'The Worst Person In The World' is a comedy-drama that follows Julie, a young woman who struggles to find a career path and battles doubts about her partners and love life. The film is presented in 12 chapter with a prologue and epilogue, neatly packing Julie's story that spans many years into a clear and well structured account of the young woman's growth and development as she works towards making up her mind about her life and choices.
The film opens with Julie as a medical student in Oslo, who later decides to study psychology. Some time later, she then decides to pursue photography. On a night out with her first boyfriend she meets Aksel, an acclaimed comic artist, 15 years her senior. Despite the age difference, the two begin a relationship and move in together. Later the two spend a week-end at Aksel's parents where he brings up the idea of starting a family. Julie says she is not ready and does not know when she will be.
One night, on her way home from a publishing event for Aksel, Julie sees a party that she decides to crash. There she meets Eivind, with the two spending the entire night together, sharing and bonding, but not cheating on their significant others. They do not exchange their last names, and part ways without planning any future encounters.
Later, as Julie dabbles in writing, she writes a piece on her preferences on performing oral sex, and having read it Aksel encourages her to post it online to it receiving mild attention. Julie then celebrates her 30th birthday at her divorced mothers house, with Aksel and her grandmother, with her father notably absent. Whilst visiting with her father a few days later, Julie asks if he had read her article whilst he makes excuses, saying he was unable to open the link. Her father also refuses Aksel's invitation to visit with them in Oslo, and on their way home, Aksel tells Julie she needs to make her own family.
Whilst at her job in the book store, Julie encounters Eivind with his wife Sunniva, and the two talk privately. Whilst having dinner with Aksel's brother and sister-in-law, Aksel complains about the film adaptation of his comic series, criticizing the cleaned up version that is to be presented to the public, much to his dismay. Feeling dejected, Julie decides to find Eivind, the two go on a date and she falls in love with him. The following morning she breaks up with Aksel, saying that they could reconcile in the future before she departs.
Eivind and Sunniva's relationship history is examined, starting from a camping trip where Sunniva has a close encounter with a reindeer, prompting her to research her ancestry. Discovering that she is 3% Sámi, Sunniva becomes an active climate change and civil-rights activist, over time exhausting Eivind by the restrictive lifestyle that she imposes on them. When Eivind encounters Julie at the book store, the two reconnect and subsequently move in together. Later on, Eivind and Julie host a party where one of his friends uncovers Eivind's stash of magic mushrooms. After everyone partakes in the psychedelics, Julie envisions throwing her used tampon at her father whilst also confronting her fears of having children.
While exercising at the gym, Julie sees an interview with Aksel, where he defends his comic strip Bobcat against feminine critique, with the host accusing the comics of being sexist, with Aksel vehemently defending his work, apparently impressing Julie. At the book store, Julie encounters Aksel's brother, and finds out he is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer. Eivind chances upon a short story that Julie has written and praises it and assumes it's based on her real-life experiences, prompting her to get defensive and argue with Eivind. Julie then learns that she is pregnant and decides to go see Aksel at hospital. The two reconnect and discuss their lives apart. Aksel discloses that he is scared by the fact he no longer has a future and Julie tells him that she is pregnant. Despite Aksel telling her she'd make a good mother, Julie is unsure of whether she wants to keep the child. Returning home, Julie tells Eivind she is pregnant, and they decide to separate until she decides how to proceed.
Aksel takes Julie to the house he grew up and was inspired to become a comic book artist, later revealing that he does not want to live on as a memory, but wants to continue living in his apartment, with her. Later Julie receives a voicemail from Aksel's brother stating that he is unlikely to make it through the night. Julie then sadly wanders the streets of Oslo and watches the sunrise the following morning. While showering Julie has a miscarriage.
The epilogue shows Julie working as a photographer on a film set where she takes stills of an actress. Afterwards, gazing through a window she sees the actress meet Eivind outdoors, presumably together with her, greeting him and their child.
"The Worst Person in the World" is a dark romantic comedy-drama that initially presents Julie as a naive young student, jumping from one career choice to another, seemingly unable to commit to a definitive path forward. As she changes direction from medicine to psychology and later to photography, Julie is shown to be unable to decide what the right way forward is, paralleling her later decision to break up with Aksel. Herein the film underlines the young woman's fear of making the wrong choices, as Julie is smart and talented, yet afraid of settling on a particular option, as she is apprehensive about the future. The film further explores this in her conversations with Aksel regarding starting a family, and later about her unplanned pregnancy. Julie is clear about being open to having children, yet she is uncertain of when she will be ready. Her subsequent miscarriage and Julie's acceptance of that fact illustrates that life will play out in a certain way and carry on no matter what she does, allowing her to move forward. The conclusion of the film shows us that Julie has settled on a career path as a photographer, showing her as a content adult, allowing for the viewers to appreciate that she is able to be happy with what she does and ready to move on with her life.
'The Worst Person in the World' succeeds in connecting with viewers of a certain age in that it represents the fear and doubt that younger adults face regarding their future, both in terms of career choices and in starting a family. Even though the protagonist is often times unlikeable and seemingly makes the wrong decisions, we still empathise with Julie as she moves forward as best she can and tries to figure out what she ultimately wants.
The film is also surprisingly heartfelt and challenging, as Julie learns of Aksel's cancer, representing the harsh reality of life in that there are some things that cannot be planned for and cannot be avoided. Through reconnecting with Aksel, Julie rediscovers him as a confidant and has to face the fact that the one person she had connected with on so many levels will no longer be there. Here the film also touches on the brutal fact that death is inevitable, and through Aksel highlights the despair and fear that colours a terminally ill person's outlook and the retrospective nature of their remaining existence.
Renate Reinsve portrays Julie and the actress delivers a high calibre performance, as Reinsve fully embraces the indecisive and at times selfish nature of Julie yet still manages to make the character likeable. The journey that Julie goes on hits a lot of notable benchmarks in a persons life and Reinsve displays the characters growth and development in a simple yet meaningful way as the character displays growth in her personal maturity yet retains an underlying indecisiveness and fear towards the future.
'The Worst Person in the World' is an insightful and entertaining film, a romantic comedy drama for those who do not like romantic movies, delivering heartfelt beats interspersed with truly hilarious comedic breaks. Without presenting a truly downcast outlook on the future, the film successfully denotes the main characters doubts about her life choices whilst showcasing Julie's evolution into a more mature adult even though she is constantly living in the shadow of her fears of what is to come.
Score: 4/4
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