Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Worst Person in the World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 2, 2022

Joachim Trier's "The Worst Person in the World" (2021) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include various cast and crew interviews as well as footage from the shooting of the film and deleted scenes. In Norwegian, with optional English and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Julie (Renate Reinsve) is in her thirties and ready to be happy. She is healthy, intelligent, and willing to take risks. The place where she would be searching for happiness is the richest metropolitan city in Europe, Oslo.

After a few unsatisfying casual dates, Julie begins a romantic relationship with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), a freelancer with a creative mind in his forties, who very quickly proves that he is on the same wavelength with her about everything but the crucial connection between family and happiness. They have a good time together and make love, meet various relatives and friends. But the more their lives begin to overlap because of their excellent compatibility, the more dissatisfied Julie becomes with her new reality. Then, in an impulsive attempt to regain her freedom, Julie decides to cheat on Aksel while crashing a completely random wedding party. The lucky stranger that connects with her is Elvind (Herbert Nordrum), who already has a partner but just like Julie is willing to cheat so long as they don’t do it the old-fashioned way. So, they talk, laugh, and touch a bit, share some dirty fantasies, and then spend the rest of the night wandering around Oslo and talking some more. Before they part ways, Julie and Elvind agree not to share personal information so that they don’t end up pursuing each other.

But soon after Julie shocks Aksel when she reveals to him that she is leaving him. Why? Because she isn’t ready to have the type of life Aksel hopes they could have together. Julie wants to be free and spontaneous, and she can’t be if Aksel continues to be part of her life and loves her. She still loves Aksel, but she has suddenly realized that her main priority in life ought to be, well, Julie. Aksel’s desperate attempt to change her mind only further solidifies her conviction that walking away from him is the right thing to do.

Then one day Elvind and his partner walk into the bookstore where Julie is employed, they reconnect again and shortly after begin a romantic relationship. It is a perfect romantic relationship, too. Like Julie, Elvind believes that the classic concept of family is outdated, babies are an easily avoidable nuisance, and global warming must be reversed as soon as possible. But the new and perfect romantic relationship slowly begins to crumble when Julie accidentally becomes pregnant and an old friend reveals to her that Aksel has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World behaves a lot like its conflicted female protagonist. It insists to be taken seriously because it identifies a couple of very big issues that a contemporary film is yet to tackle with honesty and bravery, but behind its intelligent mask hides just another cinematic conformist whose top priority is its personal well-being. In other words, it is a film that aspires to be different while staying in very familiar and safe territory.

One of the big issues The Worst Person in the World circles around is the mismanaged anger that appears to have socially and culturally handicapped an entire generation of young people. In years past, this anger was always attached to a precious cause that had something to do with freedom, but in present days, after decades of peace and prosperity, the anger is just floating around and destroying the lives of the Julies of the world. This is actually the very reason why Julie realizes what she could have had with Aksel only when it is too late to claim it -- her system of beliefs and values as well as her understanding and appreciation of the simple things in life that matter are so badly damaged by controlled social programming that she cannot possibly be happy in her environment. To feel alive, Julie has to stay unsatisfied and keep nourishing her egotism.

The other big issue, which is especially big in Scandinavia, is the normalization of the lax attitude toward the grand damage that is routinely displayed by the opposite sex. Indeed, the 'worst person' that emerges in Trier’s film isn’t the odd creation of a social experiment where males are extinct species. Julie is constantly surrounded by males of different ages, but instead of helping her recalibrate her social compass, they surrender to her instincts. Why are they not taking risks to help her? Because they are afraid that they will quickly become targets and be smeared as Aksel is during his TV interview.

When all is said and done it feels like Trier was looking in the right direction and a few times might have even felt inspired to name some big truths, but simply lacked the courage to deliver a film that could rough some feathers and inspire a healthy debate. Unsurprisingly, in its current form The Worst Person in the World is just a very, very ordinary teaser.

The Worst Person in the World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Worst Person in the World arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The film was shot in 35mm, scanned in 2K resolution at Focus Film in Stockholm and Cinelab in London, and completed in a fully digital workflow. The 5.1 surround audio for this release was remastered from the original digital audio files.

Colorist: Julien Alary."

On my system the film looked outstanding. Delineation, clarity, and sharpness were very impressive, so the overwhelming majority of the visuals were definitely in what I consider to be 'reference territory'. There are a few sequences with momentary fluctuations in the dynamic range of the visuals, but this is likely an effect that was introduced during the digital transfer of the 35mm material. You can see an example of such a fluctuation in screencapture #17. Colors are very natural, lush, nicely balanced and stable. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Worst Person in the World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Norwegian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English and French subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film does not have an elaborate soundtrack, so the most effective contrasts that you will hear feature only subtle nuances. The dialog is always very clear, clean, and stable. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Worst Person in the World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes - presented here are four deleted scenes. In Norwegian, with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. Texting (5 min).
  2. Julie and Ingvild (2 min).
  3. Stealing (1 min).
  4. Aksel's Old Neighborhood (4 min).

• Making The Worst Person in the World - in this new program, director Joachim Trier, actors Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, and Herbert Nordrum, screenwriter Eskil Vogt, and sound designer Gisle Tveito discuss their passion for cinema and the conception and production of The Worst Person in the World. The interviews were shot in New York and Oslo in 2022. In English, not subtitled. (51 min).

• Behind the Scenes: Frozen in Time - in this program, Jachim Trier and cinematographer Kasper Tuxen discuss their collaboration on Making The Worst Person in the World and the making of the unique 'still sequence'. Also included is raw footage from the shooting process. In English and Norwegian, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (18 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Sheila O'Malley's essay "Lost and Found" and technical credits.

The Worst Person in the World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What happens in the next chapter of Julie's existence? Does she learn to treat the people around her differently? And does she discover how to have a fulfilling and happy life? The most likely scenario is that she would be left to consume her 'freedom' just as she has been in the past, which means that she will continue to go through different cycles of misery until one day it dawns on her that she has grown old and missed her opportunity to create a family with someone special. At this point, the worst person in the world will quietly evolve into the saddest person in the world and begin preparing for the inevitable end of her existence. Joachim Trier could have made this and many other truths about young people like Julie crystal-clear in his film, but instead plays it safe and at the right time simply exits their depressing reality. Criterion's Blu-ray release is sourced from a solid 2K master, and features some quite good recent interviews with Trier and members of the team that shot The Worst Person in the World with him.