THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Cert 15 ★★★★★ In cinemas now
Sharp dialogue and a barnstorming lead performance power this double-Oscar-nominated Norwegian drama.
Told in 12 “chapters” with a prologue and epilogue, this witty, poignant and refreshingly wise romantic comedy follows the life of a millennial who is trying to get her life together in modern Oslo.
In a zippy opening, we meet Julie (Renate Reinsve) who 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 courses to psychology.
After a fling with her lecturer, she suddenly remembers she is “a visual person” and quits education 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 20s, she feels the weight of every decision. The next boyfriend or job could define the rest of her life.
This film finally settles on the months either side of Julie’s 30th birthday when she’s in overlapping relationships with an older comic book writer (Anders Danielsen) who wants to have children (Julie isn’t sure) and a laidback shop worker closer to her own age.
The title is deceptive. Reinsve keeps us rooting for this fearless young woman during the messiest chapters of her young life.