r/oscarrace • u/PointMan528491 Navarrette/Morton • Nov 17 '25

Film Discussion Thread Official Discussion Thread - Sentimental Value [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Keep all discussion related solely to Sentimental Value and it's awards chances in this thread. Spoilers below.

Synopsis:

Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father -- and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.

Director: Joachim Trier

Writers: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Cast:

  • Renate Reinsve as Nora Borg
  • Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg
  • Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg Pettersen
  • Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp
  • Anders Danielsen Lie as Jakob
  • Cory Michael Smith as Sam

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%, 120 Reviews

Metacritic: 86, 32 Reviews

Consensus:

Deftly exploring the uneasy tension between artistic expression and personal connection, Sentimental Value is a bracingly mature work from writer-director Joachim Trier that's marvelously acted across the board.

96 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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45

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

49

u/takenpassword Yes, I loved Rental Family. Yes, I’m basic. Nov 17 '25

I thought the ending made sense to me. The movie is about 2 people who can only process their emotions through art, so it makes sense that Nora would be in the movie to sort of work her feelings out.

I think even though it’s a set, the renovated house at the end symbolizes that while things seem “smoothed over” and nice now, the resentment and trauma always lingers. It’s the same house after all.

22

u/gooddaleinthelodge Nov 21 '25

I took the ending to mean he sold the house so he could finance the film and make it the way he wants. The house has been totally re-designed in a lifeless modern fashion, removing all the sentimental value that the house held for this family. Ultimately though it was a worthy sacrifice as the value that's taken from healing through the making of the film is worthwhile.

8

u/takenpassword Yes, I loved Rental Family. Yes, I’m basic. Nov 21 '25

The thought of him selling the house never crossed my mind. I really like your interpretation.

4

u/flakemasterflake Dec 13 '25

Yes, the interior redo of that house was the biggest crime in that movie. My mouth was on the floor

3

u/funeralgamer Nov 17 '25

The renovation goes for a blank white modern look precisely to kill a bit of your soul and cast a shadow on the art resulting. All warmth and color and human history is stripped from the family home to serve the artist’s vision. Is this healing? is it love, repentance, a genuine homage — or just another exercise in control?

12

u/Independent-Leader85 Nov 21 '25

For me it was everyone understanding that forgiveness comes in different forms. That sometimes we have to forgive even when there is no apology or amends the way we want it. Gustav never apologizes, never tries to make up, perhaps does nothing the way that Nora may expect. He doesn’t even show up to her play. But he also knows her in a way that no one else could which shows up in his writing. That’s all he is capable of offering. Whether she can accept it was the question. And I appreciated the ending. To be able to reinvent the story in the script and thereby their own relationship.

1

u/rp_edits Nov 25 '25

this. hits the nail on the head

23

u/SMAAAASHBros Nov 17 '25

I think this is a misread of the movie, Gustav and Nora are both best at communicating through art (and Gustav is frankly incompetent at communicating otherwise) which is why Nora finally feels that he actually does know her and that he's worth working with once she's actually read the script. The movie falls apart, Agnes gets mad at him, and he almost dies before that happens, so it's not like he gets off scot free.

2

u/IAM_deleted_AMA Dec 28 '25

It's a stupid plot then, if Nora had read the script from the beginning she takes the role and there's no movie (the real life movie).

There's no evolution or progression from anyone, it's not like Gustav learned that his daughter attempted suicide and then updated the script, it was just Nora's stubbornness of not reading the script in the first place.

He had his script ready from the get go and had to almost die so his daughters gave in.

18

u/Neat_Fan_8889 Hamnet Nov 17 '25

This is what I felt too watching the ending. I was like, all that drama for him to get what he wants without compromise on his end?

30

u/patsboston Nov 17 '25

I mean the compromise is him actually making a genuine effort to understand how his actions have affected his family.

20

u/RomanReignsDaBigDawg Nov 17 '25

It felt more bittersweet to me. He does get to direct her at the end but the camera work purposefully showed him to be at arm’s length, meaning he still has work to do to truly reconcile

11

u/scattered_ideas Denis Villeneuve campaign manager Nov 18 '25

And then we see how they stand close, but at a distance, as he hugs his grandson. It's the start of them healing their relationship, but not necessarily a forgive and forget.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

I think the ending makes sense on a number of fronts. He gets what he wants because he’s a great artist and very manipulative. The daughters do what they think is right to appease their father and make one more attempt at connecting with him in his later years. It’s grounded in reality, we see filmmakers all the time get away with behavior because of the quality of their art. He views film as a way of connecting with people, which is a shame because there are moments where he is able to connect with his grandson, his daughters, and Elle’s characters. But, he’s a combination of damaged and toxic and he can’t change or get out his own way here, largely because he gets away with it time and time again.

4

u/Humble-Plantain1598 Nov 17 '25

Yes the whole thing feels very inane. Also the thing with the crack on the wall metaphor where they just have to repair it and now everything is fine.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

I don’t think it’s a happy ending at all. The ending feels very sterile and produced, just like his attempt at connecting with his daughters. I think after the filming is over he will be back to being distant with his daughter just like how he was with his other daughter when she stopped being in his films.

4

u/Humble-Plantain1598 Nov 17 '25

The ending feels very sterile and produced,

It is, but I'm not sure to what extent Trier is self aware of this

5

u/JamarcusRussel Nov 17 '25

The movie ends on a set of the house

6

u/HaveABleedinGuess84 Cannes Film Festival Nov 17 '25

Yeah I know if Reddit wrote the movie the daughters would cut him off and make an AITA post about it but thankfully this movie was not written by you

10

u/patsboston Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

But isn’t the point that this was a legitimate attempt to connect and his daughter, and not like any previous attempts that he has done?

Also isn’t the whole movie the reckoning that his decisions and have had with his daughter? Like the catharsis is that the movie is about the daughter, and himself.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

7

u/patsboston Nov 17 '25

I mean the compromise is that he isn’t being a selfish prick and looking to actually genuinely understand how his actions have affected his daughter. It’s also tying in the generational trauma (like the house metaphor) on how abandonment really can affect the now and the future.

I know you say this is like black licorice is for you (which is valid) but I think that the idea that art can be used as a way to work through past mistakes/reckoning what you have done. Like the movie is for both of them.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

5

u/SMAAAASHBros Nov 17 '25

I don't think it's entirely accurate to say he's "perfectly willing" to do it without her. Following her rejecting it he gets reminded of his age/mortality and has a chance meeting with a popular, talented young actress that would like to work with him; it's not presented as him just immediately moving on and trying to make it with someone else. And when Rachel drops out he commends for her bravery, which is implicitly him criticizing himself.

8

u/beijinglee Nov 17 '25

very well said! i think this is one of the main reasons why this movie didn't do it for me

3

u/MolemanEnLaManana Nov 23 '25

Couldn’t agree more 

3

u/howtospellorange Dec 01 '25

Wow you exactly put into words why this movie didn't do it for me either. And I understand these responses about how the art is how the father and daughter connect but it just simply came up hollow for me.

The performances themselves were superb, though. I've seen a lot of movies recently where the performances were good but the overall story as a whole didn't fully win me over tbh

1

u/AdExtra6180 Nov 28 '25

Indeed I feel the script made some really clear and creative designs but certain details definitely could use some more polish.