Sentimental Value Review: Stellan Skarsgård Plays a Filmmaker Dad Who Lacks Reality Check

Stellan Skarsgård’s 2025 film, Sentimental Value, was recently making rounds on my screen through Mubi’s ads, and the trailer was convincing enough for me to give it a shot. And I am glad I did, because Sentimental Value, as its name speaks for itself, unpacks sentiments in a very touching way that might leave you teary-eyed. But I have to say, it’s not a film for everyone. It’s not a film if you’re a fan of fast frames, chaos, and loud BGMs. 

It takes time, drops love, but also resentment in its many forms. So, it’s a great piece for the day when you have time, and you want to witness a family with broken father-daughter relationships explore its dynamics. In some senses, for many, the relationship dynamics shown in the film might even hit too close to home.

Let me take you a little deeper!

Sentimental Value’s Plot Begins With a Death in the Family

So, Stellan Skarsgård’s character, Gustav Borg, is a successful film director who left home when his two daughters, Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), were just kids. The movie begins with him returning to the funeral of his ex-wife, where he reunites with his daughters. 

While Agnes feels more welcoming, Nora has this hidden, suppressed resentment for Gustav that becomes the whole focus of the film soon enough. Gustav has this script he wrote, but it’s not just any other film script; it’s written specifically for Nora, who is a successful National Theatre artist herself.

Nora, however, declines the role, which moves Gustav to hire a young star, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). As the shoot begins, in parallel, more layers of Gustav’s past are unraveled, from his motivation to write the script specifically for Nora to his justifications for being an absent parent. 

Agnes, in all this, is a bridge, in a way that keeps bringing Nora and Gustav together, but I will leave it to you to figure out whether Agnes really has no resentments towards her father the way Nora has? 

Gustav thinks his absence didn’t do anything bad to his daughters; he thinks being an artist is about the liberty that an artist needs. But he is also keen on proving that he loves his daughters. And that is the kind of puzzle that this film takes you through. So, as I said, this film has too many emotions to unpack, and I believe, the Norwegian landscape paired with great acting from all cast members will leave you touched.

Well, Is Sentimental Value A Good Film?

As I said before, it’s not for everyone; it’s emotional, but for some, it can be kinda slow. But it stands where films like About Time stand (without the time-traveling part). It has beautiful cinematography, the landscape is pretty, and if you’re into exploring Norwegian cinema, it’s a good pick. But I also feel the emotional weight of the film wasn’t as strong as it could be. I mean, every time it tried to tap into the broken sides of any character, it moved on from those frames too fast. 

I knew this film would make me cry, but I wanted to cry a little harder, and it failed to do so. So yeah, I enjoyed it, still, also gave it 5 stars on Mubi so more folks could tap into it. Surely, it has a niche audience waiting for it to enjoy much more than I did.

Where Can You Watch Sentimental Value?

Your best bet is Mubi. After this, Joachim Trier’s directorial work achieved a major international success after its 2025 release; the film was nominated for nine Oscars and the Cannes Grand Prix. Which resulted in tons of major streaming platforms racing each other to secure the film’s streaming rights.

If you’ve not leveraged Mubi’s 7-day free trial yet, you can sign up for that and enjoy this film for free. Or, you can rent it on Prime Video by clicking here.

There will also be a criterion collection releasing on May 26, 2026, with deleted scenes, scene commentaries, and a 4K digital master print with a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. You can pre-order that on Prime Video as well by clicking here. I guess enhanced pixels will make the whole experience much better.

For a Quick Conclusion

Is Sentimental Value a masterpiece? Maybe. Is it a slog? For the TikTok-brained, absolutely. It sits in that quiet, aching corner of cinema occupied by films like About Time—just strip away the sci-fi gimmicks. The cinematography is gorgeous, but the emotional payoff felt… restrained. I wanted a breakdown; I got a polite sob. It’s a 3.5/5 that I gave 5 stars on Mubi just to spite the algorithm.

Now, go and give it a shot. I will see you with another review soon!