Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value explores family ties, fractured memories, and the complex bonds between parents and children. The film follows sisters Nora and Agnes, raised by their mother after their father Gustav, a filmmaker, left the family. Nora pursues a career on stage while Agnes builds a life centered on her family. When Gustav reenters their lives with plans for a comeback film, old wounds resurface. His attempt to cast Nora fails, pushing him toward American actress Rachel Kemp, who soon discovers she has entered a personal drama larger than she imagined.
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The cast brings together an acclaimed ensemble. Renate Reinsve takes on the role of Nora, reuniting with Trier after her award-winning turn in The Worst Person in the World. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas portrays Agnes, the sister balancing motherhood and responsibility. Stellan Skarsgård plays Gustav, the father whose artistic ambitions collide with family trauma, while Elle Fanning steps into the role of Rachel Kemp, a Hollywood star drawn into the Borg family’s fractured story.
Trier sets much of the story inside the Borg family home, a place that acts as both witness and mirror to the characters’ struggles. Nora begins as her sister’s protector in childhood, only for roles to reverse in adulthood. Agnes becomes the glue that holds the family together, caring for her mother until her passing and supporting her sister through crises. This reversal frames the film’s central theme: the shifting responsibilities within families and the difficulty of expressing grief and love.
Reinsve, portrays Nora as an actress who channels anxiety into performance while struggling to connect in daily life. Lilleaas’s Agnes provides a contrast, grounding the family through empathy and sacrifice. Gustav, reappearing with his screenplay, represents both artistic ambition and paternal failure. His absence haunts the family, and his return destabilizes the fragile balance the sisters built.
Rachel Kemp enters the story as Gustav’s new lead, a Hollywood star searching for meaning in her career. Fanning describes Rachel as a performer at a crossroads, famous yet questioning her future. Her collaboration with Skarsgård builds a dynamic between two artists who use each other’s vulnerabilities in pursuit of authenticity.
Trier roots Sentimental Value in questions about inheritance: emotional, artistic, and familial. He and co-writer Eskil Vogt began developing the script while reflecting on a generational home in Trier’s own family. The house became a symbolic center, holding the history of its occupants and transferring memory across time.
The production features music carefully chosen to emphasize intimacy and reflection. Trier opens with Terry Callier’s “Dancing Girl” and closes with Labi Siffre’s “Cannock Chase,” framing the film with songs that echo tenderness and memory. His long-time collaborator Kasper Tuxen captures Oslo’s light and atmosphere across different eras, from the 1930s to the present.
