The Worst Person In The World takes us through a few years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve) either side of her thirtieth birthday. We travel through her flings and longer term loves and her inability to decide on the career path that feels right for her. It is sometimes funny and sometimes sad but never anything less than brutally honest about societal expectations of women and Julie’s sense of being unsure what will fulfil her. 

The film is told via a prologue, twelve chapters and an epilogue with appropriate title cards marking their content and occasional voiceover giving context to Julie’s thoughts in the moment. When we first meet Julie she is studying to be a doctor before she decides that perhaps psychiatry and then photography might be a better fit. As she flits through those options she meets men who provide occasional fun before that is she meets Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie). He is just over a decade older than her and has a reasonably famous underground comic. This age gap is important because it allows the film to give a life perspective of someone nearing thirty juxtaposed with someone just over forty. It also means that Julie and Aksel struggle with the different wants of people those ages. 

The film is never anything less than captivating thanks to its brutal honesty in discussing any number of subjects including sex, periods and relationships. Both managing to be a romantic drama and a coming of age story for Julie. Whilst there are some particular scenes that have stayed with me and resonated for some time since watching. 

All of this is underpinned by some fantastic performances with Renate Reinsve at the forefront. In fact she was awarded the best actress award at Cannes in recognition of how brilliant she is. Whilst Anders Danielsen Lie gets the kind of monologue near the end of the film that any actor could wait an entire career and never get the opportunity to perform. 

Co-writer and director Joachim Trier in the main keeps his delivery straightforward and focused on the characters allowing himself one whimsical moment in the middle of the film where he freezes time and provides Julie an opportunity to live out a fantasy. Whilst the script co-written with Eskil Vogt is perhaps its greatest asset given how honest and real everything feels. 

You may never need to revisit The Worst Person In The World but you will have missed out on an honest and naturalistic drama if you do not seek it out.