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The Worst Person in the World

100 Movies of 2021

Verdens verste menneske

2021

Joachim Trier

Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Silje Storstein ...

7.1

16,998

Drama. Comedy. Romance Julie is turning thirty and her life is an existential mess. She has already squandered some of her talent and her boyfriend Aksel, a successful graphic novelist who is older than her, is pressuring her to curb her creative energy and settle down. One night she sneaks into a party and meets the young and charming Eivind.

	Media	Author	Review
		Guy Lodge Variety	"[An] elegant, fine-grained character study (...) It turns into something lovely and wise: a gentle, unhurried paean to unrest and indecision, to making life wait, for better and worse"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"An instant classic (...) Renate Reinsve is sublime (...) This film is sweet and gentle and funny, in ways that are undoubtedly conventional but also very real (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A fun Norwegian riff on 'Frances Ha' (...) The fragmented nature of its literary structure allows us to feel the years slipping through Julie’s fingers"
		Wendy Ide Screendaily	"[Some] directorial decisions land more successfully than others, but all are rooted in and validated by the personality and experiences of the central character (...) Trier deftly navigates between comedy and pathos"
		Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter	"More than ever, Trier reveals how well he can keep shifting tones and emotional arcs without losing any narrative momentum."
		Ben Kenigsberg rogerebert.com	"The movie has moment after moment of offhand charm and humor (...) I'm not sure I can defend 'The Worst Person in the World' on an intellectual basis, but I was thoroughly disarmed"
		Iana Murray The Playlist	"[Julie] feels like one of those cinematic protagonists that will be admired and adored by many for a long time"
		Dave Calhoun Time Out	"Any film that can combine questions of mortality with funny, fully alive scenes of sex, social awkwardness, professional screw-ups and throwaway fun is a rich one (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Ella Kemp Empire	"A truthful, tender masterpiece about how coming of age has no age-limit (...) Rarely has a story like this been told as beautifully (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle	"In the end, we learn enough about Julie to see that she is much like us, yet never enough to be fully known. Life will always be a relentless process of becoming (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		A.A. Dowd AV Club	"Reinsve grounds the film in her ongoing journey of self-discovery, with all its shifting desires and realigned priorities"
		Ross Bonaime Collider	"'The Worst Person in the World', quite simply, is the type of film that could completely impact the way the viewer sees the world, a phenomenal statement on life, love, and growing into yourself"
		Brianna Zigler Paste Magazine	"'The Worst Person in the World' is as indecisive as its endlessly curious heroine, but it is an invigorating, exceedingly kind portrait conveying that the journey is just as —if not more— crucial as the place we end up"
		Emily Zemler The New York Observer	"Is it possible to find meaning in our lives? Certainly, although we may never find out what it is. [It] is a poignant reminder there is beauty in that uncertainty if we can only accept it (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Angelica Jade Bastien Vulture	"'The Worst Person in the World' acts as a forceful reminder that the entanglements between women and the love interests dancing in and out of their lives matter less than the lifelong relationship we must maintain with ourselves"
		Peter Travers ABC News	"[This film], led by a captivating new star in Renate Reinsve, sets a new gold standard for romantic comedy just before it sneaks up and hits you like a shot in the heart"
		Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"Even at its most fanciful, 'The Worst Person in the World' stays grounded in what it means to be human (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Sarah Bea Milner Screen Rant	"Breathtaking (...) A rich story that forgoes a traditional format, challenging the conventions of the industry. It's progressive, it's unapologetically feminist, and it's unforgettable (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"An artful, unmissable romance (...) A lot of that credit naturally belongs to the writer-director and his near note-perfect cast. It's Reinsve, though, who holds the whole thing in her hands"
		Ed Frankl The Film Stage	"Its ruminations on grief are moving (...) A startlingly observant, sharp, romantic, provocative, and poignant view of millennial culture and how life comes at you fast"
		Derek Smith Slant	"One of the best and most inventive rom-coms in recent years gets a beautiful transfer from the Criterion Collection (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Stephanie Zacharek Time	"[It] is a comedy, not a drama. But it’s ruthless in the way the best comedies can be."
		Jim Tudor Screen Anarchy	"'The Worst Person in the World' harbors a particularly warm, absorbing graininess and tactility"
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"Trier's writing is sharp. He offers up difficult things with a shrewd balance of teasing and empathy. Even the title is a forgiving joke, ironic hyperbole as comforting chuckle. Reinsve is a perfect interpreter of [its] tone"
		Marta Bałaga Cineuropa	"Joachim Trier delivers a perfectly watchable love story, or stories, but his female protagonist seems lifted from a fantasy land"
		Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard	"When the wind blows, and on many other occasions, this is the best film in the world (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

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