The Worst Person in the World
Neon | Release Date: February 4, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
91
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 47 Critic Reviews
Positive:
46
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMar 24, 2022
The Worst Person in the World carries a shimmery feeling of definitiveness to it. It’s the rare piece of art actually invested in why an entire generation can seem so aimless and indecisive. Read full review
100
Little White LiesHannah StrongMar 23, 2022
It’s a character study for the ages, with Reinsve, Danielsen Lie and Nordrum delivering three magnetic turns. Read full review
100
EmpireElla KempMar 21, 2022
A truthful, tender masterpiece about how coming of age has no age-limit — love, for others and for ourselves, is what makes every risk and loss worthwhile. Rarely has a story like this been told as beautifully. Read full review
100
The AtlanticDavid SimsFeb 14, 2022
The Worst Person in the World swerves from bustling comedy to erotically charged romance to bittersweet drama, executing each tonal shift seamlessly even as plot twists seem to come out of nowhere. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 10, 2022
Trier and Reinsve have gifted audiences with a movie that understands the ecstasy of diving into the unknown, the flush of new love, the beauty of connecting amid unspeakable loss. Read full review
100
Original-CinKaren GordonFeb 10, 2022
On the surface, it’s a simple enough premise: a young woman transitioning into adulthood, trying to find her place in the world. But in the hands of Norwegian director Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World is at one level a social satire about love, identity and relationships, and at the same time, a warm and deeply poignant look at the imperfect way life can creep up on us. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 7, 2022
The film has the measured and expansive quality of real life, which could have been dull. It’s anything but that. Instead, by making Julie so real and vivid, Reinsve and Trier accomplish something rare. They make everything that happens to her feel as interesting as if it were happening to you. Read full review
100
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 7, 2022
Occasionally you see a movie that just satisfies on all fronts — the performances, the direction, the whole package. Even less occasionally you see one that does all that and moves you, too. “The Worst Person in the World” is one of those. Read full review
100
We Got This CoveredMartin CarrFeb 4, 2022
Unsentimental, brutally honest, and staggeringly complex in its execution, intelligent cinema like this is a rarity. Read full review
100
ObserverEmily ZemlerFeb 4, 2022
The Worst Person in the World is a poignant reminder there is beauty in that uncertainty if we can only accept it. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarFeb 4, 2022
The Worst Person in the World, Trier’s stirringly sophisticated masterpiece, unrolls in piecemeal manner, but once fully extended is a tapestry of unfeigned experiences sowed with the thread of truth, in all its painful ambivalence. Read full review
100
ABC NewsPeter TraversFeb 4, 2022
Joachim Trier’s scintillating Oscar contender from Norway, led by a captivating new star in Renate Reinsve, sets a new gold standard for romantic comedy just before it sneaks up and hits you like a shot in the heart. Read full review
100
Screen RantSarah Bea MilnerFeb 3, 2022
It's a rich story that forgoes a traditional format, challenging the conventions of the industry. It's progressive, it's unapologetically feminist, and it's unforgettable. Read full review
100
The Associated PressLindsey BahrFeb 2, 2022
There is a refreshing honesty in this script, penned by Trier and his longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt, that engages with nuance and the impossible complexities of life in a way that most “rom-coms” avoid like the plague. Read full review
100
UproxxVince ManciniFeb 1, 2022
I find myself at a bit of a loss when trying to explain exactly what about it had me so engaged, probably for the same reasons Julie can’t seem to decide on a career. The Worst Person In The World feels like life. And how do you sum up a life? Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJan 21, 2022
Worst has no shortage of gorgeous-people problems — more than enough, in fact, to fill 12 cinematic "chapters" — but it vibrates with real life, a film so fresh and untethered to rom-com cliché it might actually reshape the idea of what movies like this can be. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Chandler LevackSep 9, 2021
Trier has an incredible ear for dialogue and can observe the pitiful drama of a millennial breakup like no other. Read full review
100
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJul 13, 2021
Trier pulls a lot of stylistic tricks in the film, but they somehow never play like gimmicks, like adornments merely there to show off the talent of their creator. The film has a lilting, lively rhythm; the glimpses we see of months and years in Julie’s life ably provide a whole picture. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Trier has taken on one of the most difficult genres imaginable, the romantic drama, and combined it with another very tricky style – the coming-of-ager – to craft something gloriously sweet and beguiling. Read full review
100
The TelegraphRobbie Collin
The film’s focus may be tight – just a few tangled, formative years – but it encompasses so much. Read full review
91
The Film StageEd Frankl
The film’s opening quirky comedy routines give way to something much richer––a startlingly observant, sharp, romantic, provocative, and poignant view of millennial culture and how life comes at you fast. Read full review
90
TimeStephanie ZacharekFeb 4, 2022
The Worst Person in the World is a comedy, not a drama. But it’s ruthless in the way the best comedies can be. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Angelica Jade BastienFeb 3, 2022
The Worst Person in the World acts as a forceful reminder that the entanglements between women and the love interests dancing in and out of their lives matter less than the lifelong relationship we must maintain with ourselves. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 3, 2022
If The Worst Person in the World is about Julie’s indecision, it’s also about Trier’s ambivalence. Some of the suspense in the film comes from wondering what he will do with her, and whether, as much as he loves her, he can figure out how to set her free. Read full review
90
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaJan 21, 2022
The Worst Person in the World is a concentrated emotional dose of living through the last half-decade of uncertainty. Read full review
90
Film ThreatRay LoboJan 21, 2022
The Worst Person in the World is a wildcat in a world of domesticated dramedies and romantic comedies. Trier has made one of the best movies of this year or any year. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 19, 2021
Nobody here actually calls Julie the worst person in the world (that insult is reserved for another character entirely), but you can imagine her thinking it about herself as she considers the mistakes she’s made and the people she’s hurt. But over the course of this charming, wistful, ineffably tender movie, you also see her learn to embrace the possibility of good in herself and in every precious, unhurried moment. It’s time well spent. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy Lodge
In essaying Julie, a character at once watery and opaque, shaped by everything around her but vocally resistant to influence, Reinsve has a tricky assignment that she nails with remarkable fluidity and grace. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 17, 2022
Julie’s restlessness is anchored by a self-confidence that Reinsve conveys guilelessly and brilliantly. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenDec 16, 2021
Reinsve gives Julie both a hard edge and soft center, so that we root for her even when she makes decisions with which we disagree. Read full review
88
Slant MagazinePat BrownJul 16, 2021
The film may be the prime example of how to restore fun, significance, and even a little bit of sex to the well-worn terrain of the romantic comedy. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Feb 3, 2022
For all of Trier’s stylistic flair, the best scenes in The Worst Person In The World are unadorned conversations, little pockets of chemistry or conflict. The film peaks with a self-contained romantic episode, beautifully written and performed Read full review
83
The PlaylistIana Murray
Detailing the thrills and fears of turning 30 down to its mundane but absorbing minutiae, Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier’s fifth feature is a pure delight. Laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking in equal measure, it’s perhaps his best film since “Oslo, August 31st.” Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeApr 5, 2022
Blending melancholy wistfulness with unruly energy and piercing humour, it’s a down-to-earth tale of love and death, boosted by a brilliantly believable central performance and elevated by fantastical moments of hallucinogenic horror and ecstatic joy. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 25, 2022
Bounce along as Julie might and it’s a lively, sexy, eventful two-hour adventure. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 7, 2022
The Worst Person in the World strikes me as believable, beautiful, roving, annoying, and frequently good for a laugh. Like most of Trier’s work, it also takes you aback with its sadness, which hangs around, after the story is over, like the smoke from a snuffed candle. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 3, 2022
This vibrant, buoyant drama, intimate in scope instead of vast, takes us to Oslo—not exactly another planet, but an adventure all the same—where it builds a world of mercurial passions while its enchanting heroine, Julie ( Renate Reinsve ), belatedly and erratically comes of age over the course of several years. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineBrianna ZiglerSep 27, 2021
Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World is as indecisive as its endlessly curious heroine, but it is an invigorating, exceedingly kind portrait conveying that the journey is just as—if not more—crucial as the place we end up. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan Mintzer
More than ever, Trier reveals how well he can keep shifting tones and emotional arcs without losing any narrative momentum. Read full review
80
Time OutDave Calhoun
Any film that can combine questions of mortality with funny, fully alive scenes of sex, social awkwardness, professional screw-ups and throwaway fun is a rich one. Its brilliant, full-on performance from Reinsve deserves to be celebrated far and wide. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy Ide
A chaotic, unpredictable portrait of a chaotic, unpredictable individual, The Worst Person In The World is a spirited and thrillingly uninhibited piece of filmmaking from Joachim Trier. Read full review
80
TheWrap
This is a film of unfolding delights, providing a terrific canvas for the actors. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn Bleasdale
Though the film tries for ironic detachment – twelve chapters with a prologue and epilogue – it ultimately can’t wink away its own heartfelt compassion and sympathy, even as it refuses to provide any trite solutions. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 4, 2022
Reinsve makes a more beguiling than compelling lead, letting on Julie’s “flakey” qualities, giving us hints that she’s self-aware enough to be bothered by them. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid Ehrlich
Quick, vibrant, pulsing with all sorts of crossover appeal until a slightly moribund energy takes hold toward the end, Trier’s film is never more fun than when Julie is second-guessing herself and/or trying to keep time from slipping through her fingers. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyFeb 10, 2022
Visually, it’s the experience of falling in love turned inside out. “The Worst Person in the World” is showing how it looks to feel like the only couple in the world. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 7, 2022
The movie offers no details about any conflict between domestic and artistic life—because Trier and his co-screenwriter, Eskil Vogt, display no interest in Julie’s artistic development or activity. The Worst Person in the World is driven by a relentless focus on Julie’s personal life, but it’s a focus that remains obliviously impersonal. Read full review
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