'Sentimental Value': Cruel Childhoods And Creativity As Cure
- Hannah Philcox-Booth
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Sentimental Value is an emotionally evocative exploration of inherited family struggles, rooted in the dynamic between ageing auteur, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgard) and his two daughters, Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes Borg (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas). The two daughters’ distant and disappointing daddy ignores his history of bad parenting and believes all can be redeemed with his new film, hoping his eldest daughter will take the lead role. Attempting to patch up the effects of generational trauma, can the complex act of creative expression serve as a tool to heal?
Joachim Trier, who cemented his reputation with The Worst Person in the World, returns to direct another powerfully resonant film. Since its Cannes 2025 premiere, Sentimental Value has drawn widespread acclaim – and rightly so. This film moves seamlessly through a wide range of moods and ideas, delivering gut-wrenching emotion tempered by moments of comedic and light-hearted relief; the visuals work in tandem, offering intervals of artistic contemplation and giving the audience a respite for their tear-brimming eyes.
The film is an exemplification of stellar storytelling, with its narratives anchored in the Borg’s family home. This house, which has been witness to the continuing cycle of tragedies that have befallen generations of the family, contains an array of sentimental objects and an array of haunting memories. In fact, foregrounding the rest of the film is the point of view of the house itself. Nora envisions the house’s feelings amidst the chaos of contrasting tender moments to the tense arguments that defined her youth. Later, we see snippets of the past generations of Borgs, each carrying their own sorrows, all stories unfolding in a single place.
Beyond their obvious sentimental value, the house and the things contained in it seem to reflect a conception of the inherent power of objects. In Norse culture, many items were thought to carry innate power or magical properties; objects could be protective, curse-bearing or fate-influencing. Perhaps Sentimental Value emulates a worldview where the spiritual and material realms are deeply intertwined. With the house, we see a piece of property that itself holds essence or even spirits – an heirloom that connects the living to the past generations. The film playfully questions the idea of trauma residing in objects. In one comedic moment, Gustav admits he lied to his actress and claimed the stool she was sat upon was used in a suicide, when it was merely from IKEA. The stool carries no real significance, only what is imagined. The house, however, does seem to bear trauma, reflected in its ties to Nora and Agnes’ turbulent upbringing.
Just as they assume the family home, the central characters are left with struggles that shape and strain their relationships. Their father’s re-entry into their lives forces the daughters to face the ways they have tried, and are trying, to recover from their inherited psychological baggage. One managing better than the other, Agnes has entered domesticity happily with a husband and son. Meanwhile, Nora, the eldest, is heir to her father’s creative talent and his emotionally avoidant nature. Nora and Agnes’ relationship is the heartfelt centrepiece of the film. The sisters stand as a testament to how siblings can fill the gaps left by absent parents, with Agnes confessing that her strength and resilience have always been rooted in the presence of her older sibling. Complicating matters is their father’s presence, Gustav, who is himself attempting to overcome the woes of his own childhood. Joining Gustav is the bubbly American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), whose admiration for Gustav’s artistic expression leads her to take the lead role in his film after Nora refuses it.
Key to all relationships and dynamics is Gustav Borg’s most recent script, which, whilst also seemingly being about his mother, acts as a love letter to his eldest daughter. Stellan Skarsgard perfectly portrays Gustav’s difficulties with proper communication; he relies upon artistic expression. It is said script that prompts a crucial scene between the two sisters that recontextualises everything we’ve seen so far with a deeper significance. Thus, Gustav successfully utilises his writing to heal, creativity’s communicative qualities allowing the family to finally meet each other’s gaze. Like Gustav’s film, Sentimental Value is therapeutic, serving as a love letter to cinema and its power to resonate with universal hardships.
Great films entertain us, great films move us – Sentimental Value did both, with feelings lingering in the pit of my stomach long after the credits rolled.
Edited by Lara Walsh, Co-Film & TV Editor
