Mature and Sincere, “Sentimental Value” Is An Uniquely Earnest Family Drama
Knew this would be a doozy of a family drama, but definitely wasn’t expecting the complex dynamics it dove into regarding 4 generations of a family and all of the foibles, follies, and trauma that run through them all, symbolized by even characterization of the house they all have lived in.
Pretty amazing stuff, and these themes are handled without any sort of explosive emotional moments or climaxes, none of your usual dramatic film beats. It’s all understated, mature, and, above all, real. These are real people saying real dialogue and dealing with real emotions, and none of that is solved in the usual formula seen in film typically.
And the emotional subtlety, written and directed into the veins of the film by Joachim Trier, calls for some next level acting, which he gets from one of the best casts of the year with Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning.
Calm, unhurried, but quietly broad and ambitious, this is definitely one of the year’s best.