This film is an achievement of humanistic approaches with an artistic natural vibe to the writing. Sentimental Value is a title that speaks for itself. Directed by Joachim Trier, he takes the life of a family and the arts to a new level where disconnect and reality present mental and emotional challenges. It is stunning, audacious, and breathtaking. So many human emotions are on full display and interesting layers of art are out of this world in Sentimental Value.

The life of directors has many ups and downs in this story about a family who is curious about finding out where the focus lies. The main characters are sisters, Nora Borg and Agnes Borg Pettersen (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas). Their father is Gustav Borg (Alexander Stellan Skarsgard), an accomplished director. All three of these individuals find themselves at the heart and mercy of disconnect as well as a tumultuous relationship caused by their success in the cinematic and theatrical world. There is so much pressure on the sisters from their father, Gustav. Nora finds herself encountering hurdles and struggling to adapt. Gustav comes around a lot more frequently in their lives. At the same time, however, Nora and Agnes work on achieving happiness while they share their lingering disconnect. In the meantime, their father is on the search to make art come to life in his new project.

The film goes from scenes showcasing success to theatre stages and the movies. Suffering from their past comes into play, and at the same time there is love that is present. The feelings stirred by the story can be hard to feel. Trier fuels emotional component hard in Sentimental Value. At times, it gets to the point of making audiences ponder why some people push themselves to the limit.

The new star that Gustav is working with is a young actress named Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). She is working on building a following. Gustav’s daughters find themselves a bit jealous of her and she ends up right in the middle of all the chaos and family drama. The complex elements of becoming successful are manipulated by the father. Sentimental Value portrays howfavoritism can have serious consequences. The film reveals some astonishing truths and is a unique arthouse film that I found worthy. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.