After making waves at Cannes Film Festival with its 15-minute standing ovation (or 19-minute, relying on which clapometer you belief most), the longest for 2025, I knew I needed to exit of my manner to ensure I saw Sentimental Value.
As certainly one of 22 films in competition for Cannes’ top honour, the prestigious Palme D’Or, that rapturous reception put its name on everybody’s lips at the pageant – and at the high of the record to win.
And I’d agree, as certainly one of the most spectacular and impactful movies I saw at Cannes this 12 months.
Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi in its native Norway) gives a fascinating window into a dysfunctional household in Oslo and all the damage they’ve witnessed and carried over the generations of their light however quirky house.
It’s emotional and highly effective with out being overblown, managing to stay totally lifelike in its story and interpersonal relationships with out ever slipping into the mundane – and it’s additionally peppered all through with fairly darkish humour.
In arms much less assured than that of director and co-writer Joachim Trier, we could be saying ‘so what?’ of a film about a washed-up filmmaker (Stellan Skarsgård) making an attempt to reconnect with the daughters he walked out on after divorcing their mom as a baby, wooing the one who has develop into a profitable actress in her personal proper with a half written specifically for her in his new film.
But Sentimental Value not solely handles these tensions expertly however makes the home of the Borg household – being packed up by sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) after their mom’s dying – a character in its personal proper.
Indeed, it’s launched first of anybody in the film’s opening moments, and we study extra about its curious composition and its earlier inhabitants in scenes interspersed all through the film.
Skarsgård’s Gustav really desires to make a film about his mom, who died by suicide in the home when he was a younger boy after being tortured by Nazis throughout the conflict.
Trier beforehand delighted Cannes in 2021 with The Worst Person in the World, which received earlier collaborator Reinsve the finest actress prize and went on to nab two Oscar nominations.
And not that this could rely for the high quality of Sentimental Value, which speaks for itself, however – curiously – ought to it win, it will give co-distributor Neon the record-breaking honour of a sixth consecutive Palme win, following earlier victors Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and last year’s winner, Anora.
Perhaps Sentimental Value’s loudest argument for victory at Cannes although is its sensible powerhouse performances: Skarsgård enjoys the finest position he’s had in years as a charismatic however conceited and barely determined 70-year-old, decided to evoke previous glories.
Capturing all the shades required in a position this advanced – and some – this might mark Skarsgård’s first Oscar nomination in an in any other case storied profession.
And as for his character’s comeback objective, that may additionally imply casting his grandson in his new film – regardless of the reluctance of the boy’s mom, youthful sister Agnes (Lilleaas), who as soon as starred in a film of her father’s 20 years in the past, earlier than leaving the occupation after feeling deserted by him post-production.
Lilleaas gives a excellent counter-balance to Reinsve’s anger and hostility in direction of her father as Nora, which manifests in a panic assault forward of her new stage efficiency. When Nora turns down her father’s provide of a position, he as a substitute recruits Hollywood starlet Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning, persevering with a run of nice performances in a notably large number of movies), who’s charmed by him at a film pageant and wanting to please.
But the film is, undeniably, Reinsve’s, who permits Trier to reveal the full vary of her skills like a uncooked nerve; I anticipate to see her identify in competition too come awards season.
Lest this all sound overly angsty although, the household shares a propensity in direction of dry humour which flares up every now and then – like when Gustav tells Rachel she’s sitting on the stool his mom stepped off to finish he life, just for Agnes to later reveal it’s from Ikea. Or when Gustav buys his grandson a bunch of arthouse DVDs for his ninth birthday, together with cult erotic thriller The Piano Teacher, as you do.
There’s additionally an all-too-familiar junket scene during which Gustav and Rachel, pre-plugging the film after partnering with Netflix, find yourself partaking in an interview that turns into each journalist’s most embarrassing nightmare.
My solely quibble with Sentimental Value is that it does begin to tread water a little because it nears the finish. As with nearly each film I’ve seen throughout the 2025 version of Cannes, it might have misplaced 20 minutes from its 135-minute run-time.
But ought to it show victorious at Saturday’s closing ceremony then I’ll think about it a worthy victor.
Sentimental Value premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It is but to obtain a UK launch date.
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