Sentimental Value

In Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his beloved The Worst Person in the World (NYFF59), Renate Reinsve burrows to the steely core of Nora Borg, an acclaimed stage actress going through the first rumblings of a personal crisis after the death of her mother. She and her devoted therapist sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), are suddenly forced to confront long-suppressed elements of their past when their estranged movie-director father, Gustav (a wonderfully restrained Stellan Skarsgård, conveying a world of regret in the smallest of gestures) returns with a script he has written for Nora. After she refuses the role, Gustav turns to an American movie star (Elle Fanning), further complicating his own attempt at reconciliation. Trier’s insightful and captivating adult drama, which won the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, furthers the writer-director’s piercing exploration of the frayed ties that bind us to one another and to our creative selves. A NEON release.

Travel support generously provided by Royal Norwegian Consulate General.