Rent The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Very wordy, overlong, often pretentious Norwegian film, obsessed with ticking MeToo boxes. - The Worst Person in the World review by PV

The same director made the BEST film about drug addiction ever made - OSLO, 31 AUGUST. Used the same actors too! Just watch that, and ignore this over-rated wordy pretentious self-absorbed character study of a very spoilt and demanding privileged young woman in Oslo, the (privileged posh well-off director's home city, though his dad and grandad were Danish film aristocracy).

A shame then that all his other films since then seem to be an attempt to ride the MeToo bandwagon, with main female characters, as no doubt he knows a trend when he sees one. It worked - for that reason the screenplay for this was nominated for an Oscar. The wordy, rambling, telling-not-showing, pretentious screenplay. Tsss.

I almost turned this off, as it is so achingly pc and ticks all the MeToo boxes. That often means like so many movies which do this, it massively stereotypes ALL men and boys, brands them as this and that as if all males were one being. Just sexism, and the usual misandry of professional feminists (as captured here in a radio interview scene).

There are some great scenes though, satire of the absurd way some think some DNA test which shows they are 3% African, think they are African (despite the fact DNA tests present populations AND Africa/Asia populations are full of white European ancestry due to the slave trade of white Europeans, and empires since Alexander in 300BC).

Some moving later scenes too. BUt a lots of self-obsessed self-absored flab here too, very wordy and obsessed with Metoo. The main cartoonist character guy is played by a great actor, Anders Danielsen Lie, also in OSLO, 31 AUGUST.

Always fun wit Scandinavian films though coz one sees the SAME actors again and again - it's the new Australia! Remember when the same Aussie actors popped up in all soaps and movies from Aus?

Anyway, not bad but not good, 3 stars, just.

2.5 rounded up - great music soundtrack though.

Unexpectedly emotionally moving - The Worst Person in the World review by AB

This film immediately goes into my top 10 (though I don't know what's been booted out). Ignore the slow start; as a spoiler alert, watch for the scene where the lead character finally falls in love; I've never seen an attempt to explain it, done better. Glorious and enjoyable, what cinema should be about. Bravo!

Scenes from an Unfinished Self - The Worst Person in the World review by griggs

Trying to build a personality out of other people’s expectations is exhausting; Julie just turns it into a lifestyle. The Worst Person in the World follows her thirty-something drift through studies, jobs and lovers, and Renate Reinsve does heroic work making all that dithering feel alive. Most of Julie’s character lives in her face and timing – the script leans a bit too hard on the men around her and a useless dad to sketch in the rest.

The central idea is strong: a woman terrified of choosing, bouncing between Aksel’s settled, grown-up life and Eivind’s low-stakes drift, slowly realising neither of them can hand her a ready-made self. I just wanted more of the creativity the film insists she has – more actual writing, more photography, maybe even one close female friend. There’s a faint hollowness at the core.

But the individual moments are killers. The frozen-time run across Oslo, the break-up with Aksel that plays like its own mini-movie, the awkwardly tender bit where Julie and Eivind watch each other pee – they all land with a jolt of recognition. In the end, it’s a beautifully crafted, emotionally sharp character piece that stuck with me more as a string of great chapters than as a fully satisfying whole.

Clever, Modern Relationship Drama - The Worst Person in the World review by GI

An absorbing romantic drama with a stunning central performance and arguably a very adept, modern take on relationships. Renate Reinsve plays Julia, a gifted, highly intelligent young woman living in Oslo. We join her training to be a doctor but she soon gives this up and in a very short space of time we get to understand that Julia is struggling to find her role and place in life as she flits from one plan to another. Told in 12 chapters with a prologue and epilogue this follows Julia's life through her two main relationships, one with a slight older man and later one her own age. She leaves the first for the second and is continually struggling with her life goals including the thorny issue of whether to have children. I can't exactly point to which character the title refers to as Julia is not by nature a bad person indeed her emotions are pure and often control her actions, but it could be read that the title refers to how she sees herself. The film has some great ideas and two enthralling set pieces one where time stands still as she runs through the city to meet her new lover and the second when she takes a hallucinogenic drug and during the 'trip' confronts her dysfunctional and selfish father. This film has been described by its director, Joachim Trier, as a romcom for those that hate romcoms. There is humour here but it's not a film easily categorised as a romcom and is much more a tragic relationship drama that opens up debate around modern ambition, love and life. An interesting and lovely film well worth checking out.

Would have been nice - The Worst Person in the World review by Ernie

Sadly its not made clear that this film is in Norwegen with sub titles which has the dialogue was rapid made it impossible to follow. So be warned

Brilliantly made, mature look at the difficulties of relationships with an excellent Reinsve - The Worst Person in the World review by Timmy B

The Worst Person in the World is an interesting watch. It has, more than many other films recently, really managed to find a way to look at relationships and the challenges they bring. This is coupled with focussing on a protagonist who is at times unlikeable and also extremely indecisive, not just the stock woman who decides that her life is not going well so changes everything in it, including her partner. The result is an at times highly emotional & honest look at modern dating.

We first meet Julie, a headstrong & pretty woman in her 20’s, who is restless and unsatisfied with the direction her life is going in. Within the first few minutes of the film, she has twice changed subjects, starting as a surgeon, then reading psychology before deciding her true calling is photography. She has some flings before settling down with Aksel, a cartoonist who has created a moderately successful, immature character which is in many ways a composite of his own feelings. Despite being financially secure, Julie starts to feel disconnected, then one night crashes a wedding & meets Eivind, who she forms an instant connection with.

The best part of this film is unquestionably Renate Reinsve, who richly deserved her Cannes Best Actress award. Julie could have, without Reinsve’s performance, been an extremely prickly & often annoying protagonist. And whilst this at times did come through, due to the writing, Reinsve was able to keep my focus. There is a lot of playfulness to Julie, which is definitely an essential part of her make-up and made me relate to her. She is feisty, vulnerable & mischievous, whether it is imagining a scenario where she could pause time & play about in the moment, through to getting her boyfriend’s attention by flashing him with a great big grin on her face.

Speaking of sexuality, this is also a film which treats intimacy extremely carefully. Julie is, unlike many other characters in these types of films, a woman to whom sex is an extremely enjoyable & important part of her life. She is a million miles away from a character to whom intimacy is a negative, which then makes you wonder exactly why they are pursuing love so intensely. And she is open about what turns her on, which gains respect from her partners, for being honest as well as open.

There are some moments where the story did start to test my patience, as well as a couple of times the plot went in nonsensical directions, but this was luckily not that often. The worst of these was actually in the first 30 minutes, when Julie & Aksel are invited to a party out in the country and this drags on & on.

However, this film also has a break-up scene for the ages, which absolutely broke my heart as it was done so carefully & beautifully. It includes some of the best dialogue in the film, as well as an honesty which is searing: Julie talks about her feelings, which in one sense make no sense and in another are how so many people feel when the basics of the relationship might be there, but the true feelings of love simply aren’t any more. And it ends with an intimacy which just feels right & not in any way gratuitous.

The only other time the film hit bumps in the road was with a couple of characters who it seems had been included simply to antagonise the audience with just how loathsome their intolerance & smug supposed superiority was. Although these were fleeting, it did leave a bit of a sour taste, as well as no doubt giving a small select few watchers a boost to their ego’s.

But this is an extremely moving, highly competently made & beautifully shot musing on relationships, life & all of the challenges we face in trying to love someone.

so slow - The Worst Person in the World review by WW

it was quizzical but a slow story from Norway. I was expecting more. pity not in English as difficult to follow at times