150 Word Review: 'Sentimental Value' (2025)
Sins of the father
The plodding Norwegian-language family drama Sentimental Value promises epiphanies and confrontations but sputters along, offering a few chilly, charming moments mostly thanks to a cast that clicks.
Stellan Skarsgård plays an aging filmmaker and boorish absentee father who tries to make up for years of neglect by writing a beautiful screenplay. He is too impish for a man who walked out on his daughters. Elle Fanning is a Hollywood star caught in the orbit of Skarsgård’s genius.
This is director Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his raved-about romantic dramedy The Worst Person in the World, and it stars that film’s lead, Renate Reinsve, who is permanently soulful as an estranged daughter trying to maintain emotional boundaries. But it is Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, as the younger sister, who gives the most nuanced performance. Children of divorce will have old wounds poked, but this portrait of a broken family feels tidy and predictable.
#ICYMI 150 Word Review: ‘The Worst Person In The World’ (2022)
This is a great take. I was completely on board for the first 90 minutes—Renate Reinsve is undeniably incredible here, and Skarsgård plays that 'guilty master' role perfectly. But did you feel like the ending let him off the hook too easily? I struggled with how quickly the film pivoted to forgiveness after cataloging his failures so ruthlessly. I wrote about that specific disconnect (and the film's use of silence) in my review here: https://amnesicreviews.substack.com/p/sentimental-value-the-weight-of-absence