Joachim Trier’s 2025 film, Sentimental Value, is a touching exploration of trauma, family dynamics, memory, and history. Children have a tendency to think about the feelings and emotions of inanimate objects, and the film begins with a little girl’s perspective on the thoughts of an old house where her family had been living for generations. She wondered if the house felt sad when there were fewer people living in its belly, or if it was relieved. Nora liked to believe that the house was at its happiest when it was brimming with laughter and conversations. This gives us an idea that, as a child, Nora felt safe and happy when there were more people around her. But over the years, the giggles and laughter were replaced by loud arguments between her parents that Nora could hear through a crack in the wall, leaving her feeling terrified. We soon discover that she was deeply affected when her father abandoned them. She never really coped with his decision, and even as an adult she seemed to cherish the one day her father had expressed how proud he was when she scored an ‘A’ for a monologue she’d written. In Sentimental Value, the father attempts to find his way back to his daughters, particularly Nora, and the path is filled with heartbreak, disappointment, and rage.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Nora refuse to be a part of her father’s film?
Gustav was hellbent on casting Nora for his upcoming fiction film. Nora shared a distant relationship with her father, and she was visibly uncomfortable when he showed up at their mother’s wake. She thought his sudden desire to perform his fatherly duties was uncalled for. Her younger sister, Agnes, was more accommodating of Gustav. She preferred avoiding confrontation with her father, and she chose to maintain a harmonious relationship with him. In Sentimental Value, the bond between the siblings is crucial. While most aspects of Nora’s life were uncertain, Agnes was her only anchor. Nora was an established theater actor. She suffered from extreme performance anxiety that one can assume stemmed from her fear of her father’s disapproval. During her initial days as an actor, she searched for her father in the crowd, but he rarely showed up. And although he’d been mostly absent from her life, Nora secretly always sought his appreciation.
Gustav wasn’t a fan of the theater, and he believed Nora’s potential wasn’t being fully utilized. Nora was appalled by his entitlement when he asked her to read his film script. She perhaps thought that Gustav was trying to be a ‘savior’ by offering to transform her career by giving her the opportunity to work in his film. Nora rejected his offer immediately. She refused to even read the script. She couldn’t imagine working with her father, and she believed it would only worsen what can be described as their non-existent relationship. Nora feared that for a short span of time she would become the center of her father’s universe, and just when she would think that their relationship had improved, he would again abandon her. She wasn’t ready to let him toy with her emotions. She’d seen the effect it had on Agnes, who, as a little girl, had acted in Gustav’s film. Agnes was left craving for her father’s affection, but he was gone when the shoot was over.
Why did Rachel Kemp decide to back out from the film?
After Gustav failed to convince Nora to act in his film, he considered Rachel Kemp for the role. She was deeply moved after attending Gustav’s film retrospective, and she had expressed her desire to work with him. She was a reputable actor, and she found a friend in Gustav. He encouraged her to do her thing instead of waiting for the approval of her associates to take on the projects she liked. As much as Rachel enjoyed the idea of working with Gustav, she soon realized that maybe she wasn’t a good fit for the role. She could sense that the character was based on Nora. She was asked to dye her hair to match Nora’s; she feared that if she played the part, the film wouldn’t be the one Gustav intended on making. She initially wondered if the character had some connection with Gustav’s mother, who, like the character, had died by suicide. She couldn’t really connect with the character; she failed to grasp the catalyst that drove her to the point of suicide, and the fact that Gustav repeatedly mentioned the character wasn’t based on his mother didn’t help her case either.
Although Rachel had really wished to work with Gustav, she ultimately realized that the collaboration wouldn’t be fruitful. She sensed that Gustav was making several compromises, and she hoped that he would make the film the way he wished to. He shouldn’t bend to the ways of the world, something that he’d advised Rachel on their first meeting. Gustav realized that he was indeed going astray; he had almost cast an English-speaking actor as the protagonist, even though the character was clearly meant to speak Norwegian, and he’d agreed to work with Netflix even though they were clearly not on the same terms. Gustav’s goal was to make cinema that essentially should be watched in theaters, whereas Netflix had considered releasing the film directly on their platform.
The realization that age was catching up with him left Gustav with a feeling of discomfort. He was reminded of how time was slipping away from him when he saw his cinematographer, Peter, clutch his walking stick as he tried to move from one room to another. He was hellbent on always having the same crew for every film, because the bond between them helped bring his vision to life, but he had to accept that maybe that wouldn’t be possible anymore, although Peter had considered working on the film only because Gustav had pleaded with him to. Nothing was going the way Gustav had wished for. He’d likely been mentally planning on his second fiction film almost his entire adult life, yet portraying it visually had almost become a task. The house stood witness to Gustav’s dreams and regrets, and when everything was falling apart, Gustav flipped a finger in the direction of the house. The house was a painful reminder of the past, and every character, particularly Gustav, shared a love-hate relationship with it.
What was Gustav’s film about?
This is probably the most pertinent question that the audience might try to find an answer to throughout the course of Sentimental Value. To begin with, we were in Rachel’s position; we only had scattered ideas and information, and it wasn’t really clear what the film was about. But unlike Rachel, we also get to witness the sides of the characters that they chose to hide from the public as well as private conversations that help us understand what Gustav’s film was about. Gustav’s film was as much about the past as it was about the present. Gustav’s mother, Karin, was arrested by the Nazis, and according to the records Agnes discovered (she worked as a researcher on her father’s films), she was brutally tortured. The records mentioned Karin’s description of the assault; she had stated that the pain endured for months. The reenactment photographs moved Agnes to tears. It was not the first time that Agnes had heard about the torture her grandmother had to endure, but regardless, reading her account and seeing the pictures left Agnes numb. The next morning, when she met her father, she embraced him and held him a little longer than usual. She’d realized how traumatizing it must have been for her father, who was just a little boy when his mother died.
Sentimental Value addresses generational trauma; the torture and the agony that Gustav’s mother carried always stayed with her, even though she’d tried to get back to living an ordinary life. The pain was so overbearing that as much as she must have loved her son, she couldn’t live with it anymore. Perhaps the nightmares only got worse with time, and she found it challenging to explain to her loved ones what she had been going through. Now, Karin’s decision had a tremendous effect on Gustav, and in a way, the pain Karin carried was passed onto her son. He’d moved out of the house, and for a short while, Karin’s sister, Edith, took over, but when she passed away, Gustav returned home again since he was the sole heir. It wasn’t easy for him to settle in the house that had scarred his childhood, and his wife, who used to be his therapist, recognized his discomfort. They were in love when they started a family, but soon the differences between Gustav and Sissel became impossible to resolve.
Nora and Agnes bore witness to their parents’ failed marriage. Gustav had repeatedly cheated on Sissel, and he used to complain about feeling stuck whenever he was at home with his family. So, one day, he left. Gustav possibly didn’t even know what he was searching for. He was a celebrated filmmaker, but the peace and the calm he had looked for, he never really found. He perhaps had realized that it was impossible to find peace in someone else when the chaos stemmed from within him. He never got over his mother’s sudden passing, and the house was a haunting reminder of his miserable childhood days. Gustav had passed the grief and the agony that he carried onto Nora and Agnes. It was unintentional; he was possibly so wrapped up in his own torment that he failed to realize the effect his absence had on his children. By the time he did, it was too late. Every little thing he said and did now had a devastating effect on his daughters, especially Nora.
Being rejected by her father and craving affection from an unavailable individual as a child had destroyed her. The constant fear of not being good enough and the fact that she didn’t have a safe space while growing up had left her feeling overwhelmed and self-critical. Nora was oblivious that the constant aching pain in her heart wasn’t just her childhood trauma; she was carrying the agony of her ancestors. When Agnes read the script, there were instances when she thought that the central character was based on her grandmother, but there were moments when she felt as if he was talking about Nora. Agnes mentioned something truly moving when Nora wondered how Agnes turned out ‘just fine’ even though they’d both gone through the same trauma. She’d responded, stating that she had her elder sibling to brighten her world; Nora had protected Agnes, and she made sure that her little sister was loved and protected when the world around them was falling apart. But Nora didn’t really have anyone to fall back on; she had to deal with her emotions on her own. In the later stage of his life, Gustav ultimately realized that what he needed as a child was someone who would’ve protected him and listened to him, and the absence of a loved one ultimately resulted in his suffering. This was why Gustav tried repeatedly to connect with Nora, because he believed only he knew her pain, and he wanted to be there for her.
What convinced Nora to be a part of her father’s film?
Nora was devastated when her father didn’t show up at her performance even though he’d said that he would. Although she was praised by her well-wishers, Nora felt invisible without Gustav’s approval. She didn’t even know why she felt the way she did, but it was something that she had no control over. It was as if the father had once again failed the little girl who had been waiting patiently for him to show up. She ended up spending the next couple of days locked in her apartment, almost wanting to fade away. Thankfully, Agnes turned up at her doorstep. She always checked on Nora whenever she went completely silent. Nora had previously attempted to take her life, and that was the reason behind Agnes’ worried face.
It was evident to her that Nora was going through a depressive phase, and Agnes knew the reason behind it. Agnes felt that it was important that she shared with Nora her thoughts on her father’s script. She wanted her sister to know that their father cared more than she would want to believe. Even though he wasn’t informed about Nora’s suicide attempt, he seemed to know all about it as if he had witnessed what she’d been going through. Agnes was astonished, and she insisted Nora just read the script. Nora and Agnes were moved to tears when Nora read out a paragraph from the script. Their father hadn’t been the perfect parental figure; he wasn’t even good at admitting his mistakes, but in his writing he poured out all his emotions. It was evident that he cared deeply about his girls, and he was perhaps the only one who knew exactly what Nora had been going through all these years. He was familiar with the unfathomable agony and grief. He wanted to be there for her, but he knew he’d missed the train. That morning, the sisters were informed that their father had been admitted to a hospital. He was found lying unconscious in front of his house. They rushed to the hospital and were relieved when they heard their father already cracking jokes with the nurse. As flawed as her father was, Nora learned to sympathize with him. She felt comfort in knowing that he understood her in ways she couldn’t even decipher.
In Sentimental Value’s ending, we find out that Nora played the protagonist in her father’s film, and Agnes’ son, Erik, played Gustav’s younger self. Peter too joined Gustav’s team as the cinematographer. The film wasn’t shot in the house as Gustav initially planned; instead, they opted to design a set. The house was completely renovated and rebuilt in a modern fashion. It was time for someone else to start their new chapter in the house, and it called for a new beginning. Maybe Gustav ultimately sold the house instead of holding onto it for ‘sentimental’ reasons, and all the silent sufferings that the walls witnessed will remain unsaid. Although the house wasn’t theirs anymore, it’s likely that Gustav financed his film by selling the ancestral house, and he made the film the way he had envisioned. Gustav, Nora, and Agnes will carry the stories of their past generations, and Gustav’s film essentially is an ode to their family, their history, their trauma, and their memories, a piece of art that’ll stay forever.
