How do existing familial bonds shape us as humans? This is the question Sentimental Value sets out to explore. When sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) lose their mother, they come face to face with their estranged father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård). As a filmmaker, Gustav reveals to Nora he has written a film especially for her, but she immediately turns it down. When the role is instead given to a young, eager Hollywood actress (Elle Fanning), the sisters must navigate their already fraught relationship with their father as the film begins to take shape in their childhood home.
Sentimental Value explores two strands of one family’s relationship. The first focuses on the sisters’ present-day relationship with their father, while the second looks back at the lives of previous generations, all set within the same family home. As the film progresses, these two strands become increasingly intertwined, gradually revealing how the experiences and choices of earlier generations ripple forward, shaping the lives of their children all the time. The question portrayed in the film is something I think we can all relate to in a sense. Whether they are good traits or bad, we all carry elements from the people who came before us.
As always, Renate Reinsve is a standout, collaborating with Joachim Trier for the third time. She plays Nora, a moderately successful Norwegian actress who is quietly carrying more than she lets on, particularly as she struggles to appear on stage in her latest play. Already battling her own inner turmoil, the last thing Nora needs is the reappearance of her father, forcing her to navigate deeply complicated feelings while maintaining a fragile sense of control. Alongside Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård delivers a nuanced performance as Gustav. He is never positioned as a figure the audience can fully hate, yet his presence is persistently uncomfortable, charged with the weight of past failures and unresolved tension.
However, in a film that navigates a web of complex familial relationships, the most vital is the bond between Nora and Agnes. Through every struggle they have faced, the sisters have remained constants in each other’s lives. Despite having a family and home of her own, Agnes always makes space for Nora, returning the favour of Nora being there for her as children, a quiet devotion that becomes central to both the emotional core of the story and the development of its characters.
Heightening the film’s emotional weight is the collaboration between Trier and cinematographer Kasper Tuxen, whose careful use of lighting and shadow evokes feelings in every scene. Light is often used in the film to gradually reveal new elements within the frame, allowing emotions and meaning to emerge as a scene unfolds.
Ultimately, Sentimental Value takes the audience on an emotional yet poignant journey, inviting reflection on how the generations before us shape the way we feel today. It suggests that while we are not necessarily bound to inherit those emotions forever, moving beyond them is rarely something we can do alone.
Sentimental Value is out in UK cinemas on Boxing Day, watch the trailer here:
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