Shadows on the Wall | Sentimental Value

Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir Joachim Trier
scr Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
prd Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
with Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Anders Danielsen Lie, Jesper Christensen, Lena Endre, Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud, Oyvind Hesjedal Loven, Lars Varinger
release Nor 12.Sep.25,
US 7.Nov.25, UK 26.Dec.25
25/Norway 2h13

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Warmly observational with richly detailed characters, this Norwegian drama is a powerful exploration of family connections, full of the kinds of yearnings that everyone struggles to express. Each person on-screen feels bracingly authentic, which makes it easy to identify with the larger ideas that are so skilfully handled by filmmaker Joachim Trier, again working with the gifted Renate Reinsve. And the film-within-a-film narrative offers a range of beautiful textures.

Before going on stage, acclaimed actress Nora (Reinsve) suffers from blinding panic attacks. She gets this from her estranged filmmaker father Gustav (Skarsgard), who takes a moment before turning up at her mother's funeral. Now Nora and her sister Agnes (Lilleaas) wonder what he will do with their beloved home, which has been in the family for generations. He plans to shoot his next film there, and has written the lead role specifically for Nora. When she angrily rejects it, Gustav offers the role to American movie star Rachel (Fanning). But larger questions need answering.

Flickering through history, the film cleverly mixes flashbacks with movie scenes to create a full-bodied portrait of this family's complex dynamic, along with observational, novelistic narration voiced by Bente Borsum. So the camera flows through the house as scenes shift between decades. Meanwhile, Gustav spins tales to elicit a more haunted performance from Rachel. And Nora begins to realise that her reticence toward her married boyfriend (Danielsen Lie) might leave her alone in the end.

Nora's churning bitterness toward her father propels the film through a series of astonishing conversations. Reinsve gives Nora a wonderful inner life, cleverly revealed through both her interaction and her work as an actress. It's a powerfully involving performance that continually takes us aback. And it's echoed beautifully by Skarsgard's complex performance as a man who knows that he has made serious mistakes and is trying to clean up his mess. Lilleaas is also excellent in an unusually layered role.

It's Agnes who confronts disturbing details as she researches grim chapters of her family's history, so the film becomes an unusually astute look at how pain is passed down through generations. "Nothing is more beautiful than shadows," Gustav muses, but he worries that he can see in Nora his own darkness, and more specifically, his mother's. The movie he is making is his way of dealing with these issues and reaching out to his daughters. And maybe they are finally beginning to understand.

themes, language 29.Oct.25

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