‘The Worst Person in the World’ movie review: Renate Reinsve’s affecting performance as Julie paints a picture of our generation’s problem

Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier’s offering, told in a classic literary format with 12 chapters, with a prologue and an epilogue, marries the inner conflict of the restlessness of youth and the urgency to be a grownup

There is a stunning sequence in The Worst Person in the World that would have been even more stunning as a Broadway play, though it does have the aesthetics of a lavish theatrical production. Spendily shot and edited, this exquisite, fantastical sequence is when Julie (Renate Reinsve) comes alive and comes to terms with who she truly is.

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It arrives at a point in the narrative when Julie musters up courage to break up with her boyfriend Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), which she had been wanting to do for a long time. But before she does, time and reality awaits for her. Everything and everyone around Julie come to a halt, looking like awkward wax models, so that she could step out of the house and step in to this dreamy reality, where she jogs her way to meet the other guy Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), for whom she almost cheated on Aksel. Almost.