Sentimental Value

Sentimental Value

Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve lead an incomparable cast in Joachim Trier’s moving drama about a director’s bid to revive his career and repair his family’s broken bonds.

With its extraordinary performances and wealth of insight as the story of a family struggling to face its rocky history and confronting the price of living for one’s art, Joachim Trier’s new feature represents another high watermark for the Norwegian director.

The winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes festival, Sentimental Value portrays the myriad repercussions of a once-great filmmaker’s effort to recapture his past glory. A man who’s always prioritized his work, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård) is long estranged from his daughters Nora (Renate Reinsve), a gifted stage actress, and the more grounded Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), now immersed in family life years after performing in one of her father’s most revered movies. He finds a surprising source of support after a Hollywood star, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), discovers his films at a festival retrospective. As preparation for Gustav’s new movie begins with Rachel in the role that Nora had rejected, the uniquely personal nature of his script — based on a tragedy that took place in the house that remains central to the Borgs’ lives — draws the family members together again in ways they could not predict.

As nuanced as it is empathetic, Trier’s screenplay with long-time collaborator Eskil Vogt brings the best out of the formidable duo of Skarsgård and Reinsve. It also elicits comparably exquisite turns by Fanning and from Lilleaas, who deserves the same kind of attention that Reinsve earned for Trier’s 2021 hit The Worst Person In The World.

Jason Anderson, TIFF