Review: In ‘Sentimental Value’, great actors deliver emotional truths about art and family

After winning the Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value is demanding the attention of Oscar voters. The Norwegian-Danish director’s sixth feature, which follows his acclaimed The Worst Person in the World (2021), has a staggering nine Oscar nominations, including, unsurprisingly, four in acting categories.

Performance is the foundation of a drama about a filmmaker and his two daughters. Trier and frequent co-writer Eskil Vogt rely heavily on the actors to explore the self-centred nature of art, the difficulties in communication within families, and the ways in which old scars refuse to heal, leading to new wounds in the present.

Gustav (Stellan Skarsgard) is the last one to know why Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) are uncomfortable around him. More likely, Gustav doesn’t care. Having divorced his wife years ago, he was barely around when his daughters needed him. When the mother dies, Gustav saunters back into his children’s lives, seemingly for no other reason other than to make a comeback film based on his own mother.

In a telling sequence in a restaurant, Gustav tells Nora that he wants her to play the lead role in the upcoming movie. Gustav manages to insult Nora even as he thinks he is praising her. Nora balks at Gustav’s indifference towards her feelings.

Gustav ends up casting the American movie star Rachel (Elle Fanning), leading to fresh tensions with Nora. While Agnes doesn’t have Nora’s nervous energy, she too pushes back against Gustav’s presumptiveness in her own way.

The film, which is out on MUBI, looks at the dynamic between father and daughter, who are more alike than they dare admit, as well as the relationship between the sisters. One of the most affecting scenes is between Nora and Agnes, who have been looking out for each other since childhood and have an understanding that helps them face their father’s intransigence together.

Precisely crafted and enacted scenes deliver familiar emotional truths. While a later plot turn feels gimmicky and even tacked on, it does bring Agnes into the foreground, also allowing Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas several excellent scenes.

Renate Reinsve, easily one of the best actresses in cinema today, is so compelling that the camera lingers on her highly mobile face at times, unable to look away. Stellan Skarkgard does a fine job in ensuring that Gustav isn’t the worst father in the world. Elle Fanning is superb in a short role as the American actress keen on an impactful role.

Trier’s narrative command creates an effortless flow, as well as the hint of profundity. The biggest discoveries aren’t new or even original. Rather, Sentimental Value endorses some of the oldest human values – understanding, magnanimity and forgiveness – through imperfect, relatable characters.