'Sentimental Value' review: Poetic, tender tale of family trauma
What's the story
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, which has received a whopping nine nominations at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards, arrived on Mubi on Friday. The critically acclaimed Norwegian drama features scintillating performances by Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. Piercing, poetic, tender, and ruminative, Sentimental Value is about fragmented families, generational trauma, and the weight of fragile relationships.
Plot
Focuses on a father's difficult relationship with his daughters
Nora (Reinsve) and her sister, Agnes (Lilleaas), share a difficult relationship with their estranged father, film director Gustav (Skarsgård). When he reconnects with them at their mother's funeral, Nora, a theater actor, briefly believes they can mend their fraught relationship. Alas, Gustav's only intention is to pitch her a role. Furious, Nora rejects it, and Gustav takes the project to a successful actor, Rachel.
#1
How the film shows Nora's rage against her father
Nora's deep-seated resentment against her father is apparent from their first scene together. Nora reminds Gustav that she can't put up with his drinking problem, and they "can't even communicate," let alone work together. This widening gap becomes even more evident when Gustav showers Rachel (Fanning) with attention and care, not realizing his daughters yearned for it all their lives.
#2
The family home is an important part of the movie
Gustav's family home becomes a central character in the narrative; every corner tells a story, and like its inhabitants, it has lived a life of its own. The home, which should have felt comfortable and welcoming at all times, felt cacophonous to Nora because of her parents' frequent arguments. Where do you go when your own home turns suffocating?
#3
Benefits from well-rounded characters
Trier doesn't burden his narrative with too many people. Instead, he writes well-defined parts for a handful of characters. Careful not to paint anyone as "evil," he gives us morally complex, raw, and deeply flawed people, and everyone drives the plot together. Laden with profound conversations and set against an emotionally rich backdrop, Sentimental Value is dominated by a sense of calmness.
#4
More on the above aspect
Sentimental Value is as much about an absent father as it is about a scared, scarred daughter who refuses to accept her own shortcomings. At one point, Nora, refusing to seek therapy, says, "I already know too much about myself." She pretends as if Gustav hasn't returned; he's a ghost of the past. Her ultimate solution is to run away from herself.
Verdict
Well worth your time; 3.5/5 stars
Sentimental Value is written with such precision that you might see your own life in it. There are no earth-shattering revelations, no twists, and yet, the film grips you effortlessly through its non-linear storytelling and sharp, cutting dialogue. I wasn't impressed with the convenient, conventional happy ending, but other than that, Sentimental Value is a deeply accurate representation of fragile familial ties. 3.5/5 stars.