THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes, figuring it out can be a festive time in life.
PLOT
The Worst Person in the World, or Verdens verste menneske follows a woman named Julie, who lives in Oslo and goes through a journey that changes her life. In the prologue, she goes pursuing psychology to photography, before starting a relationship with comic artist Aksel William, who is 15 years older than him. 'Chapter 1: The Others', shows her meet his family, feeling unsure if she wants to have kids with him. In 'Chapter 2: Cheating', she walks home from one of Aksel's publishing events, but then crashes a wedding reception where she meets a barista named Elvind. While both confess to being in relationships, they spend the entire night together by sharing intimacy without having sex. When the reception ends, they declare to not see each other again. In 'Chapter 3: Oral Sex in the Age of #MeToo', Julie posts an online blog of feminism and oral sex after Aksel himself was impressed, later receiving attention. In 'Chapter 4: Our Own Family', she celebrates her 30th birthday with her divorced mother, but is heartbroken that her father did not attend. When she visits him days later, her feeling are hurt even more when he admits to not reading her blog and turning down visiting her and Aksel in Oslo. When returning home, Aksel tells her that she should start her own family. In 'Chapter 5: Bad Timing', Julie encounters Elvind and his girlfriend Sunniva (Maria Grazia Di Meo) while working at a bookstore. When she has dinner with Aksel and his family, the latter complains about how his cinematic adaptation of his comic is unfaithful, which bores her in the end. She then goes on a date with Elvind the next day, which inspires her to break up with Aksel afterward. When she does, she implies that there is a chance to reconcile at some point. In 'Chapter 6: Finnmark Highlands', Elvind is shown to feel exhausted of Sunniva's restrictive lifestyle as an avid climate change & indigenous peoples' right activist. This inspired him to want to be with Julie. In 'Chapter 7: A New Chapter', both have moved in together and although he still follows Sunniva on Instagram after breaking up with him, it doesn't bother Julie at all. In 'Chapter 8: Julie's Narcissistic Circus', the two share psychedelic mushrooms during a small party. Julie goes through an insane trance where she envisions getting old, lashing out at her father and having a child, only to see it get eaten by Aksel's comic character Bobcat. When she recovers from the drug, she realizes that she made a mess in the apartment. She later confesses to feeling comfortable being herself around him, but he chooses to ignore her. In 'Chapter 9: Bobcat Wrecks Xmas', Julie works out at the gym when watching Aksel on television defend his material against a feminist critique who accuses him of being sexist. In 'Chapter 10: First Person Singular', she encounters Aksel's brother who tells her that he has pancreatic cancer. Some time after this, she belittles Elvind for assuming one of her short stories are based on her real life experiences. In 'Chapter 11: Positive', she discovers to be pregnant, but chooses not to tell Elvind. She does visit Aksel and review their lives apart. While Julie admits to being pregnant, he feels that he no longer has a future due to his diagnosis. However, he does believe she'd be a good mother, even when she's unsure on if she wants to keep the baby. She does eventually tell Elvind, but decide to separate until she decides whether or not she wants to keep it. In 'Chapter 12: Everything Comes to an End', Aksle taker her to a building he grew up in that inspired him to become an artist, telling her that he wishes to continue living with her, not just as a memory. Days after this, his brother leaves Julie a voicemail that his condition is worsening. After walking the streets of Oslo remembering him, she would sadly miscarry her unborn child. The film ends in an epilogue showing Julie working as an on set photographer, assuming the best for Elvind when noticing him outside with a baby.
THOUGHTS
As I take a dip into watching foreign films, I am smiling to realize how much I now love this film, since I keep mistaking the mistake of judging a book by the cover. This one was so intriguing to watch because Director Joachiem Trier and co writer Eskil Vogt provide a captivating perspective of self discovery. We all want to find the right direction for ourselves to fit into society, but we want to be happy in the long run. Getting that feeling makes the story feel so honest. Each chapter that we see is a well crafted rundown of how we journalize moments in our lives that are life changing. As the lead actress, Renate Reinsve is great at being down to earth in the role of Julie. She is someone who wants to live her life to the fullest, while also trying to figure out how to truly embrace it. Because of that, it makes a good debate on if she lives up to the title. She is good because she wants to enjoy her life, but she can be looked at as the worst because she can be toxic and selfish. The reason I would consider her as genuinely good is because she is aware of every decision she makes, she feels them and doesn't really intend to hurt anyone, unless you're crashing a wedding. She would know that she's breaking a heart, yet she would be upset about it because she doesn't intend to. Nevertheless, as every big moment happens, she becomes more clear of what she wants. She was with Aksel at first because she respected how he chose to take advantage of pursuing his interest. But as she got bored with him, she wanted to be with Elvind because he was as down to earth as she was. And after her tragic miscarriage, she became inspired to take advantage of her talents and finds comfort in it. Losing her unborn will be a difficult thing to cope with, but she doesn't let that consume her. When she sees Elvind with his kid, she hopes for the best because she wants him to have the happiness she could've had with her own. Seeing how she still cares for him like she did with Aksel proves that she really isn't the worst. I love the scene where she feels like the world stands still when she goes out with Elvind because it's a relatable moment how we just want a moment of pause to have a really good day. Although Renate dominates the screen, her two co stars play the two characters that partially define the decisions Julie makes. I naturally enjoyed Anders Danielsen Lie because he portrayed Aksel as a guy who knew he wanted and knew what had to be done to get it. He was proud of his comic, but he still wished he did more. He lived his dream, but he didn't live his life, which makes his silent more heartbreaking. Had things worked out with Julie, I'm pretty sure he would've considered that was living his life. I even liked Herbert Nordrum as well because he portrayed Elvind as someone who lacked inspiration on what to do with his life, which he gained after his relationship with Julie. I am certain that when his kid was born, a part of him thanks Julie because had she not left him, he would've not made a change for the better. In short, The Worst Person in the World is a fascinating film that encourages viewers to grow into themselves. If you need to unlock self discovery, this film will do it.
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