Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' Ditches Hollywood Clichés for Raw Truth
The Norwegian director's latest film starring Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård explores fractured family bonds without falling into saccharine territory, proving that quiet moments pack the biggest emotional punch.
The word 'sentimental' appears right in the title, but Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier steers clear of syrupy Hollywood tropes in his latest work. Instead, he delivers something far more powerful: an unflinchingly honest look at broken family ties that makes Sentimental Value a standout film of 2025.
A Family Torn Apart by Abandonment
After his critically praised The Worst Person in the World, Trier reunites with Renate Reinsve for another exploration of life's messy uncertainties. Reinsve plays Nora, an actor paralyzed by stage fright. Stellan Skarsgård portrays her emotionally distant father Gustav, an art-house director who fled the country when Nora and her sister Agnes were children.
The resentment runs deep. Nora can't forgive Gustav for walking out on them. But when their mother dies, he returns, forcing an adult confrontation neither seems ready for.
Where Quiet Beats Loud
What could have become another overwrought reconciliation story transforms into something genuinely moving under Trier's direction. The script finds humor and truth in the smallest exchanges, avoiding the bombastic emotional outbursts that Hollywood typically favors.
The film's most devastating moment comes during a simple conversation between the sisters. Nora wonders aloud how Agnes didn't end up as "fucked up" as she did. Agnes responds softly: "Because I had you." They cry together, acknowledging their shared grief without melodrama. It's devastatingly real.
Art as Both Bridge and Barrier
Skarsgård brings remarkable complexity to Gustav, a man who struggles to communicate through normal channels. Unable to connect with words, he writes Nora a screenplay that blends his mother's traumatic past and suicide with his desperate need to understand his daughter.
When Nora refuses to perform in it, Gustav hires American actress Rachel, played by Elle Fanning. Fanning dyes her hair brown, morphing into an eerie Nora doppelganger. But she can't access the emotional depths the role demands, no matter how hard she tries.
The screenplay becomes a bridge between father and daughter, if only they'd let each other across. Trier suggests that art can help process trauma and facilitate communication, but only when people remain open to receiving it. Art doesn't solve everything, but it can start healing wounds that seemed permanent.
Through performance, through words written and rewritten then spoken aloud, Gustav's message finally reaches the person who needs to hear it most. The mirror reflects back through the very voice he's been trying to reach.
Beauty Without Sentimentality
The film overflows with genuine moments that never feel manufactured. The family home becomes almost a character itself, charming without falling into nostalgic clichés. An opening sequence manages to be both hilarious and thrilling.
Even seemingly random scenes add texture. Gustav teaching his nine-year-old grandson to shoot phone videos, or gifting him DVDs of The Piano Teacher and Irreversible, provide comic relief while revealing character. These moments create a complete portrait of a family, heartbreaking and funny in equal measure.