Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier returns to Cannes with Sentimental Value, which had its world premiere Wednesday night in the festival’s Competition section.
Trier and his cast, including Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning, strolled up the famous steps of Palais des Festivals.
The film marks Trier’s follow-up to The Worst Person in the World, which premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2023, launching the international career of star Renate Reinsve, who won the festival’s best actress honor. Worst Person became a crossover arthouse hit and was nominated for two Oscars, including best international feature and best original screenplay for Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt.
Sentimental Value is a family drama centered on the estranged relationship between Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) and his two daughters, Nora (Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas). In an attempt to reconnect, Gustav, a film director, offers Nora, an actress, the role of playing a young mother in his new film, a role transparently based on the tragic story of his own mother. When she declines, Gustav offers the role to the Hollywood star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). When they begin preparing to shoot the project in the family home, painful memories and barely buried grudges erupt to the surface.
Cannes was bowled over by Trier’s Sentimental Value, giving it an astounding 15-minute loud, raucous and heartfelt standing ovation. The adoration was showered on the cast in nearly equal measure, with particularly boisterous cheers for Reinsve and Skarsgård. And for Lilleaas, whose turn as Angnes could prove her international breakout.
The audience at Wednesday’s Cannes competition screening was on their feet the moment the house lights went up. The crowd, clearly moved, continued to clap, whoop and cheer even as the Trier and the cast, in a reserved Scandinavian manner, appeared embarrassed by the attention.
Trier’s follow-up to Worst Person, which won Reinsve the best actress prize in Cannes four years ago, wears its heart on its sleeve. The story of a family and their struggles to connect evokes Ingmar Bergman, as well as Ibsen and a bit of Chekhov, in its moving, but, despite the title, never sentimental, depiction of the pull of memory, the pain of loss, and the healing potential of art.
“What’s the Bunuel quote? ‘I make films for my family?’” said Trier when the applause finally stopped, quoting Adrian Brunel. “Well, I feel all of you are my family now.”
Neon picked up U.S. distribution rights to Sentimental Value out of the Cannes film market last year. Mubi recently snatched up the film for multiple territories, including the U.K and Latin America. Mk2 Films is handling international sales.
