Sentimental Value (2025) is directed by Joachim Trier, who also wrote the film alongside Eskil Vogt. It stars Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Anders Danielsen Lie, Jesper Christensen, Lena Endre, Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, and Lars Varinger. After his ex-wife dies, famous film director Gustav Borg (Skarsgard) travels to Norway in an attempt to reconnect with his two estranged daughters, Nora (Reinsve) & Agnes (Lilleaas). Having written a script that he feels is his magnum opus, Gustav asks Nora to play the lead role. Despite being a trained theater actor, Nora refuses her father’s offer. She sees it as nothing more than a desperate attempt to apologize, so Gustav decides it’s best to move on. Instead, he hires popular American actress Rachel Kemp (Fanning), but she struggles to understand/connect with the role. When Nora and Agnes begin to uncover more about their family history, it soon becomes clear that the reasons for their father’s past behavior are much more complicated than they ever could’ve expected. 

Because this is the kind of story that focuses primarily on who these characters are and the relationships between them, it relies heavily on the quality of its three lead performances. Skarsgard and Reinsve are easily the strongest of the ensemble, but Lilleaas and Fanning also provide commendable supporting performances. The characters’ minor human gripes and challenges could’ve easily resulted in a film that takes itself far too seriously, but director Joachim Trier balances it with a lot of natural, subtle humor. In moments when they have fun and open up to one another, the audience is reminded that, although Gustav and his daughters have a rocky relationship, they want to work toward a better future. Yeah, these people have some serious personal issues, but it’s nice to know that, unlike so many other films of this kind, they’re aware that their problems aren’t the absolute worst thing in the world. 

This awareness that their problems are trivial makes these characters easier to sympathize with. There’s nothing wrong with films that explore these kinds of domestic, familial struggles, but it’s irritating when they’re treated as if they have world-ending implications. Trier seems to understand that the inescapable dread of one’s problems is often more internal than anything else. We tend to assume that when people cause us emotional pain, it’s intentional and personal, which isn’t typically the case. In reality, pain begets pain. When someone is in pain, they’ll often become so focused on relieving it that they become blind to the fact that they’re hurting those around them. In Sentimental Value, the characters are forced to learn that their pain isn’t necessarily the issue; it’s that they never communicate it, and thus are unable to heal from it. 

The exploration of art as a means of therapy and how that relates to the generational effects of the Holocaust is undeniably powerful. Still, the experience works best when it’s focused on the straightforward story of a man trying to reconnect with his daughters. Each character is flawed in precise ways, but they are mostly pleasant people. In the final 30 minutes, I was surprised to find myself fully invested in the outcome of their relationship. Although the stakes weren’t particularly high, I felt that these people deserved a positive outcome. They make efforts to heal, attempt to understand one another, and, for the most part, act like mature adults. They’re characters who deserve to be rewarded, a fact that Trier uses to manipulate our emotions in the third act. 

Overall, this is a well-directed, well-acted character study centered on the contagiousness of internalizing one’s pain. I don’t love that it sometimes plays as yet another “isn’t being a filmmaker or related to one such a burden?” film, but, like Jay Kelly, it’s somewhat aware of the fact that these people live in a bubble financially, intellectually, and socially. In many ways, this is an excellent example of a film that people typically accuse of being “Oscar bait.” Thankfully, Trier makes some key choices that take the experience in subversive directions, resulting in a film that’s far more heartwarming and positive than I was expecting. That being said, it’s not particularly exciting or memorable, just well-made in a low-key kind of way. Casual audiences will most likely be bored to death here, but I never really expected a Norwegian family drama to fully appeal to my dumb American brain (wink, wink). B–