Norwegian actress Renata Reinsve shines in this charming film by Joachim Trier about a restless young woman who isn’t quite sure what she wants out of life.
As Julie approaches her 30th birthday she is working in a bookshop, having switched from biology studies to psychology and then photography as she tries to make up her mind.
She has a loving relationship with her live-in partner Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), but suddenly she decides this is not right for her.
He is shattered when she announces that she is leaving. “You are making a huge mistake,” he says. “I believe you,” she responds — but despite his pleas she is tearfully adamant that she must go.
Julie feels like a failure throughout the film, “the worst person in the world”, not sure if she is making the right choices in love, life and career.
Renate Reinsve is stunning as the confused Julie, with a vivid smile which lights up her expressive face.
This was her first major role in a film, and it won her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
Director Trier wrote the script with Eskil Vogt, his collaborator in two previous films – Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017) – both of which also featured Lie in starring roles.
The Worst Person in the World is made in a novelistic form, with 12 chapters framed by a prologue and an epilogue.
The prologue ends with Julie living with Aksel, a comic book artist,who is older and wants to have children, which she is not sure about. Then she meets the younger, easygoing Elvind (Herbert Nordrum) and a new chapter begins.
The film is playful and light-hearted, a romantic comedy with a depth and wistfulness about it – an impressive opening offering for the Perth Festival LotteryWest film season.
The Worst Person in the World is showing until November 28, at the UWA outdoor Somerville Auditorium.
Watch the trailer…
I’d have given this one at least a Four!