Joachim Trier

Thelma

by
Thelma with electrodes on her head

Thelma, a collaboration between director Joachim Trier and writer (and sometime director) Eskil Vogt, is another reminder of what a dynamic duo these two are, separately and together. And that they make powerful and suggestive, moody and magnificent dramas that are also sly as hell. Slo-mo gotcha movies of a very high order. Thelma starts with a tender scene of a father out with his six-year-old daughter in the snowy wintry wastes of Norway. By the end of this sequence the father is taking aim at his daughter’s head with his rifle, unbeknown to her. Why? Trier and Vogt tell us almost two hours later, right at the end. In between they follow … Read more

The Worst Person in the World

by
Renate Reinsve

The Worst Person in the World is not about the worst person in the world, though it’s a good catchy title and so why not? Instead it’s about something that’s not so easy a sell – how to live the good life. The latest in a 20-year run of collaborations between director Joachim Trier and regular writing partner (and a director in his own right) Eskil Vogt, it follows dense, layered and intense films like Thelma, Louder Than Bombs and Blind with more of the same in a 12-chapter story about a smart, pretty young woman called Julie. At the end of each of Julie’s 12 steps she’s traded in what she had … Read more