Joachim Trier’s ‘Sentimental Value’ Delivers Raw Family Truths

Joachim Trier’s latest offering, despite its title, is anything but syrupy. The Norwegian director, known for his deft touch with complex relationships, steers clear of the usual Hollywood sentiment in ‘Sentimental Value’. Instead, he crafts a film that’s as honest as it is quietly amusing, digging into the muddle of family life with a sharp eye and a steady hand.

Family Ties and Unspoken Grievances

Renate Reinsve, who previously led Trier’s much-lauded ‘The Worst Person in the World’, returns as Nora, an actor paralysed by stage fright. Her father, Gustav, played by Stellan Skarsgård, is an aloof arthouse director who vanished abroad when Nora and her sister, Agnes, were young. The death of their mother brings Gustav back, forcing Nora to confront the man she’s never quite forgiven. What could have been a cloying tale of reconciliation is, in Trier’s hands, something far more nuanced. The script, laced with wit and candour, allows the cast to shine in roles that feel lived-in and true.

Rather than grand gestures or explosive rows, Trier finds drama in the quieter moments. A hushed exchange between the sisters, for instance, sees Nora ask why Agnes didn’t end up as “fucked up” as she did.

“Because I had you.”

Agnes replies, and the two collapse into a gentle, tearful embrace. It’s a scene that rings painfully true, two siblings grappling with the weight of their shared past, the spectre of generational trauma never far away.

The Art of Communication

Skarsgård’s Gustav is a study in ambiguity. He’s neither villain nor hero, but something altogether more human—frustrating, moving, and at times, utterly baffling. Unable to speak plainly, he hands Nora a script, hoping she’ll take the lead in a story that blurs the lines between his mother’s tragic life and his own attempts to reach out. Nora refuses, so Gustav enlists an American actress, Rachel (Elle Fanning), to step into the role. Fanning’s transformation—complete with dyed hair—brings her uncannily close to Nora, yet she can’t quite inhabit the part. The screenplay, it turns out, is Gustav’s clumsy attempt to bridge the gulf between himself and his daughter.

Trier seems to suggest that art, for all its power, can only take us so far. It offers a way to process pain, to communicate what words alone can’t, but it’s no panacea. Healing, if it comes at all, is slow and tentative. The connection between Nora and Gustav remains fraught, their conversations stilted, but through performance—words written, spoken, and reflected back—they inch towards something like understanding.

Moments of Levity and Humanity

There’s a certain charm to the family home, which sidesteps nostalgia by feeling oddly familiar, perhaps even a bit like your own. The film opens with a brisk, comic sequence that sets the tone: this is a story as much about laughter as it is about loss. Trier peppers the narrative with scenes that, on the surface, seem inconsequential—Gustav teaching his grandson to shoot a video on a phone, or gifting him DVDs of ‘The Piano Teacher’ and ‘Irreversible’. These moments, light and unforced, lend the film a sense of warmth and authenticity.

‘Sentimental Value’ is, in the end, a portrait of a family in all its messiness—funny, painful, and never quite resolved. It’s a tapestry woven from small gestures and half-spoken truths, a reminder that the most meaningful connections are often the hardest to articulate.