The Worst Person in the World (film)
The Worst Person in the World is a 2021 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Joachim Trier, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eskil Vogt. It is the third and final film in the director's Oslo trilogy, following Reprise and Oslo, August 31st. The film premiered in competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim, with Renate Reinsve winning the award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. At the 94th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay.
Plot
Julie, a medical student in Oslo, transitions from medicine to psychology and then photography. In her late twenties, she begins a relationship with Aksel Willman, a comic artist fifteen years her senior. Now exploring writing, she spends a weekend with Aksel at his parents' house. Aksel suggests starting a family, but Julie is uncertain. While walking home from a publishing event for Aksel, Julie crashes a wedding reception and meets Eivind, a barista. Despite both being in relationships, they spend the night together sharing jokes and intimacies, but refrain from sexual relations. They exchange only their first names before parting ways.Julie writes a short story about feminism and oral sex, impressing Aksel, who encourages her to post it online. It gains attention. She celebrates her thirtieth birthday at her divorced mother's home, but her father fails to attend, citing back pain. Days later, Julie's half-sister inadvertently reveals that their father was actually watching her play at a football tournament on Julie's birthday. He makes excuses to decline Aksel's invitation to visit them in Oslo. While working at a bookstore, Julie encounters Eivind and his girlfriend Sunniva. During dinner with Aksel's brother and sister-in-law, Aksel complains about the sanitized cinematic adaptation of his politically incorrect comic series Bobcat, leaving Julie feeling bored and ignored. The next morning she daydreams about spending the day with Eivind, imagining falling in love. That same day she ends her relationship with Aksel.
Eivind breaks up with the obsessively social-justice-and-climate-conscious Sunniva due to her restrictive lifestyle. Julie and Eivind move in together. At a small party Eivind hosts, one of his friends discovers Eivind's stash of psychedelic mushrooms, which Julie consumes, leading to hallucinations. The following night, Julie confides to Eivind that she feels comfortable being herself around him. Aksel's brother later runs into Julie at her workplace and reveals that Aksel has incurable pancreatic cancer. Sometime later, Eivind discovers a short story Julie wrote. Assuming it is autobiographical, he asks her about it, complimenting its writing. Still emotionally overwhelmed by the news about Aksel, she angrily denies it, patronizing him.
Julie discovers she is pregnant and hesitates to tell Eivind. She visits Aksel in the hospital, where he expresses fear of dying but still professes his love for her. Julie tells him about her pregnancy, and although Aksel insists she would be a good mother, she remains scared. Upon returning home, she informs Eivind of her pregnancy, acknowledging neither of them wanted children and stating she needs time to decide whether to keep the child. She spends more time with Aksel as his condition deteriorates, visiting places from his childhood and photographing him. He laments about wishing to return to their old life together. Later, she receives a voicemail from Aksel's brother, informing her that Aksel is unlikely to survive the night. Julie walks through the streets that night and watches the sun rise, becoming overwhelmed with emotion over Aksel's presumed death. While showering, she experiences a miscarriage.
Some time later, Julie works as an on-set photographer at a film shoot. She photographs an actress and later sees the actress outside with Eivind and a baby. Returning home, she begins editing the day's photos.
Production
The Worst Person in the World is directed by Norwegian director Joachim Trier, who was also responsible for co-writing the screenplay, along with Eskil Vogt.The film is a co-production between Norway, France, Denmark, and Sweden.
Release and reception
mk2 Films secured a sales deal on the film in February 2021.The film had its world premiere in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival on 7 July. A week later, the film's US distribution rights were sold to Neon, while UK, Irish and Indian rights were acquired by Mubi.
The Worst Person in the World had its North American premiere on 11 September as a Gala Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released theatrically in France on 13 October 2021 by Memento Distribution, in Norway on 15 October 2021 by SF Studios, in Sweden on 19 November 2021 by TriArt Film and in Denmark on 16 June 2022 by Camera Film.
The Worst Person in the World became a part of The Criterion Collection with Blu-ray and DVD releases on 28 June 2022.
Critical response
A review on newcityfilm.com called it "a drama in the fashion of a romantic comedy, with serious moments woven with an assured touch into heightened feeling and occasional subjective fantasy".The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw described the film as "one of Cannes' best" and "an instant classic". Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair called it "exquisite, wistful ", praising the cast performances and Trier's writing. In a review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of B and commended Reinsve's performance, writing, "If Julie is less of a character than a vividly realized archetype, Reinsve didn't get the message." Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair and David Sims of The Atlantic declared The Worst Person in the World the best film of 2021.
Among the negative reviews, Deborah Ross wrote, "The 'messy young woman' trope has become, I think, rather overdone.... It's got to the point where a film about a woman who, say, sticks to a profession, fills in her tax return on time, has developed some certitudes about life might be the more interesting, more original option.... The two hours go by pleasantly enough but the bottom line is: I felt nothing and didn't care." Richard Brody concludes that the film "is a sham, except for its lead performance. Joachim Trier's drama about an intrepid and passionate young woman in Oslo reduces her to a handful of character traits. Trier's film is set up like a deck of tarot cards, with each scene and event... corresponding clearly to a character trait and pushing a button of pre-programmed emotional response. Its narrowness of dramatic form reflects the narrowness with which it views its protagonist and the narrowness of the world view that it embodies....The movie offers no details about any conflict between domestic and artistic life...driven by a relentless focus on Julie's personal life, but it's a focus that remains obliviously impersonal."
The film was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 94th Academy Awards.
In June 2025, The New York Times ranked The Worst Person in the World at number 95 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century".