The Worst Person in the World (film)

The Worst Person in the World (film)
The Worst Person in the World is a 2021 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Joachim Trier. It is the third film in the director's Oslo trilogy, following Reprise (2006) and Oslo, August 31st (2011). The film premiered in competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim, with Renate Reinsve winning the award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. At the 94th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay. The film's score is by Ola Fløttum.
Plot
Julie is a medical student in Oslo who transfers to psychology and then photography. In her late 20s, she starts a relationship with Aksel Willman, a comic artist 15 years older than her. Now dabbling in writing, she spends a weekend with Aksel at his parents' house. Aksel floats the idea of starting a family with Julie, but Julie is uncertain. While walking home from a publishing event for Aksel, Julie crashes a wedding reception and meets Eivind, a barista. Though both are in relationships, they spend the night together sharing jokes and intimacies, but without sexual relations. They exchange only their first names and part ways.
Julie writes a short story about feminism and oral sex. Aksel is impressed by it and encourages her to post it online, where it receives attention. She celebrates her 30th birthday at her divorced mother's home, but her father fails to attend, claiming back pain. Days later, Julie's half-sister inadvertently reveals that their father was watching her play at a football tournament on Julie's birthday. He makes excuses to decline Aksel's invitation to visit him and Julie in Oslo. While working at a bookstore, Julie encounters Eivind and his girlfriend Sunniva. At dinner with Aksel's brother and sister-in-law, Aksel complains about the sanitized cinematic adaptation of his politically incorrect comic series "Bobcat", leaving Julie feeling bored and ignored. She dreams that she goes on a date with Eivind, where they fall in love. The next day, she breaks up with Aksel.
Eivind leaves the obsessively social-justice-and-climate-conscious Sunniva because of her restrictive lifestyle. Julie and Eivind move in together. He hosts a small party where one of his friends uncovers Eivind's stash of psychedelic mushrooms, which Julie consumes, leading to hallucinations. The next night, she tells Eivind that she can be herself around him. Aksel's brother happens upon Julie at work and discloses that Aksel has incurable pancreatic cancer. Some time later, Eivind finds a short story Julie wrote. When he assumes it is autobiographical, Julie angrily denies it and patronizes him.
Julie learns she is pregnant and delays telling Eivind. She visits Aksel in the hospital, and he says he is afraid to die and still loves her. Julie admits that she is pregnant. Despite his assertions that she would be a good mother, she remains frightened. Returning home, Julie tells Eivind about her pregnancy, and says she needs time to decide whether she wants to keep the child. She later receives a voicemail from Aksel's brother reporting that Aksel is unlikely to survive the night. While showering, she has a miscarriage.
Some time later, Julie is working as an on-set photographer at a film shoot. She photographs an actress and then sees her outside with Eivind and a baby. She returns home to edit the day's photos.
Cast
Release
MK2 Films secured a sales deal on the film in February 2021. The film had its world premiere in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival on 7 July. A week later, the film's US distribution rights were sold to Neon, while UK and Ireland rights were acquired by Mubi.
The Worst Person in the World had its North American premiere on 11 September as a Gala Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released theatrically in France on 13 October 2021 by Memento Distribution, in Norway on 15 October 2021 by SF Studios and in Sweden on 19 November 2021 by TriArt Film.
The Worst Person in the World became a part of the Criterion Collection with Blu-ray and DVD releases on 28 June 2022.
Reception
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw described the film as "one of Cannes' best" and "an instant classic". Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair called it "exquisite, wistful (and downright sad)", praising the cast performances and Trier's writing. In a review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of B and commended Reinsve's performance, writing, "If Julie is less of a character than a vividly realized archetype, Reinsve didn’t get the message." Vanity Fair and The Atlantic declared The Worst Person in the World the best film of 2021.
Among the negative reviews, Deborah Ross wrote, "The ‘messy young woman’ trope has become, I think, rather overdone.... It’s got to the point where a film about a woman who, say, sticks to a profession, fills in her tax return on time, has developed some certitudes about life might be the more interesting, more original option.... The two hours go by pleasantly enough but the bottom line is: I felt nothing and didn’t care." Richard Brody concludes that the film "is a sham, except for its lead performance. Joachim Trier’s drama about an intrepid and passionate young woman in Oslo reduces her to a handful of character traits. [...] Trier’s film is set up like a deck of tarot cards, with each scene and event... corresponding clearly to a character trait and pushing a button of pre-programmed emotional response. Its narrowness of dramatic form reflects the narrowness with which it views its protagonist and the narrowness of the world view that it embodies.... The movie offers no details about any conflict between domestic and artistic life.... driven by a relentless focus on Julie’s personal life, but it’s a focus that remains obliviously impersonal."
Accolades
See also
List of submissions to the 94th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
List of Norwegian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
2021 films
2021 independent films
2021 romantic comedy-drama films
2020s French films
2020s Norwegian-language films
2020s Swedish films
Danish romantic comedy-drama films
Films directed by Joachim Trier
Films set in Oslo
Films shot in Oslo
Films with screenplays by Eskil Vogt
French romantic comedy-drama films
Norwegian romantic comedy-drama films
Swedish romantic comedy-drama films