Verdens verste menneske [The Worst Person in the World] (2021)

(On Cable TV, July 2022) I can see how The Worst Person in the World’s character study of an unfocused young woman (who changes jobs, boyfriends and hairstyles several times during the few years covered during the film) would appeal to many—our heroine struggles to become even a thoroughly mediocre white woman and that should spell r-e-l-a-t-a-b-l-e for many viewers. Add to that a conscious decision to undermine, sabotage and dismiss conventions of romantic comedy and you can understand why the film will find its champions. But there’s a limit to how The Worst Person in the World’s refusal to provide a tiny happy ending can grate. I found the film more interesting when it went off course on expressionist tangents than for the rather dreary main plot it’s intent on carrying to an unfocused finishing line. There is no happy ending here—and, in fact, maybe not even an ending, as “Life goes on, romance is dead, maybe the job will sustain you” seems to be the thrust of the film’s final scene. At least it goes for something slightly different from time to time (via chapter titles and narration, the last of which is underused as the film progresses), easing the melancholic strain of it all. This being said, writer-director Joachim Trier does have a powerful weapon in his arsenal: Renate Reinsve, in the lead role, does exceptionally well at incarnating an unremarkable person through the ups and downs of her life, the frankness and the artifice required of her from one scene to another. How people will react to The Worst Person in the World will largely hinge on their tolerance for realism in cinema—despite a few fantastic interludes, this is a film that seeks to ape the aimlessness and regressions of real life. Too bad if you’re looking for stories that uplift or lead somewhere.