Director: Joachim Trier
Running Time: 128 Minutes
Certification: 15
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Hans Olav Brenner, Helene Bjørneby, Vidar Sandem, Maria Grazia Di Meo
Closing off his "Oslo Trilogy", director Joachim Trier opens his film with an excellent sequence as Julie (Renate Reinsve) tries to find her purpose in life. Flipping between different career paths and hairstyles until she decides upon photography, Julie enters a relationship with comic-book creator Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), although her approaching 30th birthday leaves her worrying about her place in life.
When she crashes a wedding party, Julie hits it off with a guest, Elvind (Herbert Nordrum). There's an evident chemistry between the pair, leading them to perform many odd things which they don't consider to be cheating. This encounter leaves Julie uncertain about the paths shes taken and what lies in her future.
Faced with the eventuality of her 20s ending, Julie is left feeling stuck in her own life, as though she's in a supporting role instead of taking charge. Renate Reinsve does phenomenal work conveying these relatable struggles, expressing messy reactions in tour de force ways which ensure viewers remains firmly behind Julie. Perhaps its endearing for viewers to see themselves reflected in her human decisions, particularly when actions leave her to feel like the title suggests.
One aspect of Trier's work is to capture familiar feelings in funny and emotional ways, through the use of exceptionally directed sequences. A stand-out scene involves a run across town which encapsulates Julie's desires in that moment, being all that matters while the rest of the world stands still. A more grandiose sequence occurs during a vibrant magic-mushrooms trip, highlighting fears, insecurities, and inner turmoil in ways that stick in the mind. Both sequence phenomenally get to the heart of Julie, wonderfully showing what's happening instead of telling audiences.
Although this films secret weapon is its universal themes. Who hasn't compared their own life with those who accomplished grand things at a similar age? It's something the viewer can see in their selves when Julie compares herself with what her mother, grandmother, and female ancestors achieved by their 30th birthdays.
The passage of time is also notable in a retrospective musing, as one character talks about the disappearance of what they previously knew, and how what remains are memories in a world that's moved on. It'll strike a chord for those who feel time slipping by, longing for the nostalgic familiarity of Woolworths and BHS of yesteryear. What Trier has crafted with co-writer Eskil Vogt is a poignant feature about passing a milestone age, and the uncertainty of the paths taken within that life.
The Worst Person In The World is available in cinemas now
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