Rent The Worst Person in the World on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier
Directed by: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
This Norwegian film chronicles four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
Verdict
This captures the acute questions that plague us as young adults. Is it me or the timing? Is this what I should do with my life? Is there more out there? Yet no matter what you do, someone will be disappointed; your parents, your ex, your teacher, your friends. Life is one big mystery, and we're all just doing the best we can. Julie is in that phase of her life where she's trying to make sense of her life.
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Review
The Norwegian title means someone who fails to meet their own expectations. It's a more applicable description than the English title. We watch Julie try to figure out life, weighing her own desires against other's expectations. It's difficult not to let what others think influence you, and that's not even accounting for whether they're correct or not.
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| Herbert Nordrum, Renate Reinsve play Eivind, Julie |
From the beginning this illustrates how many things in life vie for your attention. Social media manages to compact that into a device that's always nearby and inescapable. Julie (Renate Reinsve) is in med school because that's what you do with good grades. You strive to get into a good school and a prestigious program. She moves from surgery to psychology, then to photography. She's trying to find her future, something she enjoys. At that age, finding what you want to study is finding your place in the world. That choice dictates the rest of your life, at least that's how it feels with that choice. Julie starts dating someone older, Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie). He's thinking about children already. Life moves so quickly, and she doesn't even know what she wants to do.
Julie meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum) at a party. They're both in relationships, adamant that they won't cheat. Despite nothing sexual occurring, they have an intimate night. It's a distinct connection. Part of it might be fueled by knowing they won't see each other again. She's working in a bookstore now, supplementing her photography. Her father misses her birthday. He doesn't visit often, offering plenty of excuses but it seems just that. He doesn't have much interest in her.
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| Anders Danielsen Lie, Renate Reinsve play Aksel, Julie |
She's feeling ignored and bored with Aksel. She imagined Eivind in a surreal sequence where everyone in the world freezes except the two of them. That's the point that Julie breaks up with Aksel. Life can be so messy. She meets Eivind and they begin dating but finding out Aksel has cancer wrecks her. She takes out the frustration on Eivind, though he doesn't even know why. Visiting Aksel in the hospital, Julie seeks reassurance.
In the epilogue Julie is an onset photographer for a film. It seems her career has developed. She happens to see the lead actress out of the window with Julie's old boyfriend Eivind and a baby. He had told her he wasn't ready. Was it timing or Julie? Those are the questions that plague Julie and everyone. It's difficult to not wonder what could have been or why things worked out the way they did.
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| Title Card |
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