Why Dr. Mary Kline From Backrooms Looks So Familiar
by Nina Starner · /FilmThe "Backrooms" movie could very well be the sleeper box office hit of the summer, and even though that's partly due to the large following built by first-time director Kane Parsons on his YouTube channel, we should also give some credit to the stellar cast. Alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave," "The Martian") as Clark (a furniture store owner who discovers the labyrinthine, expansive "backrooms" in the basement of said store), Oscar nominated actors Renate Reinsve plays Dr. Mary Kline, Clark's therapist who goes looking for him after he goes missing.
"Backrooms" — which /Film critic and writer BJ Colangelo wrote is "bound to rattle you to your core" in her review — has a pretty small cast, but the fact that A24 (presumably) helped Parsons snag huge names like Ejiofor and Reinsve is pretty significant. (Ejiofor, to that point, is also an Oscar nominee.) So, who is Reinsve? This Norwegian performer got her start in her home country in the 2011 film "Oslo, August 31st," directed by her future collaborator Joachim Trier, but she broke through internationally in Trier's acclaimed 2021 movie "The Worst Person in the World." (More on that momentarily.) If you're someone who follows the time called "awards season' each year, you're probably at least a little familiar with Reinsve; here's where you might have seen her before.
The Worst Person in the World helped put Renate Reinsve on the map
If you have any familiarity with Joachim Trier's body of work, you probably know about the collection called the Oslo trilogy — which begins with 2006's "Reprise," continues with the aforementioned "Oslo, August 31st," and concludes with "The Worst Person in the World." In this trilogy-ender, Renate Reinsve plays the lead role of Julie, a young woman living in Oslo who seems conflicted about her future as she switches from studying medicine to psychology to photography. Struggling to figure out what to do next, Julie embarks on a relatively ill-advised affair with a much older man, artist Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), which ultimately falls apart ... especially as Julie makes a connection with a barista named Elvind (Herbert Nordrum). As she gets older and tries to learn from her mistakes, Julie forges ahead despite personal strife, difficult relationships, and her own neuroses.
"The Worst Person in the World" earned rave reviews from critics — as of this writing, it's sitting pretty over at Rotten Tomatoes with a critical score of 96% — and at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Trier scored a nomination for the Palme d'Or and Reinsve won Best Actress. (Later, at the 2022 Academy Awards, Trier was nominated for the movie's screenplay and Best International Film, though he won neither.) It also helped expand Reinsve's notoriety, largely because this film was a critical hit internationally ... and, thankfully, Reinsve has kept this hot streak going.
Between A Different Man and Sentimental Value, Renate Reinsve has become one of Hollywood's rising stars
After leading "The Worst Person in the World," Renate Reinsve was nearly cast in Zach Cregger's sophomore film "Weapons" before ultimately being replaced by Julie Garner due to industry strikes and delays. Fortunately, she managed to recover nicely with 2024's "A Different Man." Directed by Aaron Schimberg, "A Different Man" centers around Sebastian Stan's Edward Lumeul, an aspiring actor who lives with neurofibromatosis, which causes facial disfigurement. After undergoing an experimental procedure to "fix" his face, Edward literally becomes a new man, renaming himself "Guy Moratz," booking roles, and striking up a romantic relationship with his neighbor, playwright Ingrid Vold (Reinsve). Reinsve isn't the center of "A Different Man," but she's perfectly cast alongside Stan and their co-star Adam Pearson (an actor who actually has neurofibromatosis), and her follow-up reunited her with Joachim Trier.
Trier's 2025 movie "Sentimental Value" is, without question, Reinsve's most acclaimed project to date; in fact, it earned nine Oscar nominations, including one in every acting category, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best International Film. (Reinsve was nominated in the lead category, and Trier's movie did win Best International Film this time.) Reinsve plays Nora Borg, an actor who gets debilitating anxiety while performing and also happens to be the daughter of famous filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård) ... and when Gustav sells the Borg family home, Nora and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) reunite with their estranged father.
Reinsve is an incredibly talented performer, and she brings that talent to "Backrooms" — which is in theaters now.