THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2022) 

The Worst Person in the World directed by Joachim Trier is the third film in a thematic trilogy, the previous 2 films being Reprise and Oslo, August 31st.

 

The film opens with a shot of a confident, beautiful young woman standing on a balcony looking as if she is truly pleased with her life. Swiftly following that we go to the beginning where Julie (Renate Reinsve) is a student in medical school. She then decides that this isn't what she wants for her life and breaks up with her boyfriend, changing her major to Psychology. Scrolling through her phone we see she's had a brief affair with a professor, at this moment she realizes that photography is actually what she wants to pursue. All of this is quickly told as the prologue to open the film, which functions as an effective, well paced introduction and peeks into who our main character truly is. 

 

Showing moments of Julie's life over 12 chapters with a prologue and epilogue makes for a more intimate experience, you're watching a portion of someone's life play out during a 2 Hour and 7 minute runtime. You've seen this exact film before, yet it remains completely engrossing; watching her make the choices she makes and the corresponding events happening in her life.

 

The Worst Person in the World doesn't have anything new to say yet it's still worth your time because it is beautifully shot and features great performances. The title The Worst Person in the World seems to be a statement on how she feels by the end or maybe a statement the audience would feel watching the film, yet what I feel it is putting on display is that sometimes the choices you make may cause you to feel like the worst person in the world. At the end of the day you live life the way you want to live it; live with the decisions you make, relationships you end and begin. Know that there's beauty in all that, even if you may feel you are the worst person or in this case woman in the world.