In Joachim Trier’s 2021 film The Worst Person in the World, he centered the story on a woman lost in her own indecision, which acted as a rom-com that turns the genre on its head, while also reflecting on generational change with both wit and pain. With his latest film, Sentimental Value, he and co-writer Eskil Vogt change it up by moving from the highs and lows of romance to the complicated dynamics of family. It’s still personal and messy, but this time it’s about the weight of shared history and all the baggage that comes with it.
The story centers on filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård) and stage actress Nora (Renate Reinsve), an estranged father-daughter pairing who are both respected in their fields. Nora is still emotionally sore after the parental abandonment by Gustav. Their uneasy reunion is catalyzed by Gustav’s sudden reentry into their lives following the death of his ex-wife—Nora’s mother—and his proposal to make a film in the Oslo home where Nora and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) were raised. Gustav wrote the screenplay with Nora in mind, thinking it could bring them closer through collaboration. But, his gesture isn’t solely about making peace—it’s also a bit of manipulation.
When Nora refuses the role, not wanting to revisit the past, Gustav replaces her with an American star, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). This feels like a huge betrayal, hitting way harder than just a professional slight—it’s personal. Trier does a smart switch here, focusing on the weird dynamic between Gustav and Rachel. He starts shaping her performance to be more like Nora, basically getting her to become the woman she’s replacing.
Despite the primary setting being the Borg family’s charming Oslo cottage, this story is anything but charming. Hidden underneath this beautiful home is a pool of trauma. This house is not solely a setting but a character of its own: a living embodiment of broken familial history, every ounce of it imbued with decades of sorrow and affection. Even with all the love sprinkled throughout it, tragedy has also made its way through it for many decades, rendering the home an emotional awakening. It is where Nora’s great-great-grandfather died, where her grandmother was born, where her parents screamed through their unraveling marriage. The house holds it all.
Trier and Vogt structure the narrative with such grace and smoothness by including montages that bounce around in time. It’s a difficult line to ride, as the switching of periods can feel very jarring, which thankfully it isn’t, and helps progress the story along. Through voiceover, we are shown the good times and the bad times: childhood moments, historical glimpses, and, of course, the ever-lasting trauma. The choice to have Sentimental Value focus heavily on familial history is genius, as it helps build on why this script from Gustav is shaping up to be the project he’s always dreamt of making.
The strongest element of Sentimental Value has to be the emotional dynamic between Gustav and Nora, thanks to the career-defining turns from Skarsgard and Reinsve. With Gustav, there are multiple layers that Skarsgard injects into his performance, by adding a mix of charm, ego, and regret, while Reinsve’s Nora is elevated through the quietness, which showcases how the demons are simply stuck within her. Their scenes together are some of the ones that won’t escape your mind upon watching, particularly a brutal argument at a dinner table. In that moment, the father-daughter pairing recognizes what they despise about each other, but also the similarities between the two of them: the longing to be seen and forgiven.
The supporting performances are also excellent, with Lilleaas’ Agnes being the secret sauce to this ensemble. She offers a counterweight to Nora’s anger by offering a more calming and protective side. Sentimental Value delves into how the sisters’ roles have swapped since childhood: once guarded by Nora, Agnes now serves as her emotional support, having also carried the burden of caring for their mother. In a tender sequence in the film’s final act, an emotionally overwhelmed Nora asks: “How did it happen? You turned out fine, and I’m fucked up.” The question lingers, unanswered but deeply understood.
While not as captivating as her three co-stars, the work from Fanning as Rachel should not be pushed aside. What could’ve easily been a poorly written character with no gravitas ended up being a performance where Rachel has some vulnerability, too. The gift of being handed the lead role in Gustav’s film, having to remove her blond hair and learn a Norwegian accent, is eventually second-guessed. Quietly poignant, Rachel has a heart-to-heart with Gustav, stating that, despite the desire to work with the gifted filmmaker, she feels she’ll be doing a disservice to this personal story. While there could have been more sequences with Rachel, it’s noticed early on that Sentimental Value’s primary focus is on the dynamic between Gustav and Nora.
Sentimental Value is less a film about filmmaking, but more so a meditation on the healing power of art, particularly through family. In recent years, many films have come out tackling this topic, including two from 2024: Sing Sing and Ghostlight, both of which center primarily on theater. It acknowledges that while art cannot get rid of the damage from one’s past, it can offer the possibility of seeing oneself in another and finding redemption—even if the path to get there and move forward is bumpy.
Following up on an achievement like The Worst Person in the World was going to be difficult, but thankfully, Trier’s latest is an endearingly raw, yet surprisingly charming depiction of a broken home and how the pieces are being put back together. If under the hands of anyone else, Sentimental Value could’ve felt overly saccharine and manipulative. That wasn’t the case this go-round, and it’ll be exciting to see what Trier and Reinsve do for their next outings, whether it’s together or separately.
Review Courtesy of Bryan Sudfield
Feature Image Credit to NEON via TIFF