Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, 2025): Norway | Germany | Denmark | France | Sweden | United Kingdom | Turkey

Reviewed by Ella Petrunia. Viewed at SBIFF.

Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, is a quiet, poignant story, following a young actress as she navigates her relationships with her father and younger sister. I watched this film at the Arlington Theater during the Santa Barbara Film Festival, and even after the movie ended, the film lingered with me for the rest of the day. This is a film I would highly recommend, especially to people who enjoy stories that are centered on character development and psychological depth. What makes this film so powerful is its critique on complicated family structures, loneliness, and the process of coming to terms with the past. 

The film opens with wide-angle establishing shots showing the city of Oslo, Norway, and of a house, a symbol that will become integral to the story. Nora, a main protagonist, is returning to her childhood home after her mother has passed away and is reunited with her estranged father, Gustave, a filmmaker who presents Nora with a script he has written based on his family history and asks Nora to star in it. Through these characters’ interactions, it becomes clear that there is tension and some underlying resentment between the two. Although the film is deeply emotional, Trier doesn’t use excessive drama to illustrate the film’s central themes, but instead allows for silence, using minimal dialogue and cinematic techniques, such as lighting and setting, to portray the characters’ feelings, revealing the effect that distance and betrayal have on a relationship, especially between a parent and child. As the film progresses, Nora contemplates her father’s proposal, struggling with the idea of reenacting past trauma. This connects with the theme of the past, as the film often cuts between moments during Nora’s childhood as well as Gustave’s childhood, uncovering the family’s complexity and the events that have shaped the characters into their current selves. 

The acting in this film was outstanding. Renate Reinsve’s portrayal of Nora was powerful, as she conveyed complex emotions through subtle expressions. Trier repeatedly uses close-up shots of Nora’s face, making her story feel more intimate, allowing the audience to understand her emotional state fully. Stellan Skarsgard’s performance as Gustave was also phenomenal, portraying a talented and confident man struggling with emotional vulnerability and accepting his flaws. Skarsgard’s performance is complex. He is not necessarily a likable character, but somehow it’s impossible not to empathize with him at times. Though he tries to mask his pain, it comes to the surface in moments of emotional exposure. The film’s use of soft natural lighting gives it a calm feel, not overly dramatizing the interpersonal and inner conflicts appearing on screen. The subject matter in this film reminds me in some ways of Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, a film that also deals with an emotionally unavailable father, making an effort to try to connect with his family. Although these two films are stylistically very different, they share similar thematic elements. 

Sentimental Value is an amazing film that I would recommend to all audiences, especially those who appreciate thoughtful, sentimental films, focusing on complex intrafamilial relationships. While the film isn’t fast-paced or super exciting, it allows you to connect with the characters on screen and urges you to contemplate your own relationships with your loved ones and with the past.