A review of 'Sentimental Value'

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value has received nine Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and, for Norway, Best International Feature Film.

- By PHILIP CU UNJIENG

The wonderful Renate Reinsve, seen in Trier’s previous film The Worst Person in the World, has a Best Actress nomination, while Stellan Skarsgård is vying for Best Supporting Actor. In the race for Best Supporting Actress are both Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. That’s a coup for Trier and this European slow-burning film.

It’s now showing in cinemas as part of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) World Cinema 2026 showcase, which runs until Feb. 3. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to catch this film and understand why it has earned its acclaim. On the face of it, the film contains a ‘small’ story about artists and family, but it’s the plumbing of emotional depths and the examination of the artistic process, fatherhood, and sisterhood that elevate it to so much more. It is, in a sense, therapy through filmmaking.