"The Worst Person in the World" - Sundance Film Fest Review
Joachim Trier’s third entry in his unofficial Oslo Trilogy, The Worst Person in the World, centers on an almost-thirty-year-old woman named Julie (Renate Reinsve). The story is told in twelve chapters and includes a prologue, an epilogue, and an omnipresent narrator. As the movie begins, Julie drops out of med school to become a photographer and meets a famous comic book artist named Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie). Despite the fact that Aksel is fifteen years (give or take) older than Julie, the two begin a romantic relationship. The initial bliss slowly fades because the two are simply at impossibly different times in their lives. Aksel wants to start a family and Julie doesn’t know when or if she will ever want that. While they’re still together, they attend a release party for Aksel’s new comic book. Julie decides to leave early and walk home alone. She stumbles across a party on the way and decides to check it out, even though she knows no one there. While at the party, Julie meets and immediately connects with a charming barista named Eivind (Herbert Nordrum).
Very few films feel as grounded as The Worst Person in the World. Each of the characters is honestly written to show flaws, ugliness, and goodness. No one character is all good or all bad, and all are clumsily making their way through life as best they can. Reinsve’s portrayal of Julie is particularly memorable, and it’s no surprise that she won Best Actress for this role at Cannes in 2021. She effortlessly exudes the breathlessness of falling in love and the utter sadness of feeling lost and alone.
Oslo Pictures, MK Productions, Film i Väst, Snowglobe, B-Reel Films
The Worst Person in the World expands on the definition of a romantic comedy. Some moments are pure romance while others are darkly comedic. When Julie and Eivind meet for the first time at the party Julie crashes, it’s the sort of lightning-in-a-bottle connection that feels like it can only happen once in a lifetime. They’re both in relationships and vow not to cheat, but the immediate intimacy they share is electric and irresistible. They spend the night talking about the things they’re afraid of or ashamed to admit to the people in their “real” lives. The sheer serendipity of it all makes the audience think of the traditional “rom-com meet cute.”
And yet, this is not the sort of film that’s laugh-out-loud, joke after joke that audiences are used to in the rom-com genre. The Worst Person in the World is much quieter in its humor, finding jokes in the absurdity of the shared human condition, particularly in a break-up scene between Julie and Aksel. While explaining that she needs to be alone, Julie starts to laugh at the fact that she, a thirty-year-old woman, can only think to compare going out on her own to being like “Bambi on ice.” It’s the kind of moment that puts life into perspective and reminds the audience how silly humans can be at times — how statements and feelings can contradict each other yet still be true in their incongruity; how Julie can be certain about what she wants and how she feels, yet has to use a child’s cartoon to express herself.
The film subverts all the usual trappings of the rom-com genre. The meet cute is between two people who are already in relationships. The slow-motion run to a person that ends in a kiss is just a dream. It’s romantic and funny in a way that feels real. Perhaps the most interesting part of the movie is its take on the big romantic speech at the end. In The Worst Person in the World, this speech comes from a man who is dying, and his sole audience is Julie. It’s not shouted from the rooftops or accompanied by a boombox, it’s just the two of them sharing words that should have been said long ago. In a beautiful moment of honesty, a man is telling Julie exactly what she has meant to him. He’s not doing it in a way to win her back or change her mind about anything, but simply taking the time to connect with her and make sure she understands his feelings. It’s a rare and special gift to be able to hear the impact you’ve had on someone else’s life.
Oslo Pictures, MK Productions, Film i Väst, Snowglobe, B-Reel Films
At its core, The Worst Person in the World is about wanting. Julie mentions that she sometimes feels like she’s “standing on the sidelines of my own life.” She’s unsure of her passions and does what’s expected of her instead of what she wants to do. She has ambition and drive, but doesn’t know what to do with them. Julie finds her ambition crippling because she doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she has an aching feeling in her stomach that is a longing for something. Figuring out what that something is takes serious time and effort. The two moments when the proverbial light comes on for Julie are magnificent. In one of those scenes she is running through the streets of Oslo, surrounded by people who are frozen in time, going after what she finally realizes she desires. The other scene is lonelier. She’s watching the sun come up over the trees and sees a tear on her cheek. Both moments occur when the world is quiet and Julie listens to herself.
Most people in their mid-twenties spend a lot of time feeling like the worst person in the world because they’re being pulled in a million different directions and they don’t know which way to turn. There are crises, disasters, pandemics, and revolutions happening all around them, yet often not directly affecting their lives. It feels impossible to pay enough attention or give respect to all of them while also dealing with the massive emotional upheavals in their own personal lives. Fortunately, movies like this come along and help them realize they’re not alone in trying to bear the weight of this weary world.
What would a romantic comedy be without its happily ever after? While not the clean, over-sanitized version of a happy ending the audience is used to, The Worst Person in the World ends on a hopeful note. It’s an honest ending. Julie finds happiness in the things that bring her joy. She learns enough about herself and the things that matter to her to dedicate her life to focusing on them. It’s a love story.
4 / 5 Stars
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