The Worst Person in the World

An interesting, skillfully made attempt at a generational film, the acceptance or rejection of which largely depends on whether you are, or consider yourself to be, part of the generation that is the subject of the director's interest. Speaking of Joachim Trier, it is of course speculation on my part, but I would bet that he put a large part of himself into the character Axel. The unfortunate Axel is the character that I relate to the most in terms of age and life attitudes, and he is also the most sympathetic character. I consider his media battle with the assertive feminist to be the most entertaining and intellectually valuable moment of the film. The pleasant Renate Reinsve plays (for me) an unpleasant Julia because she is scattered and emotionally unstable, constantly searching for herself until the final credits. She represents a growing group of people who delay important life decisions for as long as possible, mainly because life on the increasingly economically suffocating but still damn rich West seems to offer (seemingly) endless opportunities and risk-free experimentation. Few people realize that this world and the life strategies that stem from it are irreversibly ending due to the ecological crisis and the unprecedentedly rapid transfer of wealth to emerging East Asia. The variety of topics that Joachim Trier presents in his film gives every viewer a chance to find "their own thing" among them. Overall impression: 75%. (09/05/2021)

Despite its title, The Worst Person in the World is a good-hearted and forgiving romantic drama about finding your way in life, finding yourself, and discovering everyone around you. Although I was initially concerned about the long running time, the two hours spent in the company of the movie’s endearing characters just flew by quite nicely. Despite that, however, I wish the ending of the whole narrative was a lot more gripping. [KVIFF 2021] (09/14/2021)

This film is quite hard to pin down. It presents itself as a comedy but is more of an artsy, slightly detached drama. Julie, in her thirties, is uncertain about what she wants—pretty typical for her age, but she should be figuring it out by now. She goes through life's ups and downs, just like everyone else, but with a bit more thrown in. Sometimes, it's absurdly funny, other times it jumps to emotionally engaging and sad moments. The constant shift in emotions makes the film feel inconsistent. In the end, it's just as I said: hard to grasp and emotionally all over the place — a bit unusual for Scandinavian cinema. (11/02/2023)

A prologue, twelve chapters and an epilogue in the life of the almost thirty-year-old Julia, who is searching for her place in life and trying to come to terms with herself, her emotions and her romantic relationships. This relatively successful attempt at a generational statement, which also attempts to touch on several other serious issues, is captivating with its electrifying directing and likable humor, in addition to the natural performances of the actors playing the three main characters. The smartly written dialogue occasionally comes across as being slightly too clever and the narrative falls apart a bit not only because of its division into chapters, but also because of excessive flitting between the individual motifs, especially towards the end. Therefore, the film is strongest in several very effective and bold details and passages, such as the one with the innocent spark verging on infidelity at a party, the scene of spending a day with the love of a lifetime in a city temporarily frozen in suspended animation, and the one with tripping on mushrooms. The intended poignancy at the end doesn’t happen and the film’s two-hour runtime may be too long due to the slowly waning pace, but even so, spending those two hours with The Worst Person in the World is a pleasant and rewarding experience. (08/28/2021)