Hello everybody. I'm Dan Merl here with my review of Sentimental Value or Effect Jones as I'm sure it is not pronounced in Norwegian. It is the latest film from co-writer and director Yo Kim Trier. His last film was the multi-scar nominee The Worst Person in the World. And this movie is poised to potentially rack up even more awards season love.
Sentimental Value debuted at the Can Film Festival back in May where it won the Grand Prix, which is the equivalent of second place. And it stars Ranatada Reyna as Norah Borg, a successful stage actress whose life is still affected by her father's abandonment of their family when she was young. Her father is Gustavborg, played by Stellin Scarsgard, a once acclaimed director whose career has slowly faded over the years and who returns to his family to inform them that he's working on a new movie which is clearly inspired by his own past, but which he denies is based on anything.
After Norah turns down the lead role in the movie, Gustav convinces Rachel Kemp, a Hollywood star looking to challenge herself, to take the part. Kemp is played by L. Fanning. As Gustav prepares to shoot the film, old family trauma resurfaces and Norah finds herself thrown back into her darkest moments and questioning her life decisions with only her sister Agnes, played by Eningga IB's daughter, Lilius, to turn to for support.
People get tired of hearing me talk about Roger Eert, but one of the earliest quotes about movies that I can remember reading came from a Roger Eert essay or article, and he was actually quoting another Hollywood figure. It was director Howard Hawks who said that a great film consists of, and this was his quote, "Three great scenes, no bad ones." That has applied to many movies that I've seen over the years, but only a few new ones that I see each year. And that's the quote that kept popping into my head while watching Sentimental Value.
Each individual scene in this movie is like a a puzzle piece. It clicks something else into place as you try to unravel these characters. And it often does that in really subtle ways. It's not necessarily a speech. It's a look or a reaction or a single line of dialogue. Each scene is integral, but it's also just one piece of the puzzle. And the hope is that when that last piece is put into place that you'll have a complete picture.
Sentimental value is one of the most thorough and complete pictures of a small group of characters that I can remember in a really long time. You start the movie knowing nothing and you end the movie knowing everything about their past, about their present, and maybe even about their future. And each character is a complex, complete person. We first meet Nora as she's preparing to go on stage, and the movie gives us one of the most believable and stressful portrayals of an anxiety attack that I can remember seeing in a movie. It's subtly suggested that this is not a one-time occurrence, and it's very much who Norah is. She doesn't withhold love from her family, but she does withhold herself. She's afraid to let anybody in. And the discovery of how she's that way and why she's that way is something that she and we discover together over the course of the film. It is a wonderful performance from Ranata Reinva, and I think that it's one that should have her in the mix for major awards.
Even more in the mix, I think, is Stellin Scarsgard. Because Gustaf starts off as what seems like a pretty simple character. He's washed up. He's callous. He's one of those people that only wants to love his family on his own terms. He's the kind of grandfather who gives his nine-year-old grandson a DVD of irreversible for his ninth birthday because he thinks that it's great cinema. But we slowly get to see throughout the movie who Gustav actually is. He's traumatized. He's regretful. He's keenly aware that his legacy may be slipping away. He is somebody who seems like he's lived in a fog for decades, thinking that his talent's going to live forever. His movies are going to live forever. And then he's just now starting to see that fade. There is a meeting where he meets up with one of his collaborators, a cinematographer, and it's heartbreaking because we see him looking at the realities of aging maybe for the first time. Stellin Scarsgard gives us the full measure of this man and most of it's not pretty, but because it's a portrait and a complete portrait, we see a path to redemption if he can actually do the reflection that's required to take it.
Gustav and Nora are the two main characters, but in both of their orbits are the movie star Rachel and the supportive sister Agnes, and they're also very crucial roles. Rachel is one of Hollywood's hottest stars, but it's implied that she's had a bit of a roadblock. She's still popular, but her movies are maybe not as popular. And there's a sense that if she doesn't act fast, then the spotlight could be fading. She shares a lot of similarities with Gustav in that way. So, she decides to take this role that is completely out of her league. And a big chunk of this film is watching Gustav try to shape her and mold her to see if he could ignite this spark in her that he knows already burns in his daughter, but his daughter doesn't want the role. Rachel becomes essentially a surrogate daughter and who knows what else. And I think that Fanning delivers a really nuanced performance as she tries to figure out what Gustav wants from her and if she's even capable of delivering it.
Eningga IB's daughter Lilius as Agnes has I think maybe the least showy role in the movie, but that almost makes her performance more impressive. What I love about Agnes and Nora as they're written as sisters is that you can tell that they have a lifetime of history together, but it plays out in pieces. Most movies might reveal all the stuff up front so that you can contextualize the characters early. Some kind of an info dump in act one, but Agnes is armed with knowledge that we, the audience, don't have. And Ingga's daughter Lilius plays that perfectly. She's sort of trapped between her sister and her father, but that also makes her the most grounded character in the movie. She can see truths that the other two can't. I think that her pain is as real as Norah and Gustav's, but she's been given more tools to cope with that pain, and it shows.
But inside the story of these four characters and their drama is a lot of humor and even some industry satire and some commentary. Gustav is able to use Rachel's star power to get his movie sold to Netflix only to discover that there is such a thing as a streaming only release. And I have to give kudos to Netflix for letting their name be used in the film. He's also exposed to influencers and mandated executive oversight for the first time. And yes, this adds to his feelings of aging, but I think it's also kind of a humorous fish out of water scenario. Sentimental Value may sound like a dire family drama, and it often is, but it's not afraid of levity, and it doesn't leave you kind of sullenly sitting in the dark contemplating the misery of existence.
Now, for better or for worse, I do read the comments. And something that I commonly see in the comment section is that I only like Oscar bait movies and I don't like anything else. Well, I I do actually like all kinds of movies, even stuff that might not be Oscar material. For example, I recommended The Naked Gun and Final Destination Bloodlines this year, and I doubt that they will be competing at the Academy Awards, although that would be kind of cool. But I can't beat the allegations that when it comes to a good, introspective, deep, rich character study, yeah, I've got a soft spot for him. And I'm not saying that a Norwegian family drama is for everybody, but this one was certainly for me. And at the end of the day, it's not my job to decide whether you will or won't like a movie. It's to tell you whether I liked a movie or didn't like it.
I love movies that make me feel like I'm watching real people. People who existed before the opening credits, whose life I get kind of a window into for a couple of hours and then who will go on living after the credits are over. And Sentimental Value is a perfect example of that kind of movie. It's intimate and personal and genuine. I did not think of these characters as actors playing roles. I thought of them as flawed, hurt human beings in search of an elusive solution to the problems of life. and whatever else has been put in front of them.
Not all of the answers are found by the end of the movie, but I like to feel that maybe these characters are on their way. This is the kind of movie I like reviewing because when I sat down to write down my thoughts, the words just kind of poured out. There are times when I struggle to fill maybe a few paragraphs about a movie I'm reviewing because what I'm talking about has been seen and done many times before. And that doesn't necessarily make it a bad movie. It just makes it kind of an unremarkable movie. And I think that this movie is remarkable.
I don't know if sentimental value is going to be my favorite movie of 2025, but I do think that it's one of the best. One of the goals of film making, I think, is to capture humanity, to create something real from the heavily manufactured art form that is movie making. Sentimental value feels as real as I think a movie can feel. you probably know on your own whether or not a Norwegian family drama is the kind of thing you'd enjoy. But if it is the kind of thing you think you'd like, then I think that you are going to love this one. So, on my personal scale, I am giving Sentimental Value a See It Now rating because I really, really liked the movie. Again, your own guidance is suggested. You have the best idea of what kind of movie you're going to enjoy.
So, those are my thoughts on Sentimental Value. And I've got more reviews coming as we get into the awards season. And I'm glad that I get to kind of shine a spotlight on some of these smaller films. It might not be playing at a theater near you right now, but you should be able to watch it hopefully before the Academy Awards at a minimum. Thanks so much for listening to me talk about this movie and be sure to stay tuned right here for more movie news, reviews, box office, and more. Until next time, stay safe and I'll see you then. Bye.