Title: Sentimental Value
MPA Rating: R
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins

What It Is: Nora (Reinsve) is a stage actress. Her father, Gustav (Skarsgård), is a very famous film director. He wants Nora to star in his new movie, which he plans to shoot in the home where she grew up. There is tension surrounding this decision, largely caused by Gustav having walked out on Nora and her sister, Agnes (Ibsdotter Lilleaas), years earlier.

Their mother’s recent passing has had a profound effect on Nora and has her reconsidering many aspects of her life. When Gustav decides instead to cast famous actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) in the role he originally wrote for Nora, both she and the rest of Gustav’s family begin to question whether this is the right choice.

What We Think: With this film, Trier may have made his best work yet, and it is certainly his most human. Renate Reinsve is incredible, delivering a performance full of nuance and restraint. Acting as a near-perfect foil is Stellan Skarsgård, who is operating at the top of his game.

Trier’s use of the house as a living, breathing entity with its own soul is a beautifully constructed allegory within the film. This is one of the year’s best-acted movies overall. Everyone involved is simply fantastic. The script alone is enough to make any aspiring screenwriter giddy. It must have been an absolute dream for Joachim Trier to direct this cast, given how rich the material is and how deeply everyone commits to it.

Our Grade: A+, This is such a refreshingly positive film to come out of Scandinavia. Too often, what American audiences receive from that region are bleak dramas and relentlessly somber stories. This film, instead, is about family, hope, and the joy we can bring to one another when we stop and focus on what truly matters.

See this immediately. It is worth the emotional swing and absolutely worth the subtitles.