Equal parts devastating and relatable, Joachim Trier's The Worst Person In The World is one of the best romantic dramas of the past decade. The Norwegian film is a captivating character study, showing a woman in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. The result is a heady mix of dark comedy, romance, and painfully honest introspection, offering audiences a uniquely intimate narrative journey that culminates in a potent dose of bittersweet heartache and self-discovery.
The story in The Worst Person In The World is split into 14 chapters (including both a prologue and epilogue). This episodic structure helps the movie subvert romcom conventions without sacrificing compelling relationship drama. Julie (Renate Reinsve) is a medical student in Oslo, Norway, feeling increasingly dissatisfied and distracted in her day-to-day life. She has a "realization" that what she needs is a change, so she switches majors. Then, after a fling with her professor, she changes career paths again — but instead of transferring to a different program, she drops out of school, using that money to purchase equipment needed to pursue a career in photography. All of this occurs in the "Prologue," setting up how Julie came to feel so stuck by the age of 29.
The Worst Person In The World is director Joachim Trier's conclusion to his "Oslo Trilogy," following Reprise and Oslo, 31 August. The Worst Person In The World focuses on the personal journey of the protagonist, pulling audiences into Julie's inner world and gradually revealing — and then peeling away — her mask of idealized womanhood. When the film opens, Julie is in quiet crisis; she has tried and failed to launch her career, she's found herself playing a ing role in someone else's story, and she has yet to find her place in the world. As her 30th birthday rapidly approaches, Julie is distressed, although she herself seems only partially aware of that fact.
As Julie, Reinsve brings a remarkable depth to The Worst Person In The World. Initially, Julie is easy to dismiss as a cringe-worthy, entitled flake: she's pretty, she's smart, and she's unreliable. Yet, as becomes increasingly clear as the movie progresses, the bubbly exterior is a carefully constructed shield, protecting a deeply vulnerable core. Julie, like many others in her generation, has spent her life looking for validation from outside sources, grasping for a structure that no longer exists. The age of settling into a career, getting married, and having children all before the age of 25 is no longer the norm. As a result, Julie is unable to capture the sense of satisfaction or purpose in her life, unfairly comparing herself to previous generations of women and growing increasingly frustrated with herself for not having accomplished more.
Reinsve's performance shows glimpses of this gnawing anxiety, hidden under a complex system of denial, displacement, and insecurity. Julie herself, for most of the movie, isn't even aware of the rotten center that's poisoning her day-to-day life and this is precisely why she's flakey and unreliable. Although Julie's struggles are unique to her lived experience, the circumstances that created her feelings of discontent are universal, especially for the millennial generation facing similar issues with precarious employment and the rise of the gig economy. Julie is plagued by a chronic, hard-to-define ennui, fueled by news stories of climate change and other global concerns. She characterizes it as digital distractions, but the issue runs much deeper; she is unsettled.
Part of what makes The Worst Person In The World so relatable is that it shows how other people in different circumstances from Julie have similar struggles in reconciling their personal identity with the changing times. Aksel, despite being older and successful, has his own frustrations with the 21st century. While he made a name for himself in the underground indie comics scene, his success comes at a cost: not only is his Bobcat character getting neutered for a film adaptation (at least from his perspective), but he finds his edgelord content becoming increasingly controversial as time goes on. Julie's romantic interest Eivind — who calls himself "the worst person in the world" — is preoccupied with environmentalist concerns, thanks in no small part to the influence of his yoga-instagraming partner, Sunniva. Like Julie, Eivind has struggled to find his calling in life, having settled into his job at a coffee shop — no doubt a position he took believing it would be temporary, rather than a career path.
The directionless daily grind. The lack of purpose. The fear of falling behind expectations. The pressure of legacy. These are the concerns weighing on Julie in The Worst Person In The World. Yet, the film is so much more than a story about a woman searching for purpose. Trier's film is a joy to watch, beginning to end. Despite somewhat dour content, the movie is radiating with hope, love, and optimism. The cinematography is inspired: when Julie is feeling withdrawn from her life, she is pulled into the background of shots, her face clouded in shadows. When she is elated, the world stops around her. In a lesser filmmaker's hands, such creative choices could feel clunky or ham-fisted, but Trier expertly balances these moments of metaphor and whimsy with the mundane.
The Worst Person In The World is a breathtaking film. It's a rich story that forgoes a traditional format, challenging the conventions of the industry. It's progressive, it's unapologetically feminist, and it's unforgettable. This foreign-language film feels destined for an American remake — but make no mistake, this is a movie that anyone can (and should) enjoy.
The Worst Person In The World releases in theaters February 4, 2022. It is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and some language, and is 127 minutes long.
