Film Review: Sentimental Value
Film
Sentimental Value
Director: Joachim Trier
Mer Film, Eye Eye Pictures, MK Productions, BBC Film, Lumen Production, Zentropa
In Theaters: 11.07.2025
I went to see Sentimental Value because the song “Ooh La La” by Faces was in the trailer. You cannot imagine my heartbreak when I found it was absent in the final film.
Sentimental Value is about a crusty retired filmmaker, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård, Dune, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) who long ago abandoned his wife and two daughters in his childhood home. After the death of the mother, he returns, intent on making a film in the home with the eldest daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World, A Different Man), now a professional theater actress, as the lead. When she turns him down, he finds American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning, A Complete Unknown, Maleficent) eager to work with the filmmaking legend.
Sentimental Value is a very intimate film. It moves slowly through the lives of its four leads, showing us how traumatized and fucked up they are. Even Fanning’s character is suffering from well earned imposter syndrome as Gustav makes her look and act more and more like his daughter.
While I love films where every scene is a character sitting in a location doing nothing and complaining about everything, there are times in Sentimental Value where I just want them to get on with it. This is a two hour film where nothing happens and people continuously fail to change until its last moments. That’s not to say nothing happens, but little actually does. Am I criticising this because I’m an impatient idiot? Or maybe I don’t have that fabled European sensibility? Whatever the case, I’ve had the ability to enjoy this kind of film before. I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s A Real Pain, a film where people often sit in locations and complain, but even there sometimes something happens that forces change and understanding. Maybe Sentimental Value is more realistic. Maybe I just don’t get it.
All that shit said, I still think this is a great film. Technically genius, Sentimental Value’s cinematography is strong, even if it’s often reduced to generic shaky cam closeups on characters being emotional. Scenes feel deeply intimate and enthralling. Characters break so easily. They’re fragile, even the ones that first appear strong and put together are fragile. There are so many scenes that refuse to cut, forcing us to sit in the misery and beauty of it longer than most films are comfortable with. The cut is the most overused aspect of filmmaking. Cut too much and you sacrifice the flow of your story and the performances of your actors. It’s worth noting, however, that you can’t cut too little.
Skarsgård is fantastic. He carries scenes unbelievably effortlessly, and the subtle shifts in his eyes indicate monumental shifts in moods and understandings. His chemistry with Fanning is fantastic, and she’s pretty good on her own, even if you can feel she’s trying too hard in highly emotional scenes, which is a redundant complaint, I know, but you’ll understand when you see it. The strongest performance comes from Reinsve, whose understanding of the craft is beautiful. Entire scenes rely on her ability to act without words, and she nails it.
Sentimental Value is a solid Oscar contender. Once a year I see a film predetermined to be nominated for an award in every category that isn’t Oscar bait (fuck you CODA), and as far as those films go, this is one of the best. Watch Sentimental Value for the feels and the trauma, not for “Ooh La La.” —B. Allan Johnson
Read other reviews by B. Allan Johnson:
Film Review: The Smashing Machine
Film Review: Cheese Bait
