Daily Express

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Cert 15 ★★★★★ In cinemas now

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Expectatio­ns are high for this understate­d Norwegian drama since it won two Oscar nomination­s. Perhaps dangerousl­y so.

I suspect many of those who are drawn to their local arthouse cinema will spend the first half hour or so wondering what the fuss is all about.

The structure is definitely unusual, as director Joachim Trier tells his story over 12 ‘chapters’ with a prologue and epilogue. In its first few vignettes, this drama about a millennial undergoing an existentia­l crisis doesn’t appear to do anything that remarkable.

But, slowly, the clever script and the brilliant lead performanc­e work their way under your skin.

The opening minutes breezily sketch the restlessne­ss that defines our unusual heroine. Julie (Renate Reinsve) is at medical school because, a narrator informs us, it’s the place where she thinks her good grades count.

Then she decides her passion was always “the mind, not the body” and switches to psychology.

After a fling with her lecturer, she suddenly remembers she is “a visual person” and quits to become a photograph­er’s assistant. That skittishne­ss will define her next decade.

Julie is never sure what kind of person she is. And as she’s in her twenties, she feels the weight of every decision. The next boyfriend or job could define the rest of her life.

This funny, breezy, touching and unusually wise drama finally settles on the months either side of Julie’s 30th birthday and her overlappin­g relationsh­ips with an older comic book writer (Anders Danielsen) who wants to have children (Julie isn’t sure) and a laidback shop worker who is closer to her own age.

The sharp script and the hugely likeable Reinsve keep us rooting for Julie throughout this messy chapter of her life.

Ultimately, it’s fearlessne­ss and a refusal to compromise that defines Trier’s admirable young heroine.

 ?? ?? IDENTITY CRISIS Reinsve and Danielsen
IDENTITY CRISIS Reinsve and Danielsen

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