[VIFF 2021] REVIEW: 'The Worst Person in the World' is actually quite wonderful
Renate Reinsve stars in The Worst Person in the World, directed by Joachim Trier.
Even the best people with the best intentions can be the worst people in the world. Sometimes. That’s the general gist of Joachim Trier’s coming-of-age romantic drama about a young woman who goes through various transformations in life and despite her best efforts always seem to let down someone close to her. She is The Worst Person in the World.
Julie (Renate Reinsve, who is brilliant) is a bright student with top marks and on her way to becoming a surgeon. But midway through her training, she begins to lose interest in the concrete and demanding methods of becoming a surgeon, and in her own words, discovers that she cares more about the feelings inside than simple biological anatomy. She switches gears and attempts to become a psychologist, but that also bores her and she becomes a photographer instead, much to the chagrin of her mother, whose only hope is that Julie finds something that makes her happy.
She ends up meeting a crass comic book artist named Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), and the pair challenge each other to be more accepting and accommodating to each other’s opposing views. Their relationship eventually dissolves after Julie meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), a barista who doesn’t offer the same kind of intellectual challenge as Aksel, but is also someone who doesn’t force Julie to conform to his (male) worldview. However, in both relationships, Julie ends up dissatisfied for different reasons.
Sprinkled with both slapstick and dark humour, this is Trier’s third entry in what is called his “Oslo trilogy,” which also featured Reinsve and Danielsen Lie in other roles. They often deal with people dealing with internal struggles, usually exacerbated by some sort of heavy medical issue that they need to overcome. The film is both charming and challenging, and also has at least two scenes that were a visual delight: Julie’s new-found excitement upon finding Eivind, where the world literally stops so they could profess their love, and her magic mushroom-induced trip that is equally disturbing, funny and downright bizarre.
Scandinavian films tend to deal with characters who seem awfully cold and direct with each other, perhaps as a reflection of their colder climate, but it is indeed a nice change to see two characters who can sit down and have a stimulating, straightforward argument rather than holding things in or beating around the bush. Nearly all of the characters take turns being the worst person in the world, but it’s a testament to the film’s execution that we’re constantly rooting for Julie regardless of what’s going on.
The Worst Person in the World gets three and a half stars out of four.
