Sentimental Value

Sentimental Value is a multi-layered masterpiece of a film that skillfully shows several generations of a family affected by both historical and personal traumas. The film focuses on two of the generations: father and two daughters living their life in modern Norway and dealing with the emotional baggage from their past in very different ways. The film honestly opens the door for us into this family house so that we see things the way they are, no character is judged or mocked here. Yet, the storytelling itself has its own twists, therefore we can get the pieces together towards the end, which makes this film even more wholesome and delicate. Amazing script, wonderful acting, great choice of music. Bravo!

Sentimental Value reflects Joachim Trier's Norwegian cultural environment while exploring the psychology of generational trauma. With nuance and compassion, the film shows how parents' choices reverberate through their children's lives, shaping identity and memory. Trier suggests that reconciliation across generations, though fragile, is possible. I found this movie both profound and tender. It triggered long conversations with my wife about our own lives and efforts to raise our children in a supportive and loving environment through both happy and challenging times.

:::Watched at Scandinavian Film Festival:::

Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value is a deeply resonant family drama that eschews melodrama for emotional authenticity and psychological nuance. The film is centred on Nora, played with great restraint by Renate Reinsve, who is forced to confront her estranged filmmaker father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), after the death of her mother. The family home in Oslo emerges as both setting and symbol-a container for memories and scars-which Gustav hopes to immortalise through his latest cinematic project.

Trier handles the motif of inherited trauma with tact, refusing to indulge in manipulative sentimentality. Instead, the narrative unfolds gently, through carefully observed interactions and silences. Nora, a stage actress paralysed by anxiety and divided loyalties, is caught between the burdens of family history and the demands of performance. Reinsve imbues her character with a delicate sense of unease that never spills over into theatrics, while Skarsgård navigates Gustav's arrogance and regret with a similarly subtle touch. The supporting cast, specifically Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Nora's sister Agnes, adds depth to the film's meditation on the countless ways familial love and resentment can coexist.

The script delicately questions the ethics of artistic catharsis, as Gustav asks Nora to recreate painful family events on camera-prompting sharp consideration of the cost of using real trauma for art. Elle Fanning, as an eager Hollywood star parachuted into the family's drama, serves as both mirror and foil to Nora, further sharpening the film's self-examination of performance, legacy, and authenticity.

Visually, Sentimental Value is quietly gorgeous, its crystalline light and carefully composed frames echoing the story's sense of longing and the weight of the past. Trier's refined direction and restrained musical choices allow every emotional beat to register fully.

What endures is the film's generosity and honesty. It does not force reconciliation but gently suggests that understanding alone could be redemptive. Sentimental Value is demanding, reflective, and full of love for flawed people, confirming Trier as one of the most perceptive filmmakers working today.

Sentimental Value is a beautiful movie. It has a very sharp screenplay and great direction. The cast here is all phenomenal and they help to elevate these characters to an even higher level. The movie has tons of emotion while keeping an engaging story throughout its runtime. There are multiple scenes that feature some really cool editing. The editing helps to reveal things a couple of times and I think that's really awesome. A very good family drama. 8/10.

The movie is blessed with a strong scenario that would have excelented as a novella. The director/co-writer leaves just enough room to keep the audience wandering.

This film is certainly not a tearjerker. The real emotions are often hidden behind smiles. The acting is strong but subtile.

Leaving the theater I didn't have the feeling of having just watched a great movie. But when I realised a week later it still was in my head I couldn't conclude otherwise.