1/17/22 - The Worst Person in the World (2021) - 7/10

A touching jaunt through the life of a woman finding herself with romance, humor, sorrow, and truth. It’s a film that is hard to categorize or label, being everything at once - an almost stream of consistent life made manifest on screen. It lacked exceeding whimsy or devastating melancholy, but rather dwelled in the sober reality of the human condition with wit and guile. It spoke to the enduring quest for meaning, mattering, and certainty, all with an authenticity that endeared. Even when she makes choices that in a standard narrative might be seen as unsavory, it comes across as genuine and neutral in a sense.

It pointedly poked at the flabby midsection of the Millennials/Gen Z gap, something that I could easily identify with and attach to. On another personal note, one of the 2 magical realism moments that burst forward, the psilocybin mushroom trip was the most accurate to my own personal experience - from the cartoon manifestations to the nudity - I felt seen. The other moment was a unique transformation of time that seemed both metaphorical and metaphysical, but possibly real in a way. It uniquely halted the film in its tracks and expressed something pure and fantastical about budding romance in a way that might not have been possible otherwise. It injected a verve that elevated rather than undercut nascent promise of it all.

The direction by Joachim Trier was alluring without being leering - a sincerity of desire beyond the sensual or amorous but more to the core of the character and the wonder of her life. Doubly exemplified by the extraordinary Renate Reinsve, bring passion, pathos, and the right amount of profligacy to the character’s soul and journey. There is nothing definitive nor maudlin about this film, for it is playful, thoughtful, and delightful with its own tempered taste and semi-forlorn fashion.