If you are an Oscars-oriented movie enthusiast, you need no introduction to “Sentimental Value.” Unless you were at Cannes, though, you are still awaiting a proper look at the movie. For everybody else who has a passing interest in the Oscars, or just want to see a familial dramedy, the trailer for “Sentimental Value” has been released.
In 2021, director Joachim Trier put himself on the map with his film “The Worst Person in the World.” That film starred Renate Reinsve, who won Best Actress at Cannes, and then the movie got Oscar nominations for Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay. This also got the hype train rolling for Trier’s next film, even if it was entirely in a vacuum. That movie is “Sentimental Value.”
Trier and Reinsve are joining forces again, but familiar faces to American audiences in Stellen Skarsgard and Elle Fanning are in the movie as well. The film focuses on Skarsgard as a venerated-but-aging director estranged from his daughters and Fanning as the star of Skarsgard’s latest film stepping into the role that Skargard had intended for Reinsve.
“Sentimental Value” was a big success at Cannes, winning the Grand Prix, which is essentially the silver medal. You could make the case it was viewed as the best movie at Cannes. The Palme d’Or went to Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” a film critical of the Iranian government from an Iranian director who has been imprisoned in the past for his movies. He’s a quality filmmaker, but there was an import to “It Was Just an Accident” that “Sentimental Value” can’t match. Trier has never had one of his films declared “illegal,” you know?
Expect to see Oscar nominations for “Sentimental Value,” including Best Picture. We’ll also suggest the possibility that Skargard is in line to win an Oscar at the moment. The film will be released on November 7, the same day as the Glen Powell-led “The Running Man.” Now that would be quite the “Barbenheimer” double feature.
