Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier continues to build cachet with Sentimental Value (2025), his latest collaboration with co-writer Eskil Vogt and actor Renate Reinsve. This moving, understated drama involves two siblings — accomplished stage actress Nora (Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) — who come together in the wake of their mother’s death. The sad occasion also marks the reappearance of their estranged father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), an acclaimed filmmaker nearing the end of his storied career. Gustav arrives with script in hand, determined to mend his broken relationship with Nora by centering her in his latest film, in a part written specifically for her. Nora isn’t in a forgiving mood, though, and turns him down, leading Gustav to recruit a major Hollywood star: Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). However, since the film is being prepared and shot in their childhood home, mere proximity lures Nora back into her father’s orbit.
Trier’s work has been on my radar since the beautiful film Thelma, and Reinsve ran away with his powerful recent film The Worst Person in the World. Sentimental Value similarly delivers transporting, thoughtful cinema, an immersive family drama that unfolds with tantalizing patience and mindful reveals. Lilleaas, Reinsve, and Skarsgård are all superb, enacting a convincing dynamic that movingly explores how intense personal relationships can be complicated, but also enriched, by artistic temperament.
