This movie immediately became my favourite of 2021 after seeing it because of how well written and realistic it was. Every character felt complex and you got to judge them as real people rather than the movie preaching about who is good and who is evil etc etc. It gave a lot of room for the characters to find themselves in the story and to make mistakes without it feeling either too judged or too melodramatic. Not only do they manage to create these characters, but they manage to make every scene so purposeful to her journey that it's simultaneously really driven and really natural. It's what writing aspires to be and it creates an entrancing experience to watch that you can't take your eyes off. Juxtaposed with this grounded reality is a scene that I won't spoil and simply call "the light switch scene". But that scene is so magical and surreal that it creates something you could only get with cinema and it's so beautiful.

I think the performance by Renate Reinsve is simply the best of the year: the way that she portrays Julie as someone being simultaneously genuine in her everyday moments while having that profound longing to find herself. Anders Danielson Lie is also great with absolutely heart-shattering scenes, as well as everyone else in the cast. And again, I can't get over how real this movie feels in most of its scenes and a lot of that praise has to go to the actors. Maybe it's because I haven't seen these actors before but they're so authentic.

Everything works great together, and the screenplay elevates the whole experience to another level to where I'm just utterly captivated. It's a paragon of drama and I'm glad to have experienced it on the big screen where it truly casts a spell over you.