©Courtesy of Neon
The prologue sets the emotional architecture of “Sentimental Value”, the Grand Prize winner at Cannes. We’re introduced to two sisters’ childhood home — a magnificent red wooden house in Oslo, Norway — that serves as the emotional center of the story. The film then cuts to a young stage actress, moments before her opening night. Backstage, she’s gripped by panic: short of breath, her costume frayed, she nearly flees.
Immediately, Trier — who co-wrote the script with his longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt — draws us deep into a tense drama unfolding like a finely written novel. Intimate and layered, each scene expands like a chapter, revealing character through tone as much as plot. It’s a story about a wounded artistic family, the power of reconciliation, and a house filled with emotional cracks.
Those cracks widen when Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), a famous director and failed father, returns to his daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), after their mother’s death. Nora, who has followed in his artistic footsteps as an actress, still resents him for leaving Norway for Sweden after divorce. Agnes, a historian with a husband and child, is more accepting, a grounding counterpoint to her sister’s restlessness. Gustav has come back to make a film inspired by their fractured relationship, intent on immortalizing the old family home on screen. The reunion reopens old wounds and unspoken rivalries, blurring the line between life and art. Into this charged atmosphere enters the father’s new muse Rachel Kemp, an American actress played by Elle Fanning.
©Courtesy of Neon
Norwegian director Joachim Trier once again captures the fragile beauty of human connection, returning to his hallmark emotionally intricate storytelling. Beyond the father’s attempt at reconciliation, the film probes deeper generational wounds, with a beautifully soulful soundtrack that plays a pivotal role in underscoring its emotional depth. The score, composed by Hania Rani, is complemented by songs like Terry Callier’s Dancing Girl and Labi Siffre’s Cannock Chase—Trier, who is also a DJ, carefully weaves these pieces into the narrative to enhance its emotional resonance.
With “Sentimental Value”, Trier extends the emotional landscape he charted in the successful “The Worst Person in the World“(2021) — this time from a more somber viewpoint. If the earlier film was about youth’s restless search for identity, this one is about the reckoning that follows.
Both films share Trier’s blend of intimacy, melancholy, and sly humor (here, jokes about Lasse Hallström and “The Piano Teacher” draw big laughs). His ongoing collaboration with Renate Reinsve (the script was written for her) adds a sense of continuity: in “The Worst Person in the World”, she was defining herself; here, she reflects on who she has become.
Where “The Worst Person in the World” pulsed with the rhythms of modern Oslo, “Sentimental Value” unfolds within more confined spaces. Across his career, Trier has explored how people wrestle with identity and time. His Oslo Trilogy — “Reprise” (2006), “Oslo, August 31st” (my favorite from 2011), and “The Worst Person in the World” — established him as one of the most vital European auteurs of his generation. Between those, he expanded his range with “Louder Than Bombs” (2015), a U.S.-set family drama, and “Thelma” (2017), a supernatural coming-of-age story about repression and awakening.
Now, “Sentimental Value” — already generating Oscar buzz — feels like a natural continuation of all that came before. Returning once more to questions of memory and creation, Trier gives his actors the space to shine. The great Swedish veteran Stellan Skarsgård brings quiet gravitas to the father — his finest role since Hans Alfredson’s “The Simple-Minded Murderer” (“Den enfaldige mördaren”, 1982). Renate Reinsve is luminous and layered, while Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas perfectly embodies the quieter, steadier sister. Elle Fanning adds a delicate spark as the American actress drawn into their orbit, and longtime Trier collaborator Anders Danielsen Lie rounds out a vividly lived supporting cast.
In every scene, “Sentimental Value” deepens inward, in a distinctly Bergmanesque way. Trier’s debt to Ingmar Bergman is clear – both in his themes and intimate exploration of family dynamics – in some scenes he directly recalls “Persona” (1966). Yet Trier has his own original voice, weaving emotional and narrative threads with such precision that by the end, everything lands exactly where it should.
©Courtesy of Neon
Grade: A-
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Here’s the trailer of the film.