Julie, a medical student inOslo, transitions from medicine to psychology and then photography. In her late 20s, she begins a relationship with Aksel Willman, acomic artist 15 years her senior. Now exploring writing, she spends a weekend with Aksel at his parents' house. Aksel suggests starting a family, but Julie is uncertain. While walking home from a publishing event for Aksel, Julie crashes a wedding reception and meets Eivind, a barista. Despite both being in relationships, they spend the night together sharing jokes and intimacies, but refrain from sexual relations. They exchange only their first names before parting ways.
Julie writes a short story about feminism and oral sex, impressing Aksel, who encourages her to post it online. It gains attention. She celebrates her 30th birthday at her divorced mother's home, but her father fails to attend, citing back pain. Days later, Julie's half-sister inadvertently reveals that their father was actually watching her play at a football tournament on Julie's birthday. He makes excuses to decline Aksel's invitation to visit them in Oslo. While working at a bookstore, Julie encounters Eivind and his girlfriend Sunniva. During dinner with Aksel's brother and sister-in-law, Aksel complains about the sanitized cinematic adaptation of his politically incorrect comic seriesBobcat (Gaupe in Norwegian), leaving Julie feeling bored and ignored. The next morning she daydreams about spending the day with Eivind, imagining falling in love. That same day she ends her relationship with Aksel.
Eivind breaks up with the obsessively social-justice-and-climate-conscious Sunniva due to her restrictive lifestyle. Julie and Eivind move in together. At a small party Eivind hosts, one of his friends discovers Eivind's stash ofpsychedelic mushrooms, which Julie consumes, leading to hallucinations. The following night, Julie confesses to Eivind that she feels comfortable being herself around him. Aksel's brother later runs into Julie at her workplace and reveals that Aksel has incurablepancreatic cancer. Sometime later, Eivind discovers a short story Julie wrote. Assuming it is autobiographical, he asks her about it, complimenting its writing. Still emotionally overwhelmed by the news about Aksel, she angrily denies it, patronizing him.
Julie discovers she is pregnant and hesitates to tell Eivind. She visits Aksel in the hospital, where he expresses fear of dying but still professes his love for her. Julie confesses her pregnancy, and although Aksel insists she would be a good mother, she remains scared. Upon returning home, she informs Eivind of her pregnancy, acknowledging neither of them wanted children and stating she needs time to decide whether to keep the child. She spends more time with Aksel as his condition deteriorates, visiting places from his childhood and photographing him. He laments about wishing to return to their old life together. Later, she receives a voicemail from Aksel's brother, informing her that Aksel is unlikely to survive the night. Julie walks through the streets that night and watches the sun rise, becoming overwhelmed with emotion over Aksel's presumed death. While showering, she experiences a miscarriage.
Some time later, Julie works as an on-set photographer at a film shoot. She photographs an actress and later sees the actress outside with Eivind and a baby. Returning home, she begins editing the day's photos.
The Worst Person in the World is directed by Norwegian directorJoachim Trier, who was also responsible for co-writing the screenplay, along withEskil Vogt.[4][5]
The film is a co-production between Norway, France, Denmark, and Sweden.[6][7]
The Worst Person in the World had its North American premiere on 11 September as a Gala Presentation at the2021 Toronto International Film Festival.[16][17][18] The film was released theatrically in France on 13 October 2021 by Memento Distribution, in Norway on 15 October 2021 by SF Studios, in Sweden on 19 November 2021 by TriArt Film and in Denmark on 16 June 2022 by Camera Film.[19][20][21][22]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 96% of 251 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Worst Person in the World concludes Joachim Trier'sOslo trilogy with a romantic comedy that delightfully subverts the genre's well-worn tropes."[24]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 91 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[25] A review on newcityfilm.com called it "a drama in the fashion of a romantic comedy, with serious moments woven with an assured touch into heightened feeling and occasional subjective fantasy".[26]
The Guardian'sPeter Bradshaw described the film as "one of Cannes' best" and "an instant classic".[27] Richard Lawson ofVanity Fair called it "exquisite, wistful (and downright sad)", praising the cast performances and Trier's writing.[28] In a review forIndieWire, 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."[29]Vanity Fair andThe Atlantic declaredThe Worst Person in the World the best film of 2021.[30][31]
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."[32]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."[33]
^Sarman, Eva (14 November 2021)."Världens värsta människa".Filmeye.se (in Swedish).Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved26 December 2021.
^Nordyke, Kimberly; Lewis, Hilary (8 February 2022)."Oscars: Full List of Nominations".The Hollywood Reporter.Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved8 February 2022.
^Fredriksen-Sylte, Alexander (13 August 2022)."Hvilken norsk film mener du var årets beste?" [Which Norwegian film do you think was this year's best?].NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål).Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved14 August 2022.
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