The Worst Person in the World Review

The Norwegian drama The Worst Person in the World was one of the most successful films of last year. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received awards and nominations. The Worst Person in the World has been released by Mubi in the UK and Ireland.

Julie (Renate Reinsve) is a smart yet indecisive woman who seemingly has no direction in her life. She’s in a relationship with Aksel (Anders Danielsen), a comic book artist who’s 14 years Julie’s senior. Their relationship gets rocked after Julie meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum) when she crashes a party.

The Worst Person in the World has earned a lot of praise. Reinsve won the Best Actress award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and the film was nominated for Oscars, BAFTAs, and many awards. Peter Bradshaw called it an instant classic, and Vanity Fair and The Atlantic declared it one of the best films of 2021. So, the film set itself a high bar to clear. Luckily it was a delightful film.

The Worst Person in the World was actually a humorous film. There were many jokes that felt real and natural. Some examples early in the film were when Julie and Aksel visited Aksel’s family. They saw the problems of child-rearing and a man tried to mansplain mansplaining to Julie. The humour continues from there, like when Julie flashes her tits to get Aksel’s attention and Aksel explained what the Starfish was (that moment reminded me of The Suicide Squad.)

The Worst Person in the World was a film that had surreal moments. There was a sequence where time stops, and Julie runs around Oslo. It was mesmerising. The other major surreal moment was when Julie had a bad drugs trip and all her fears and frustrations were on display. It was a bizarre sequence with some disgusting imagery, but it got the point across.

The Worst Person in the World was a film that aimed to tackle a lot of issues. Julia suffered the same fate as many millennials, aimlessness. Julia was clearly an intelligent woman; in the prologue she was training to be a doctor but gave it up to study psychology. Then she gave that up to study photography. At 30 she was working as a retail assistant and had no intention of having children. Eivind the love rival was still working as a barista and Julia berates him because she said he doesn’t have any ambition. Julia stood in contrast to her female ancestors. Her mother and grandmother had careers and children by the time they were 30.

The Worst Person in the World wasn’t shy about its political themes. It was a film about a woman trying to take control of her life so there was a feminist theme throughout the film. She didn’t want to fall into a stereotypical role of motherhood and early in the film she wrote an article about oral sex in the #MeToo era. Julie’s relationship with her dad played a major role in her character development because he wasn’t a good father. It resulted in a gross visual metaphor.

Feminism also played a part in Aksel’s character. In the film Aksel was the creator of a Fritz the Cat style comic book. It was a comic known for raunchy humour and sexual context and he’s criticised for making a sexist creation. Even the narrator of the film called the comic book sexist. Aksel had a debate with a feminist activist which didn’t end well for him.

The film also takes a dig at some left-wing hot topics. One character found out she was 3% Sami, leading to them becoming an activist for indigenous people, climate change, and how the two were interconnected. That character only became interested in these issues because they slightly affected them, and it was implied that their change in behaviour was more for show.

The Worst Person in the World was praised for its acting. Reinsve won the Best Actress at Cannes and she did an excellent job. She was funny and witty and suffered from pain and emotional upheaval. One of the best bits of acting in the film involved a character who was terminally ill and said they had become overly reflective. It was understandable.

The Worst Person in the World was a relatable film that was funny and tragic. Despite the title, The Worst Person in the World had characters who were just flawed individuals and felt real.