November 29, 2021 – This movie has a deceptive title. It is not about the worst person in the world. It is about a pretty young woman of ample means in a modern industrialized nation who has a lot of choices about her future, and she can't seem to choose one.

Having so many attractive life choices within easy reach is a privilege that relatively few people have in this world. That is the situation young Julie (played by Renate Reinsve) finds herself in as she tries to find her way forward in life in this Norwegian movie written and directed by Joachim Trier (“Thelma”).

Julie goes to college and studies medicine, but then decides she doesn't want to be a doctor, so she switches majors, ending up in the arts, and photography. She falls in love with an older man, a cartoonist, Aksel Willman (Anders Danielsen Lie) and drifts along with him, dabbling in writing as well as photography.

Aksel wants to have children with Julie, but she resists, perhaps because that would tie her down to a life of motherhood duties. One night, on her way home, she crashes a party, where she meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). She and Eivind impulsively have an affair and she breaks up with Aksel. Julie seems to like Eivind because he is uncomplicated and doesn't want children.

After a time with Eivind, she grows tired of him and criticizes him for his lack of ambition and direction in life, even though these are the same qualities that seem to attract her at first. Julie seems to be drifting along like a butterfly flitting from one flower to another with no particular plan for the future.

Eventually, Julie comes up against some hard realities involving death and birth which seem to cause her to reevaluate her directionless life. Julie is not a bad person, but her actions do cause emotional pain for others. She knows this, but is unable to seriously consider any course of action other than what seems easiest for her at the moment.

The movie features a remarkable sequence in which Julie decides to leave Aksel for Eivind. She dashes out of Aksel's place and runs over to see Eivind, then returns to Aksel. Meanwhile, the world stops for everyone except Julie and Eivind. Everyone else is frozen in time, including Aksel, who is unaware that Julie ever left him.

Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie both give very strong performances in this movie. At times, their performances are quite emotional and moving. This is a typical art film, in that nothing much happens, and the pace is slow, but the characters are interesting enough to keep me engaged in the story. Julie is such an impulsive character that you never know what she is going to do next. This film rates a B.

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