Sentimental Value

Reviewing Oscar Nominated Films #29/50 Sentimental Value Nominated for: *Best Picture Leading Actress - Renate Reinsve Supporting Actor - Stellan Skarsgård Supporting Actress - Elle Fanning Supporting Actress - Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas Directing - Joachim Trier Film Editing International Feature Film - Norway Writing (Original Screenplay)* Sentimental Value unfolds like a conversation that has been waiting years to happen. Directed by Joachim Trier, the film circles around memory, family, and the uneasy feeling of seeing personal history transformed into art. Trier approaches the story with remarkable patience, letting emotions surface gradually rather than forcing dramatic release. What emerges is a film that feels deeply lived-in, as if every character has been carrying these feelings long before the story even begins. At the center is Renate Reinsve, whose nominated performance anchors the entire film. Reinsve plays a daughter confronting the complicated legacy of her father, a filmmaker whose work has blurred the line between personal truth and artistic interpretation. Her performance is intensely internal. A glance, a pause before speaking, or the tightening of her posture reveals layers of resentment and vulnerability. Reinsve never pushes the emotion too far; she allows it to sit uncomfortably, which makes the character feel startlingly real. Across from her, Stellan Skarsgård gives a Supporting Actor performance full of contradictions. His character is charming, even warm at times, yet there is always a sense of distance behind his presence. Skarsgård portrays a man who has spent decades translating life into cinema, only to discover that the people closest to him feel misrepresented by the stories he told. The performance moves subtly from confidence to quiet regret, suggesting someone slowly realizing that artistic ambition may have cost him something irreplaceable. Two supporting performances deepen the emotional landscape. Elle Fanning plays a figure who becomes entangled in the family’s unresolved tensions. Fanning brings a delicate sense of empathy to the role, portraying someone who sees the emotional fractures in front of her yet struggles to understand their full history. Her presence adds a perspective that feels both curious and compassionate. Meanwhile, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas delivers a performance built on restraint. She embodies the quiet endurance of someone who has lived with these family dynamics for years. Lilleaas communicates volumes through stillness alone, and when her character finally voices what has been buried, the moment lands with enormous emotional weight. Trier’s direction holds all of these performances together with remarkable sensitivity. Scenes unfold slowly, allowing tension to grow in silences and glances rather than dramatic outbursts. The film trusts its actors completely, giving them the space to explore complicated emotional terrain without rushing toward resolution. The editing shapes this emotional flow with precision. Moments from the present and fragments of memory blend together in ways that mirror how the past lingers in everyday life. Instead of feeling like traditional flashbacks, these shifts feel almost subconscious, reinforcing how memory quietly intrudes on the present. The screenplay, written by Trier, builds the film around a fascinating question: what happens when someone turns their family’s pain into a story for the world to see? Conversations carry an undercurrent of tension, each line suggesting years of unresolved feelings. The writing is sharp yet natural, capturing how people talk around their deepest wounds before finally confronting them. As Norway’s submission for International Feature Film, Sentimental Value stands out for how intimately it examines the relationship between art and personal history. Rather than offering easy closure, it lingers in the uncomfortable realization that stories, no matter how carefully crafted, can never fully capture the truth of the lives behind them. The film ends not with answers, but with the lingering sense that understanding someone you love may take a lifetime.