Sentimental Value (Norwegian: Affeksjonsverdi) is a 2025 comedy-drama film directed by Joachim Trier, who co-wrote it with Eskil Vogt. It stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning. It follows a fractured relationship between an acclaimed director and his two estranged daughters, which becomes even more complicated when he decides to make a personal film about their family history. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May, where it received widespread acclaim and won the Grand Prix. It was theatrically released in Norway on 12 September by Nordisk Film. It was selected as the Norwegian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. == Plot == After the death of their mother Sissel, the sisters Nora and Agnes Borg are forced to confront their estranged father Gustav, a once-famous film director who abandoned the family when the girls were still young. Fifteen years have passed since Gustav’s last film, but he has written the script for a new film: the story of his mother, who took her own life in the family home in Norway—a place still owned by him and haunted by the trauma she endured from Nazi torture during the war. He offers the lead role to Nora, who is a stage actress. When she firmly refuses, Gustav casts Hollywood actress Rachel Kemp instead, whom he met during a retrospective of his films in France. As filming begins, Gustav seizes the opportunity not only to revive his artistic legacy but also to mend the deeply fractured relationships with his daughters. == Cast == Renate Reinsve as Nora Borg, a stage and television actress and the most recent inhabitant of her family home in Oslo Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg, a celebrated film director and Nora and Agnes' estranged father Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg Pettersen, Nora's sister Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp, a famous American actress playing the lead role in Gustav's latest film Anders Danielsen Lie as Jakob, Nora's colleague and romantic interest Jesper Christensen as Michael, Gustav's producer Lena Endre as Ingrid Berger Cory Michael Smith as Sam, Rachel's colleague Catherine Cohen as Nicky, Rachel's colleague Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud as Even Pettersen, Agnes' husband Øyvind Hesjedal Loven as Erik, Agnes and Even's son Lars Väringer as Peter, Gustav's retired cinematographer Ida Marianne Vassbotn Klasson as Sissel Borg, Gustav's ex-wife and the mother of Nora and Agnes == Production == Principal photography commenced in August 2024 in Oslo. == Release == On 10 April 2025, Sentimental Value was announced to be competing for the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 21 May 2025 and received a 19-minute standing ovation. The film's trailer was released on 1 July. Neon bought the distribution rights for North America in May 2024 at the Cannes Film Festival when the film was first announced. In April 2025, Mubi announced that they had acquired rights to the film for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India. It was also screened in Open Air Premiere Programme at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2025. It was released in France on 20 August 2025 by Memento. It was released in the United States on 7 November 2025 by Neon. It will release in Spain on 5 December 2025 by Elastica, and in the United Kingdom on 26 December by Mubi. == Reception == On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 125 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Deftly exploring the uneasy tension between artistic expression and personal connection, Sentimental Value is a bracingly mature work from writer-director Joachim Trier that's marvelously acted across the board." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In June 2025, IndieWire ranked the film at number 21 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)". === Accolades === == See also == List of Cannes Film Festival records § Longest standing ovations List of submissions to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Norwegian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film == References == == External links == Sentimental Value at IMDb