, and her pieces enjoy moderate viral success; none more so than “Oral Sex in the Age of #MeToo,” which represents one of the rare moments when the film meaningfully grapples with how vastly the internet broadened the opportunity to flirt with new jobs and fuck perfect strangers. The film also contends with time in other, more elemental ways: the fragmented nature of its literary structure allows us to feel the years slipping through Julie’s fingers, while the close-up focus of its best chapters puts isolated moments under a microscope to see how certain nights can echo for a lifetime. One such night begins with Julie spontaneously waltzing into a random party, where she meets goofy barista Eivind played by Herbert Nordrum (the chemistry is much less good, unfortunately). How intimate can they get without cheating? It’s a dangerous game for someone with such an unrequited desire for the unknown. Later, in a wonderful sequence that should resonate with anyone who’s ever asked themselves “what if?,” time itself comes to a complete standstill across the whole of Oslo as Julie runs across the city from one man to the other - this is the ever-relatable fantasy at the heart of this film: choice without consequence. By contrast, a breathtakingly-good break up scene shows us the consequences.

The ending is all a bit too neat and tidy, with Julie's artistic development left to the imagination throughout, but a slower and distinctly moving third act is somewhat deeper (a great short scene involving Askel in a heated exchange during a radio interview is really good), and engages with some moral questions from the existential morass of its circumstances and though we, as with Julie, are unprepared for this, it has the effect of leaving us on a thoughtful, meditative note. Two hours well spent.