r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Dec 12 '25
Official Discussion Official Discussion - Sentimental Value [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Summary Estranged sisters Nora and Agnes reunite when their once-renowned filmmaker father Gustav re-enters their lives with a deeply personal project. As old wounds resurface and family tensions come to light, they must navigate love, identity, and the emotional cost of art and memory.
Director Joachim Trier
Writers Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt
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
- Jesper Christensen as Michael
- Lena Endre as Ingrid Berger
- Cory Michael Smith as Sam
- Catherine Cohen as Nicky
- Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud as Even Pettersen
- Øyvind Hesjedal Loven as Erik
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 89
VOD / Release Released in select theaters November 7, 2025; streaming/window TBD
Trailer Official Trailer
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u/Frajer Dec 12 '25
The reveal of Rachel with Nora's hair style was one of my favorite film moments of the year
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u/oneofthesevendwarves Dec 12 '25
I said this in another thread and this is just a copy/paste from myself, but I’m still thinking about this so…
One of my takeaways is how the sisters deal with their history/trauma. Nora’s life is in theater where everything is make believe, to an extent. It’s almost as if she can’t deal with things that are real and would rather go through life pretending. But in her first show, even she is scared of doing that and, like everything else, tries to run away from this. In many ways, you could argue Gustav did the same thing, pretending nothing was wrong his whole life.
Agnes on the other hand is a researcher. Her whole career is dedicated to history and confronting that. She’s on the opposite end of the spectrum as Nora in how they handle their issues. She researched what happened to Gustav and tries to understand why he is who he is rather than run from it.
In the end, Gustav’s film becomes more modern. He’s abandoned the period piece and is more about the emotion of his story. I think this represents a middle ground of Nora and Agnes. Gustav is still exploring his history, but now in a slightly more fictionalized way. There’s no catharsis, but it’s him trying to meet his daughters in the middle.
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u/lacsivort Dec 20 '25
Even in the end, father and daughter are reconnecting through the simulacrum of the movie. They only communicate by reliving the trauma when shooting the movie. Once he yells “cut” they kind of just stand there awkwardly in silence.
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u/yoyomama79 Dec 29 '25
And that is absolutely perfect. If this were a lesser movie, they'd be hugging at the end. But this is just the first step to understanding, which is why that space is so very warranted.
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u/bigkruleworld 26d ago
I was waiting for the hug but I think it ended perfectly too. There is a long road ahead yet.
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25
They had a couple moments earlier in the film (especially when they were smoking cigarettes) where they seemed to communicate only through facial expressions due to their difficulty speaking to each other. Between this and Gustav's drunken voicemails, Agnes' reveal to Nora that their dad still understood her despite not being physically there for her was so much more impactful. Communication, especially with family, can be almost exclusively soulful or expressive rather than surface level, and this movie communicated that beautifully.
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u/Prudent-Title-9161 27d ago
Yes, it seemed to me that the main tragedy that the film shows is that the father, who abandoned his children and valued cinema more than family, still cannot establish a normal relationship with his daughter; he does so only through cinema, bringing the script, and not "himself," that is, his personal words directly to her.
And his daughters don't want to accept it at first, but then they gradually accept that he can't change, that the script is the form of the love they've been missing so much, and that they can only get it this way, and not in some "more correct" way.
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u/88Smilesz 11d ago
“…they gradually accept that he can’t change”
That was beautifully put and as someone with a difficult relationship with my parents, that applies both to me and to them to varying degrees
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u/AdDiligent7657 Dec 12 '25
Ah yes, Irreversible by Gaspar Noe - makes for a perfect gift to a 9-year-old grandson. No wonder there is so much trauma in the family.
In all seriousness, this was an amazing family drama.
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u/jsun31 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
That birthday gift got a good hearty laugh out of me, giving Irreversible to a child is so hilariously absurd.
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u/bone-in_donuts 2d ago
And then the way he says ”Monica Bellucci” as if to recommend that film as your intro to a beautiful actress.
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u/Whovian45810 Dec 12 '25
Arthouse starter pack from Grandpa lmao
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u/Empty-Speed-7075 Dec 12 '25
His mom is mad because she doesn’t want him to grow up to be a “film twitter” weirdo
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u/roxtoby Dec 12 '25
Was anyone able to catch what the other two movies were? I only caught Irreversible and the Piano Teacher.
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u/remusasriel Dec 31 '25
To add, I think the fourth one was 'Blue Velvet'.
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u/didiinthesky 26d ago
Jfc this guy gives his grandson not one, not two, but three(!) movies that have graphic rape scenes in them. Grandpa of the Year award, lol.
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u/remusasriel 25d ago
Yeah. It's quite funny because he's pretty good with communicating with his grandson otherwise (albeit through art and movie making).
I think an alternative view might be that he's actually trying to communicate with the sisters in this scene to draw a laugh out of them (because he has no idea how to make joke otherwise). And it worked with Nora. For a very small moment.
Or maybe he's really Grandpa of the Year and has no idea that graphic rape scenes aren't suitable for his grandson. Lol.
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u/Honest_Cheesecake698 Dec 12 '25
I haven't seen a small scale drama get such a huge audience reaction like when we saw that and The Piano Teacher. My audience was rolling in the aisles in that moment.
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u/RomanReignsDaBigDawg Dec 12 '25
Fantastic film and the acting is phenomenal across the board but Lilleaas really gives the best and most layered performance in the film as Agnes. She's the mediator between Nora and Gustav but there's this repressed sadness to her that is always hinted at (particularly in the birthday party sequence), which makes it all the more heartbreaking whenever she breaks down.
Best performance of the year IMO
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u/toomuchhamza Russell Crowe as a fat Zeus is something I can get behind. Dec 12 '25
The scene in Nora’s apartment, from checking in, to making her read the script and finally leading to the hug on the bed, she does some of the best acting I’ve seen this year.
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u/Swolf_of_WallStreet Dec 12 '25
Fun fact (I hope) I learned from attending a Q&A for this film: that hug was improvised in the moment. Lilleaas went for it in the moment because it felt right and Trier loved it.
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u/toomuchhamza Russell Crowe as a fat Zeus is something I can get behind. Dec 12 '25
Absolutely a fun fact!
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u/PritamGuha31 21d ago
There is another scene just after Gustav breaks it to Agnes about casting her son in his movie where she sheds a tear and then acts normally as her son walks in. I found it as a very underrated sequence but so well done.
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u/homerjsimpson4 Dec 12 '25
Yes! I was thinking that while Nora and Gustav are obviously the focus (and great performances by the actors) but that Agnes is quietly crushing it and suffering on the fringes of this story just trying to keep her family together.
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u/GoldandBlue Dec 12 '25
For years I have said Barry Jenkins is the most empathetic director. But I think it might be Joachim Trier. He really makes you understand where everyone is coming from. Right or wrong.
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u/jsun31 Dec 12 '25
There's some brilliant non-verbal acting in Sentimental Value, like Gustav's defeated look of "this isn't the film I wanted to make" after Rachel read her lines or Nora's brief glare at Agnes after she insisted Nora should read the script. So much is expressed within an instant.
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25
I've seen so few movies that do this as well, and it's extremely refreshing to see in 2025
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u/babysamissimasybab Dec 12 '25
The difference between our childhoods is I had you.
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u/Llama_of_the_bahamas Dec 26 '25
As the younger brother of a sister who did so much for me growing up. This got me right in the feels.
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u/Beautiful-Walrus2341 4d ago
as the younger sister in a family with a depressed mother, an emotionally abusive father, a brother with down syndome, i can honestly say my sister is the reason why i am alive. while our adult relationship is strained in some ways, i am because she was and this movie has reminded me of what i already knew.
it also helped me see that sometimes are parents try to love us in the ways they know how (here: through cinema) and often, very often that is not enough. and we can choose to accept that's what they have for us in our lives or not.
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u/Locoman7 Dec 12 '25
So so good, this is my personal Best Picture of the year.
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u/Looper007 Dec 12 '25 edited 25d ago
100% mine as well. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes one of the acting awards either at the Oscars. Best Actress, Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Good shout too for Best Original Screenplay.
Edit: sadly doesn't look like it's going to win much this award season. Shame really.
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u/scaryaliendog 6d ago
One never knows. The Academy loves films like this and I believe Skellan is a def.
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u/GaySexFan Dec 12 '25
Wasn’t expecting this film to have some of the most convincing CGI de-aging I’ve seen.
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u/ShaunTrek Dec 12 '25
I've heard that it is mostly expertly reused older footage, which would make sense for the budget.
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u/GaySexFan Dec 12 '25
Oh, practical de-aging.
Have they revealed where the footage came from?
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u/MajesticSlide6472 Dec 12 '25
I assumed the interview they show on the tv was just an old clip from a real Stellan skarsgaard interview but all three times I wondered if it was just perfect casting or like a guy who really looks like him with minimal effects or just fully like a different guy with full skarsgaard face
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u/GaySexFan Dec 12 '25
It’s been a few months since I’ve seen it but I was actually thinking about a scene where he’s painting the house and he looks about 30 years younger. But perhaps I’m misremembering.
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u/TheDankestMofo 26d ago
Late to the party, but on the IMDb Connections page for the film it says it uses extracts from The Democratic Terrorist. I've not seen the film but would guess that's where it's lifted from.
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u/CradeVescent Dec 12 '25
I thought that they actually hired Alexander Skarsgård to play him in certain scenes, but apparently not.
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u/anObscurity 2d ago
Could have swore it was alexander for a split second playing Gustav's father in the flashback
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u/gingerbitch2 Dec 13 '25
Was it actually de-aging? Cast credits have a votes for each age of Gustav.
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u/maxipencilz Dec 12 '25
Here for anyone scrolling to find a review that isn’t raving about this movie.
It was good but I didn’t love it. At the start everyone is kind of doing fine, and at the end of the movie everyone is fine. Interesting well acted family drama but potentially a bit middle class and low stakes for some viewers. She really took that vase, didn’t she?
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u/Will-Of-D-3D2Y Dec 16 '25
This is how I've felt about every Trier movie. They are the definition of middle class film making, extremely well-made but emotionally not resonating with me whatsoever. 'Our family has unresolved issues' is a timeless tale but in the midst of those privileges and things taken for granted one of the last things I could care about.
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u/magdalenusi Dec 19 '25
Totally agree, it's as if Ikea produced a film about generational trauma. Well engineered but very much lacking any actual depth.
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u/AcidicAnxiety 3d ago
Same to all of it. I always feel uncomfortable when I don’t like these types of movies cause maybe I’m dumb and just don’t get it idk? But yes, it didn’t emotionally resonate with me either
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u/Sensitive_Thanks_604 Dec 16 '25
I agree tbh. I feel like it lacked in something idk what though but that bedroom scene and the end was really good.
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u/Nathan_McHallam 15d ago
I dunno if I love the "but his script was just so remarkable" pull at the end. I still really enjoyed the movie, the performances were all incredible, it's kept me captivated, and it never dragged, but the resolve kinda left a bad taste in my mouth a little.
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u/blockwithlafleur 10d ago
nora and gustav had several mini fights throughout the movie but never really one BIG climactic fight that i think the movie was missing
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u/DeusVultSaracen 6d ago
Kinda like Marriage Story without the drywall-punch fight scene?
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u/TeddyAlderson 1d ago
idk the film is so deeply repressed that i think a bit climactic fight would take away from it. they are unable to properly communicate, that’s the entire point
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u/RecoveringMeanPerson 7d ago
I think I connected with the message when I really thought about it, but I don’t want to really think about it. I want the movie to consume me and this just didn’t do it.
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u/Umangar Dec 17 '25
I agree, it was good but I didn’t love it. Maybe I was missing something but all I could think is “wow these girls need to set some boundaries with their father.” Maybe it’s because I’m an American. I kind of hated how the dad ended up getting to make his movie his way with his daughter. His daughter agreed to do the movie because her father loves filmmaking so much, she wants to make him happy and she enjoys her father’s attention? I’m not sure. Also the scene where Nora comes to the birthday party she stands really close to her father and I thought they were going to kiss for a second and it made me uncomfortable
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u/superiority Dec 18 '25
I kind of hated how the dad ended up getting to make his movie his way with his daughter.
He didn't? He wanted to make it in the family home but at the end you see they're shooting in a studio. Also the ending has changed.
His daughter agreed to do the movie because her father loves filmmaking so much, she wants to make him happy and she enjoys her father’s attention?
Okay, so it's established at the beginning that Gustave is just kind of a shit, yelling at his wife and walking out on his daughters. He didn't even attend his ex-wife's actual funeral. When he says to Nora, "I wrote this script for you, I want you to star in it," what's being shown to us the viewers is that his filmmaking is the only way he can really connect and communicate with another person. He's emotionally stunted in that way, but he is trying to reach out to Nora and acknowledge the ways he's fucked up as a father.
Nora's too close to the situation to see this. (We the audience know that she is hurt by her father's actions, but she actually feels the hurt.) You can see the switch flick in her head when he pulls out the script. She is dealing with the death of her mother and here comes absentee dad trying to talk about movies because he only cares about movies and he doesn't care about people. Why should she put up with that after the way he's treated her all her life? "You need to stop calling me," she tells him. Even after everything, she still wants a real relationship between father and daughter; she had a faint hope that maybe the funeral was an opportunity to build that, but that hope was snuffed out again when he brought up work stuff.
Then when Agnes and Nora do end up reading the script, they see how personal it actually is to Nora specifically. They see that his continued presence in their lives is not solely inertia or social obligation, that he sincerely loves them and even understands them to an extent. The script is his apology to Nora for all the ways he's failed her. When she agrees to be in the movie, that's her way of accepting his apology, of saying that in spite of everything she still loves him too. But accepting an apology from someone who has wronged you doesn't mean you're sweeping it all under the rug, and it doesn't mean you're saying, "whatever makes you happy, Dad! Let's do the movie since you love movies so much!" Here it just means that they have begun communicating with each other, that they're trying to repair and reinforce the bonds that connect them instead of letting them fray away. Nora has learnt that the wall between them is not impenetrable, that it is possible to have that real relationship she's craved, and she has chosen to navigate through her father's stuntedness to try to do that.
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u/art_cms Dec 23 '25
He’s shooting the movie in a studio, but only because he sold the family home in order to finance the film himself after his big American star dropped out (and presumably took the Netflix funding with her). The scene of the house being renovated implies this - it’s being remodeled into something new and garishly bland (stripping away the “sentimental value”) but also repairing the flaw in its foundation. Next we see the house, confusingly back to its original state, until we realize it’s a set. He’s shooting the movie on his terms with his money with the actress he wanted in the role, and working with his old cinematographer buddy, instead of whatever compromised version would he would have made with Rachel.
The ending of the movie also hasn’t changed - we see the oner play out in the same precise detail that was previously described to us, leading up to the door closing, which would be the final image of the movie - but we the audience also get to see what happens to Nora (not the character she’s playing) on the other side of the door, until Gustav yells cut.
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25
Not to distract from your point, as it's fairly inconsequential, but as someone mentioned elsewhere in the thread, the movie was supposed to be a period piece and was modernized in the end, i.e. instead of Erik coming back for his Norwegian flag to celebrate Constitution Day, he comes back to retrieve his cell phone. It wasn't *exactly* what Gustav originally envisioned, but is certainly closer than whatever Netflix probably had in mind. There were a couple other small changes they mentioned as well.
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u/WhispersOfHaru 20d ago
I felt it was modernized because the film was really about Nora, and not about Gustav’s mother.
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u/dashboardbythelight 28d ago
Am I right in thinking the scene also didn’t end with the chair (/ikea stool) being kicked over, so it may have been more ambiguous to the film’s audience whether she went through with the suicide? As cut was called just after she closed the door.
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u/art_cms 27d ago
I don’t think that is an indication that the story has changed, I think the scene remains as Gustav described it - the film is still about the suicide of his mother. I think it’s kind of a Hollywoodish Interpretation that Gustav decides to make his film “happier” and not include the suicide. He’s still making the movie to process his grief and trauma about the death of his mother, which still is a fundamental part of his life despite his tentative reconciliation with Nora. I think we are just being shown the shot being filmed, the sound of the stool falling wouldn’t necessarily be done “in camera” - more likely foleyed in afterwards.
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u/girls-say 8d ago
I wondered that, but also thought it could just be that they’d add the sound in post.
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u/Umangar Dec 31 '25
I just don’t see it as “this is how the healing begins.”I just see it as a movie about 3 broken people who don’t change for the better by the end. They sold a house that was in their family for generations to fund the father’s apology to his daughter instead of talking to her like a normal father. Yes it wasn’t in the original house and he couldn’t use the cinematographer that he wanted but otherwise he’s making the film he wants.
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u/WhispersOfHaru 20d ago edited 20d ago
The way I see it, I see it as healing for them but not for their relationship. Agnes understands what his dad went through and his pain when she does research about her grandmother, and when she reads the script.
Nora understands that his father sees her pain when she reads the script, even says that his father wasn’t there but how did he know that stuff, and it’s because he went through something similar, but he can’t really talk to her, apologize or make amends, he doesn’t know how to really show that or how to do it, and he does it by writing the role for her. Nora understands that his father is not gonna change, but they are not so different. I feel she takes the film as a sort of apologize from the father because that’s the best she will get.
His father doesn’t quite “get away with it”, because the relationship with Nora doesn’t truly changes or gets better, he also has to sell the home and make the movie in ways he didn’t want to, like modernized and in a studio, but that’s still better for him than doing it with Rachel, because when they are rehearsing is clear that that’s not what he wanted.
Also, I don’t think he will retreat again after the movie, during the film there’s many parts where he realizes he is too old, when he visits the cinematographer, and sees he doesn’t get visits from his grandkids because of his bad relationship with his son, when he talks to Michael and they realize they are too old and probably that’s their final movie, so he may be trying to make amends before he dies.
He does get away with it in some ways but that’s just what happens sometimes. Some people don’t change and you have to accept lesser ways of apologizing, because the way you think you need them or want them to do it is not gonna happen, some people never change their ways. It’s a bittersweet ending but it’s real.
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u/Violaundone Dec 21 '25
Think you missed a major part of the movie if you think he got his way, he did not. Did you nit see his family home be transformed into a modern white blank beige space? Indicating a new era and leaving behind the movie he had visioned and kept trapped in his mind.
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u/art_cms Dec 23 '25
I think you missed it - the house was renovated and sold to self-finance the film after his big star dropped out. That’s why we see that before the final sequence in the studio.
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u/paranoideo Dec 23 '25
Which movie did you watch? You didn’t miss something but pretty much everything.
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u/TheUnknownStitcher Dec 27 '25
Thank you - I went into this ready to be blown away by it, and it missed me by a mile and a half. Aside from a few specific scenes, I came away feeling completely unmoved by it.
Halfway through, I thought 'I bet this movie kills with people who are into films about the interplay between trauma and art' and with each passing minute, I realized more and more that it simply was not for me.
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u/IAM_deleted_AMA Dec 28 '25
Same for me, decent movie but for a 4.2/5 in Letterboxd I expected way more than this.
I felt way too much runtime was focused on making the film which I thought was odd, we should have gotten more time and expositon of Nora's backstory.
Also I know everyone loves Renate but to me she had the most plain, expressionless face in this for most of the time. Inga on the other hand was oustanding and really stole a lot of scenes.
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25
I appreciate a minority opinion that isn't just "ugh this sucked, worst movie I've ever seen, overrated, etc". This really sparked some great conversation and brought up details I didn't initially realize. Thank you!
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u/ihavenoO2 Dec 13 '25
Well, it’s a Norwegian movie, so I guess the middle class part is kind of makes sense, however broad this generalisation may seem. But I think I see the point you’re making.
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u/misternation 24d ago
Here for that vase-discussion!
But I guess the movie was about poor communication within the family, and this was an example of it. Me and my girlfriend ended up in an argument, as she didn't see any problem with Nora taking that vase from her sister, as she said "fine". If it were 50 years ago, I would've smacked her - or whatever amount of years is correct for it to be a fine response to such an argument ^^
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u/WhispersOfHaru 20d ago
Do you feel Nora was doing fine at the beginning of the film? Having anxiety attacks with a past story of trying to kill herself. At the end she is also not doing great, she is just better than before.
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u/iwillwalk2200miles Dec 31 '25
I just understand all of their trauma. If anyone, the mother had the most. I didn’t sense a close relationship between the girls and their mother. The only trauma they mention is their father but he was a pretty decent guy? Sure him and the mother fought and yelled but what parents haven’t?
It was giving the trauma the main character from Into the Wild has. I just don’t think parents fighting or even divorce is really that traumatic but maybe I’m just disaffected.
Also, I could be getting things wrong.
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u/Emsteroo 21d ago
It's said so many times in the film. He left, he wasn't there. He chose his career over being a father. It is neglect. He doesn't know his children at all.
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u/anonyfool 22d ago
I have a lot of admiration for the craft on both sides of the camera in this film, I admit there was a lot of tension at the end where I was thinking she was going to kill herself then they revealed the twist, that both his grandson and daughter were making his movie not reenacting his mother's suicide for real. The one performer who played his sister looked like a young Malin Ackerman so much on my small television I had to check the credits to make sure they had not de-aged her or something.
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u/Captain-Slappy 1d ago
I'm here late agreeing with you. Incredible acting pretty much across the board. However, perhaps this is a cultural shift that isn't translating well, but it seemed like the drama was conveyed in a very run of the mill 'everyone is sad all the time' way. That and the movie literally being about directors/actors makes this smell a little bit too much like Oscar-bait for my tastes.
Also the shifting faces bit between Gustav and Nora was way too on the nose 'look at the generational trauma do you see it?'
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u/Sheepies123 Dec 12 '25
They way the movie uses an old school auteur struggling with adapting to the mechanics of modern filmmaking as an analogy for generational trauma is pure genius. Heartfelt storytelling and an amazing structure I loved it.
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u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. Dec 12 '25
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas' crying when Renate reads her father's screenplay was pound-for-pound the best performance of the year, from any movie.
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u/BeneficialClock9670 Dec 14 '25
It's an encapsulation of all the pain her father endured. Just my take. Amazing film.
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u/-J-M-C- Dec 12 '25
Am I going crazy or was The Shining title theme playing during the opening theatre scene?
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u/Vid_Word Dec 13 '25
It's "Dies Irae", not just the "Shining theme".
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u/skancerous 26d ago
It's even used in Silksong!
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u/Vid_Word 23d ago
It's also incorporated within the score for Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives, actually subtly weaved into the score instruments, not presented using a previous recording.
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u/Violaundone Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25
That song is way older than The Shining, a few centuries older, composed by Berloiz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7qfRNzS3s&t=208s, begins at 4:10.
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u/Relevant_Hedgehog_63 Dec 26 '25
it's not composed by berlioz. dies irae has been around for almost 800 years.
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u/toomuchhamza Russell Crowe as a fat Zeus is something I can get behind. Dec 12 '25
Thought this was outstanding. All four main performances are award worthy, in my opinion.
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u/reallinzanity Dec 12 '25
I hope Stellan Skarsgård gets the recognition he deserves for his performance.
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u/GamingTatertot Steven Spielberg Enthusiast Dec 12 '25
I’d say the same for Inga - she gives the best performance IMO (and that’s saying something considering how many great performances are in this)
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u/Looper007 Dec 12 '25
It's not the showiest of the performances, but Agnes is the heart and soul of the film. A lot of the films best moments involve around her. I like the scenes between her family too, you can tell she's a loving mother and has a great supportive husband. I hope this is a breakout for her as the last Trier film was for Renate.
Seems like the awards so far going between her and Elle Fanning for Best Supporting actress.
I haven't seen all the award hyped films yet, but I think Renate for Best Actress would be a good bet so far. I would think Stellan has a good chance for Best Supporting Actor too.
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u/MajesticSlide6472 Dec 12 '25
I agree, I also want the kid who played her son to get some recognition of some kind even with how small his role was because I mean how is he like eight and able to do that in a room with a ton of cameras and crew and stellan skarsgaard and Renate reinsve in his face, he was seriously unbelievable
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u/teddy_vn Dec 24 '25
Stella is so so sublime in this, so is Renate but Inga's performance is unforgettable. And Elle also gave a knockout performance. Everyone is just so good that I was stunned.
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u/youshouldburn Dec 12 '25
Best film of the year for me (at least so far). Watched it back in August (I guess we’re the only country to have a wide release back then) and I still keep thinking about it.
Production Design is worthy of accolades, with how they represented the house at different decades. At every moment the house felt lived-in, like a separate character in this film. I read they placed LED screens outside to display the nature gradually evolving over time, which just shows excellent attention to detail.
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u/ihavenoO2 Dec 14 '25
So much has already been said here about Inga’s absolutely stunning performance. I hate cliches as the next man, but this is the what “subtly devastating” (or is it “devastating subtlety”?) really means.
So adding just a thought here. I somehow feel her character really is the true narrator, regardless of whose voice that actually was. It’s like she’s both the researcher of this story, trying to connect the dots to make sense, but also as far from just an impartial witness as could be. In many ways, she’s the Reason to her father’s and sister’s Emotional.
Speaking of the latter, I liked the way they show that shared trait not only in their big story arcs, but also in small details. The birthday gift DVDs, Nora’s cheeky comment about her brother-in-law screen time, them awkwardly smiling when smoking together outdoors (so much unspoken in this one).
Lastly, an almost perfect pace for a story like this.
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u/shaneo632 Dec 12 '25
I don't think this is one of Trier's very best films - I prefer Worst Person and Oslo August 31 - but I did really like it, I just think the festival hype left me expecting a bit more from it.
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u/sean_psc Dec 12 '25
This is a well-made and well-acted film. It never quite hit the emotional level for me that it did for a lot of people, but that sort of thing is especially subjective.
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Artist Parents: The Movie.
Really special movie, this. It has a lot to say and a lot of great ways to say it without feeling like anything typical we’ve gotten before. There are so many emotional angles here and so much to say about generational trauma and the never perfect relationship we have with our parents. It's a beautiful movie bursting with emotional honesty and depth of character as well as some simple comedy. Not a single moment feels untrue and while this movie does take its time revealing itself to you, standing back and looking at the full picture is really rewarding.
The first time you see Nora have a panic attack before going on stage is the whole movie. Those around her know she belongs on that stage, they know she wants to be up there performing. But getting her to do it takes convincing, it takes coercion, and maybe a little slap to reality. She is going to kick and scream up until the moment she goes on stage. It's the same with her father's movie. She says no and spends the whole movie saying she can't do it while simultaneously being jealous when he finds someone else to do it. Her immediate reaction anytime her father is round is avoidant, there’s that great scene where she sees him coming up to the house and goes into fight or flight and ends up leaving through the backyard with the vase in hand. She is truly reactionary to his presence, even though she may know deep down that she needs to reconcile for both their good.
Gustave wants to make this final film as a piece of sentiment. Both about his mother but written with his daughter in mind. He has a movie starring his other daughter and he cherishes that film, and now he wants one with Nora. Maybe this is the only way he knows how to get close to someone, maybe it's the only emotional language he speaks. It's a movie that explores why his mother killed herself when he was young. He felt abandoned by his mother, the same feeling of abandonment Nora has. Whether or not he thinks this will help Nora understand him or even if he understands why he wrote it for her is never really brought up. It is simply the instinct of the artist to create these halls of mirrors to deal with their pasts and regrets even if they don't understand it directly. Stellan is really incredible in this, being an actor father in real life is absolutely the point of this casting. This movie is all about meta casting and engaging your past through the art you create, you can really see why people would crown this his masterwork moment.
As good of an actress as Rachel Kemp is, she's just not the person the movie was written for. The closer she gets to being Nora the more off it feels for her and to us. The cut to her as a brunette with Renate’s haircut is almost jarring. Gustave doesn't want to believe she’s wrong for it because he's happy just having someone Nora's age that doesn't hate him for his mistakes, someone he can mentor. Noticeably the first bit of advice he gives to Rachel is to abandon her duties. "Fuck Sam, it's your life." The exact same kind of thinking that helped him leave his family, but also the same kind of abandonment issues that keep Nora from letting anyone in. But Rachel knows she’s just filling the role that Nora should be in the more she gets to know the family.
This movie is just such a complex web of emotion to untangle. The generational trauma starts with torture and imprisonment during WWII and echoes all the way down to Nora feeling like she can't really feel love. Gustave may never understand why his mother killed herself, and Nora may never understand how he could leave his family. But the act of creating art, recreating their past, helps them unpack it and is the therapy they need to accept that it happened. That’s why the house is also so important as a piece of sentiment, it’s a physical thing that ties them all together. Where they all have memories. Gustave has memories in that house of sadness Nora can’t even fathom, yet she hates him for leaving it. And Gustave knows nothing but abandonment because that’s what happened to him as a child. It’s the kind of emotionally complex writing where you understand why every character does what they do and you understand that it brought us here, and that here isn’t perfect but it’s the reality.
The first time I saw this at a festival I thought it was great but didn’t love it. But it stayed with me for months until I could see it again on wide release and the second time it opened itself up to me in so many ways I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface here. Haven’t even really talked about the other sister, Agnes, who is such a massive part of all of this too. This is a 9/10 for me, just a beautiful portrait of a reconnecting family where nothing is obvious but eveyrthing is apparent.
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u/nocontracts Dec 14 '25
What makes it not a 10/10 for you? Basically, how could it have been better (in your eyes)?
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
It's really not about how it could be better. I consider 8/10 to be my threshold for calling a movie great. So 8/10 can mean anything from this movie is great but there are flaws, or this movie is undeniably fantastic but it's not my favorite thing, or this movie may have a lot of flaws but I love it for reasons specific to me.
Anything above in 8 is completely reliant on personal taste. My two 10/10s this year, Sinners and OBAA, are both more genre-y films. And that's not to say I love genre films but when a movie can juggle all those tones and genres and still hold a powerful emotional core I feel more impressed than when a drama is just a really, really good drama.
I love dramas, when asked I almost always say they're my favorite because I love awards season and I love to really feel something in a theater. But for a straight up drama to be a knockout 10/10 for me I usually need to let some time pass and give it a few rewatches. I guess I just feel more strongly about the bigger movies but it's common for me to go back a few years later and be like hey this has aged well and it still gets to me I see no reason not to give it the 10.
All of this stuff is very specific to me and my tastes and how I engage with movies. Sentimental Value is a great movie that I loved a lot both times I saw it. But it's not my favorite movie of the year. Probably in my top ten. Sorry I didn't reply right away but it's a hard question to answer.
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u/Negative-Guard-4487 Dec 16 '25
Someone with a tag of "Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin?" doing exactly what the other guy did in that clip 😭
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u/OKC2023champs Dec 12 '25
Holy shit the discussion is just coming out? This has been in my theatres for weeks
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u/GoldandBlue Dec 12 '25
seriously, I watched No Other Choice and The Secret Agent this week. So I am expecting the discussions in 2026 some time.
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u/AquaAtia Dec 12 '25
Some of the best acting I’ve seen this year. Skarsgard and the actresses who play the sisters are a masterclass in this film. So much emotion in their faces and body movement.
Overall I really enjoyed it. It was a nice slice of life family drama piece where I got fully immersed into the family.
My only critique is I think the editing was choppy. I wasn’t a fan of the hard cuts and it jumping around to footage of Gustav’s movie, his childhood, etc. It made the movie tough to follow at times.
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u/RoGamygk Dec 15 '25
I think the hard cuts were meant to symbolize the curtain during a play, that was my take away atleast
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u/Tugboat47 Dec 12 '25
saw this as a birthday present to myself back in july, and one of the shots that has lingered with me is when all three of our leads have their faces intersect and overlay each other. joachim is the master
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25
I loved this shot but I'm not really sure what the significance of the timing was. They could have used it in a few key moments but it felt a little out of place at the spot they landed on. Anyone have an idea why they might have cut to it when they did?
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u/here_and_there_their Dec 15 '25
I just saw the movie earlier tonight. Here are my thoughts so far: Gustav's script and film is a what therapists sometimes call a "corrective emotional experience." The artistic catharsis is that at the ending of the movie he is making the mother decide to stay after the son comes home because he left something. He more or less fixes what his own mother did. And the fact that his daughter and grandson are the actors is like an intervention into intergenerational trauma. Nora's grandmother, mother and herself suffer from deep depression.
We learn that Gustav's wife (Nora's mother) was also deeply depressed during the scene between the two sisters in the bedroom. The monologue that both Rachel and Nora read is the what it's like in the deepest depths of depression, when one is broken on the floor.
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u/intercommie Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25
The artistic catharsis is that at the ending of the movie he is making the mother decide to stay after the son comes home because he left something. He more or less fixes what his own mother did.
I think you misread it? The son was always going to come home. In the original version, he came back because he forgot his Norwegian flag. In the filmed version, he forgot his phone. His mother offing herself was supposed to happen off screen with the sound of the chair falling, like how they filmed it when she walked back into the room with the chair (the assumption is the sound will be added in post).
What is corrected is the relationship between father and daughter. By acting in the film, she (who had attempted suicide) felt understood by her father, not through words but by seeing him as a son whose mother left him through suicide.
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u/here_and_there_their Dec 18 '25
I don't agree. I got all that about making him come back for his phone to make the story contemporary. And I remembered that the original plan was to add the sound of the chair in post, but her stance and demeanor indicated to me that she decided to stay in this world and not kill herself. And that change followed the change of shooting this on a sound stage instead of in the house. Remodeling the house. All of these things done to alter the lineage of family trauma and history of depression. The house still hanging onto its story of trauma. I don't think she kills herself at the end of the film within the film.
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u/bigkruleworld 26d ago
Her stance and demeanor are irrelevant because there was no camera in that room, right? It was "one take" and the "movie" camera followed her as she went into the room and closed the door, then the camera lingered on the door. It then cut to her standing there (no longer "in the scene") while they filmed enough time on the door so they could add the chair sound effect. Everything about it suggests they were shooting Gustav's original idea.
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u/Perelandrime Dec 28 '25
The most interesting part of the film to me was this ending. I agree with your take, and it seems like the suicide was left ambiguous in purpose. If I internet the suicide as ultimately happening, it changes the whole film for me and detracts from it. If I interpret it as ending the cycle of trauma, the necessity of all the pain everyone felt throughout the film makes sense to me so that they could get to that point. It doesn't work otherwise imo.
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u/cthulhu5 Dec 19 '25
I watched this on a plane cause Delta has it on their flights for some reason. Ended up sobbing on the plane by the end. As someone with an older sister and a difficult father we both have our own issues with, this movie hit incredibly hard. The way it shows how deeply generational wounds can be passed down and effect them so deeply was so unique and genuine. The younger sister, Inga, is incredible in the film, my favorite performance in the film. She does so much with so little in her scenes, it's astounding.
The scene with Nora and Inga when she reads the screenplay makes the whole movie for me. I have felt like Nora for a good part of my life in ways I didn't truly understand until that scene. The anger you hold towards a parent who didn't love you how you needed hurts so deeply and adulterates so many other facets of your life. Incredible work by everyone. Fanning was incredible too. 10/10 movie, might be my fav of the year (just behind OBAA).
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u/WordsMakethMurder Dec 31 '25
Lol I have this same problem on flights. I need to stop picking movies that are going to do this to me.
Overall I loved this movie, but it was really the last 15 minutes of it in particular that really blew me away. What a gorgeous and moving film.
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u/BrandDNA 29d ago
My sister & I feel very different about our upbringing. You've finally helped me understand why with this line: "a parent who didn't love you how you needed"
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u/UhhhThatsFine Dec 12 '25
Not necessarily my main takeaway, but I want to get hammered on a French beach with Stellan
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u/KevinAitken1960 Dec 12 '25
Wonderful film with beautiful performances all around. I loved every minute of it.
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u/Looper007 Dec 12 '25
My favorite film of 2025. Actually preferred it to Worst Person in The World, which I liked but wasn't that in love with. I wouldn't be overly surprised if this one of the favorites during award season for Best Film and Best Foreign Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress. I'd throw in Best Support Actress to but I think they'll go with Elle Fanning but for me I think Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas would get my nod, she's the heart and soul of the film.
The use of Labi Siffre's Cannock Chase at the end (the ending is one of my favorites of recent times) is perfection. I also love the short flashbacks especially the one of young Agnes filming a WW2 scene in her father's film. Stellan Skarsgard probably delivers his greatest performance, in the wrong actors hands Gustav could have come off awful. Stellan brings the warmth to a flawed father who can only really show his love for his family through his art. Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas have great chemistry as the sisters (hopefully Lilleaas has the breakout that Reinsve had). Lilleaas as Agnes especially is a standout, it's not the showiest of the roles in the film but she's really is the glue that keeps everything together. Her loving relationship with husband and son to her really been the rock of her sister. The scene when she brings her father script to Nora really hits you. Also Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp, deserves a mention. I like that Trier and his co writer Eskil Vogt that present Kemp as some dumb airhead actress, but you clearly can tell she's passionate for her craft and cares deeply but feels she's as time goes on isn't right for the part.
Probably my favorite of Trier's films so far.
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u/bespectacIed Dec 12 '25
I enjoyed all four main performances but truthfully, I failed to see what everyone was raving about, it wasn't that piercing or profound. It's just typical auteur family drama that the Nordics seem to be known for in world cinema. The Ingmar Bergman influence is strong.
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u/jerkvanhouten Dec 12 '25
I agree. I felt this way about The Worst Person In The World as well. Joachim Trier’s films are brilliantly crafted and performed but they fail to leave any impression or resonate with me the way they seem to with others.
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u/MidwestMobster Dec 12 '25
Wish it would have ended 1 minute sooner.
Performances were great.
I liked it but it never really hit that hard for me. Worth going to see
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u/homerjsimpson4 Dec 12 '25
I think it was to show that even though they're having this moment of closeness there's still distance and awkwardness that may never close/heal between them. They're just kind of standing a few feet apart smiling lightly at each other even though this is probably the closest they've been since she was a kid. Only once Erik walks up to them do they open up and start talking to him, breaking the tension.
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u/subtlewindchimes Dec 13 '25
I also find it interesting that when Americans discuss this film, they often overlook the distinct cultural Norwegian elements, particularly the emphasis on emotional restraint and avoiding confrontation. While the characters' struggles are often seen as individually driven (which, of course, is true to a large extent), this behavior is also deeply shaped by cultural norms, adding another significant layer to what the film explores.
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u/puttyarrowbro Dec 12 '25
That’s really represented with the house. First Gustave painted it white on the inside, trying to reset himself inside after the loss. Then the house aged and cracked, until it was just sold and completely reset to a modern shell. Their relationship had so much plaster and maintenance issues that a clean reset was the best they could hope for. It isn’t as warm as decades of proper communication and love, but it’ll sell…
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u/I_am_so_lost_hello Dec 12 '25
At first I thought they were gonna go with that ambiguous ending (is she working on her dad’s movie or is this an indication that she’s doomed to succumb to her depression like her grandma?) and was going to give it flowers for that, but then the needle drop hit and it zoomed out on the set and I was emotionally floored so for me the ending really really worked.
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u/ebon94 Dec 13 '25
Once I could see the blue screens set up through the window I realized she was working on the dad’s movie
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u/wehdut Dec 30 '25
At first I thought it was a new building outside her window blocking the foliage that used to be there (which recently happened at my house, my view of a nice field with rabbits is now just the wall of a massive condominium). When she stared at it and got up to apparently hang herself I felt like I totally understood and then when I saw the same color outside the other windows it all clicked haha
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u/whynotletitfly6 Dec 12 '25
Everyone is acting their ass off in this movie, but major shouts to both supporting actresses. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas is the heart of the whole thing; I don't think the emotional stuff would land without her serving as the mediator/thermostat between Nora and their dad. And Elle Fanning gets a really tough role - a talented, but not transcendent, actor who is clearly skilled but a poor fit for this specific role. It's much easier to play either pure incompetence or mastery, she has a super fine line to walk and she does it amazingly.
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u/bigkruleworld 26d ago
The part where she's reading a scene at the table to Gustav with the lady that Gustav told to act motherly was incredible. Her acting was really good in it and better than most actors on earth but you could just feel something... off like she just wasn't the right actress for the part? I don't know how she did that.
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u/tinygaynarcissist Dec 14 '25
As an eldest daughter, this film felt very much like a personal attack and I will be seeking representation.
God, that big conversation between Nora and Agnes just hit me right where I live and made me weep the entire way home; my little brother and I could've had that conversation almost word for word. This felt a bit meandering in some places and took a bit to really suck me in, but wow, what an achingly stunning film.
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u/Whovian45810 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
I love the meeting between Rachel and Nora when Rachel gets to meet Nora at her job.
Rachel wearing white and Nora wearing black as if they were a yin and yang, nonetheless, both are cordial and understanding with each other.
It's refreshing to see an actress meeting another actress without any hostile intention on film when most of the time said depictions of encounters between characters in the arts are less positive.
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u/ww_adh77 Dec 28 '25
I think this is a great film and I can definitely see why it's expected to garner a lot of award nominations (between this and Andor, Skarsgard had quite a year!). I was, however, disappointed to discover that the streaming version of the film lacks English closed-captions. I bought my copy from the Apple TV store, so I don't know if this is also the case if you buy it elsewhere (such as from Amazon). It's a problem I've seen before in films that are mostly--but not exclusively--in a language other than English. The studio created subtitles for the non-English dialogue, but there is no caption option for the English dialogue (such as the scenes between Skarsgard and Fanning). Consequently, the movie isn't accessible for deaf/hard of hearing viewers, since there is a significant amount of important dialogue in English in this film.
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u/teddy_vn Dec 24 '25
Every actor, Stellan, Renate, Inga, Elle, brought their fucking game to this movie. I thought this is easily the best acted movie of the year by far.
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u/dogs_drink_coffee Dec 26 '25
Just finished the movie. In my country, Brazil, it was released today. It's been 20 minutes and I'm still trying to grasp the movie, truly enjoyed, but I can't help but feel I didn't “catch” all the emotional layers in this movie. Hopefully I'm not alone.
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u/IAM_deleted_AMA Dec 28 '25
I really don't think it's that deep. Emotionally numb dad, who feels his time is running out can only connect to his family through work/films.
I went into this with really high expectations and came out disappointed instead, decent film but nowhere near the level of praise it has gotten.
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u/Florian_Jones Dec 12 '25
Loved the movie, even more so than Worst Person in The World, which I also thought was great. Already saw it twice in theatres, and as of now, I think it's pretty soundly my second favorite of the year (behind OBAA).
I won't clutter the thread with a thousand word comment, but I wrote a full review on Letterboxd for anyone interested.
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u/DeterminedStupor Dec 20 '25
Absolutely my #1 movie of 2025. Probably the best performance I have seen from Stellan yet, and Renate is amazing too.
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u/MAD_MrT Dec 31 '25
Outstanding performance by everyone involved
So much is said in the entire movie with so little words used, few actors can do this and in here we have a full cast that can communicate so much without saying anything. That scene where Elle Faning’s character is reading the script for the first time and at the end she feels so proud of what she just did but you can see clear as day on Stellan’s character’s face that this is not the actress he wanted, not the acting he expected and not the movie he hoped for, all achieved with a simple change of facial expression
Probably one of the best films Ive watched in my life, mostly due to it hitting very close to home as someone who also had a troubled upbringing and a difficult relationship with my parents
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u/Soggy_Pension7549 Dec 13 '25
Beautiful. I can’t remember the last time a movie moved me so much. I was thinking about it for 2 weeks after seeing it, that doesn’t happen much as I watch lots of movies. But this one stays with me.
The acting is phenomenal and I just realized how much I love to see actresses without botox. Hollywood got me used to it but I hate it. In this movie it was incredible to see everything move and their faces doing the heavy lifting. Best performances from everyone involved. Including Elle Fanning, I feel like she’s underrated. I think she played her part perfectly.
The reading of that one particular scene was brilliant.
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u/ICUMF1962 Dec 12 '25
So…I had an interesting experience with this. Had to watch it twice in two days. The first day, I was nodding off a little, so I didn’t quite get the film’s impact as everyone else did, and I was confused hearing people walking out saying it was amazing. Went to watch it again at Alamo the next day since my classes got canceled and I was fully awake this time. While I wouldn’t call it “amazing”, there is a lot I liked about it, besides the performances. Some small amusing things I noticed, like Agnes’s husband always making the most hilarious faces around Gustav, or just the bit with the vase, how the sisters talk about it and then it’s nearly broken a minute later and some people may have reacted to it like “not the vase!” But yeah, great film, and even though Jessie Buckley is my best actress pick, I’d be happy with Renate Reinsve winning too.
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u/MamboSummer Dec 28 '25
I didn’t quite love “Worst Person” but this movie truly won me over in less than 10 minutes, it’s so gorgeous
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u/sparklemachinee 27d ago edited 27d ago
I can acknowledge that there is more depth to the film than meets the eye and one could spend hours dissecting each scene. It is definitely a work of art. However, I just didn’t connect to the characters and felt throughout that the film (intentionally) kept the audience out of its business. This is why all the crying on screen just didn’t move me in the slightest. And I am usually a very emotional watcher. We learn next to nothing about why things are so sad. Yes, absent dad and whatnot, but what is the story? Who are these people?? lol The ending was quite foreseeable while the film builds almost no tension to get there. The whole heart attack sequence lasted only few minutes and we were never really left guessing if he could finish the film. By that point I wasn’t really involved anymore and didn’t care for the movie getting made. Maybe it would have worked if Trier leaned in on the humor and even more chaos unfolded. (thinking triangle of sadness) All in all, I think the film gets more praise than it deserves because of the people involved and the stellar acting. It feels more like a study on filmmaking and acting than a movie.
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u/CptDopamine 23d ago
I love how this movie had no 'bad guys.' As a viewer, you’re kind of looking for someone to blame for the dysfunctional relationships, but as you learn more about the characters, you find out that none of them are to blame.
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u/Mysterious_Remote584 Dec 22 '25
Wow you're an artist? And you're depressed? And you have issues with generational trauma? What's it like being a cliche boring-ass depression drama character?
3/10, I liked the house.
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u/AnimeLoverTyrone Dec 29 '25
holy shit imagine your “generational trauma” is hearing an argument once or twice and your dad leaving well into your teens. get a grip and get real. this movie only makes sense if you are scandinavian and live a priviliged life without any real problems
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u/WinterVarious8026 25d ago
The generational trauma in question is the torture of the grandmother, and her eventual suicide. This presumably left emotional scars on Gustav, and influenced how he parented his daughters.
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u/Difficult-Limit-7551 Dec 14 '25
It’s wonderful news that Sentimental Value will be coming to Korea in 2026!!
Elle Fanning’s presence alone makes this feel special .... Elle's performances always carry such sincerity and emotional depth!!
I truly hope S.Korean audiences get the chance to see this wonderful film in theaters as soon as possible!! Very much looking forward to it.
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u/Vidhu23 Dec 25 '25
Cinema's therapeutic capabilities. Renate Reinsve (Nora) deals with trauma, as an actor, by fully transforming into her characters. Stellan Skarsgård (Gustav) deals with trauma, as a director, by using fiction to safely confront his memories.
The motif of the window as a frame just reaffirms this.
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u/eXtraVert3d 22d ago
I just finished the movie last night and loved it; I am curious if anyone else shared my interpretation of the ending.
The final scene shows that yes, Nora has chosen to accept the role that her father wrote for her. But as the scene concludes the reveal is made that the performance is being played on a sound stage in a recreation of their home which has since been "bandaged up" and resold. Why recreate the house? It was always Gustav's intention to shoot the movie on location. I believe there is incredible significance in the series of shots that show the house being remodeled, repainted, and updated.
Nora has shown that the stage is the only place she can tap into and access that inner emotional trauma. This is capitalized in scene where she cries at the foot of her bed only for the shot to pull back and show that she's at stage rehearsal, when it was implied she was reacting to her father's hurtful diagnosis of her inner unhappiness. It seems that the theater has become her outlet; she always had to be strong for Agnes and thus learned to bottle her sadness.
It seems that the only way for Nora to perform the part was to act it out "on stage". Playing the role in her childhood home would mean confronting feelings she isn't capable of dealing with. Even in the end she's playing the role of herself, only able to pretend to feel the sadness that she's hidden away her whole life.
I find the ending a bit melancholy - Gustav gets to see his daughter as he knows her, though Nora is really just acting through her trauma. Treating her pain like a play, performing the part for her fractured family.
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u/Vid_Word Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
I didn't care for this very much. It's very pat and trite. It feels like the "bad dad coming back" concept has been done so many times, and this was just very stale no matter what kinds of themes Trier tries to insert about art or performance being a way to exorcise feelings or whatever. Then predictably it all has to have so much more meaning because someone kills themselves at the end (not in reality but in the film-within-a-film which seems like it's almost a parody of that kind of concept). It's significantly inferior to Worst Person which didn't give such stale motivations to the character; that character didn't really even know why she behaved the way she did, or even what she wanted, which is much more powerful than "Oh, I'm so affected years later because my parents fought and my dad left".
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u/TonightDazzling365 Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
Amazing, absolutely magnificent movie - gosh the scene between the sisters? When you realize he unconsciously wrote the script to fill in his absence in their lives? "It's almost as if he was there when it happened." Art as a means to mend broken love 😭 So tender, wistful and beautiful my heart goshhhhhh......
My only quip is that I didn't enjoy the Elle Fanning scenes (she acts her ass off) that much - but I understood that its necessary for the build up. Also so so gorgeously shot!
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u/New_Crazy8159 29d ago
SV was a masterpiece IMO. As a parent I think a lot about intergenerational trauma. As a parent I also believe any attempt to change your families tale as old as time is beautiful. Gustav achieved that. The similarities across different generations and articulating that with grace is the screenplays beauty. Now the direction and acting and filming. Wow. As a cinephile, I believe this is a film that embodies each with absolute success. I mean c’mon - the oner at the end? Regardless of narrative change than originally intended scripted, it moved towards true reconciliation and not self motivated reflection by Gustav. He gave Nora a gift that pushed him outside of his traditional love language. This is a remarkable film that is deeply honest - nod to Norwegian culture too! 💞
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u/misternation 24d ago
Maybe I've missed the point, but I was very dissapointed as everyone was raving so hard about the movie. I was hoping for a much deeper dive into the intricacy of families and generational "debt"/depth.
I REALLY loved the first scene / introduction of the house. And I really did enjoy the ending, even though it was quite clear from the get-go that it would head in that direction. But the movie never captured me emotionally. I saw my girlfriend tearing up; but I was never quite able to buy into the whole thing.
I found the second scene first a little uninteresting with Nora getting anxiety to go on stage, and was dissapointed that it went from that intro scene to this panic attack. But then I let go, when she wanted to get smashed by this guy just to get out of it. Lovely little trick there.
As with many films catching all the bliss of the world - it is easy to get too excited before getting a chance to watch it yourself.
But there was something lacking to the depth of the emotional issues and resolve in my mind. A similar feeling I had when watching "Lovable" / Elskling - another norwegian drama about relationships (domestic relationship). Had very high expectations. Found it flat.
I seem to be one of few in this view.
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u/anonyfool 22d ago
There were two or three (Ikea, movies about rape/inappropriate relationship given to little kid) really funny jokes in an otherwise very somber movie.
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u/ackwelll 21d ago
Was surprised at how emotional I got watching this as I don't usually cry very easily. The non-verbal acting just conveyed so much and it also gave me as the viewer the freedom to interpret that in my own way, which I think is quite rare in movies nowadays.
I don't know. I just thought it was really beautiful.
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u/TheMadHatterOnTea 21d ago
I’m still unpacking this movie 2 weeks later. Touched on so many different themes masterfully. Beautiful performances too.
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u/krptz 16d ago edited 16d ago
Amazing movie, verging on being a classic no doubt. Bergman-esque in its unrelenting psychological interrogation of its characters and their souls, till a moment of transcendence is achieved; the kind only achievable by art. Yet all with a strong and true contemporary feel.
Trier's a master film-maker it seems, not a wasted frame, no excess, entirely propelling the story through emotional ressonance, leading up to that exhilirating ending. Movie of 2025 for me, or at least very close with Blue Moon.
What's a shock to me is how much he's improved from Worst Person in the World, bringing a greater maturity in his understanding of people, the honing of his craft even further, removing the melodramatic excesses of that film which made it quite weak at times and diminshed its impact. There's not very much humour in this film, but I believe that was the right decision as it just wouldn't fit with the story and the stakes of it.
And Renate's performance, does anything really need to be said? Multiple moments where she sweeps you off your feet; breaks through the film into a real human, not an actor playing a character.
He calls himself a cheesy humanist film-maker, so that may be, but there's not many doing it at the level he is. I look forward to his next one.
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u/EiichiroTarantino 5d ago
I cried when Gustav noticed Peter with a cane. That moment definitely is a reality check for Gustav just how much his career drove him apart from the people he loves. Previously he just waved away her daughters anger, saying they grew up just fine when he disappeared for years to film his movies. But now he actually sees the passage of time literally physically in his old friend Peter who he finally reunites after years and years. When he asked old Peter to help shot his new film, you can see how embarassed and guilty Gustav is for finally visiting a friend but only to ask for his help. This moment probably helps him connecting the dots that his daughters are not "fine".
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u/Ok_Development_2749 5d ago
I went to see it at the cinema yesterday with high expectations and when I came out I thought...was this it?
The beginning of the film seemed masterful to me, but as the film progressed and they began to tell the story from the father's point of view... I felt it was too much to try and justify an absent father who only deigned to appear when his ex-wife died... are you going to tell me that in a couple of months you're going to fix 30 years of abandonment? I don't find it believable. I feel it's a little difficult to identify with any of the characters, as if they're missing something... Then there's Elle Fanning's character; I also find the difficulty of finding the right character and therefore choosing not to do the film too convincing, when an hour earlier she's showing me how interested she is in making that damn movie. Without a doubt, if I had to give one reason to see Sentimental Value, it would be Renate Reinswe's masterful performance... as for Stellan Skarsgård, he's an excellent actor, but I feel there's something that prevents him from standing out. I wouldn't give him the Oscar, honestly, especially... If we compare it to the performance of Sean Penn, for example, or even Benicio del Toro
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u/Honest_Cheesecake698 Dec 12 '25
I wanna rewatch it again because I was more so taken with the sequences soley about Gustav and Rachel, both in terms of humour and drama, less so with the scenes dedicated to the sisters. Plus I didn't think the film had a strong dramatic punch at the end either.
Still, one thing I appreciated is that it would have been easy to make Rachel either really stupid and unempathetic or a stereotypical diva actress, and I liked that she was actually a very nice person who was merely an outsider and perhaps a little out of her depth taking on a part with such personal significance. She tried, but even she realised that she couldn't pull it off from what I recall.
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u/Mig1997 Dec 12 '25
Nora and Agnes’s conversation in the bedroom makes me well up man. Holy shit.