Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: “Sentimental Value,” a new Norwegian drama directed by Joachim Trier, and now playing in theatres, sees an acclaimed film director’s efforts to make a personal movie about their family’s troubled past starring his two estranged daughters,

CAST: Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning. Directed by Joachim Trier.

REVIEW: A portrait of legacy within a dysfunctional family, “Sentimental Value” is ultimately about the healing power of art.

The story begins at the funeral reception for Sissel, mother of estranged sisters Nora and Agnes Borg. The already fraught afternoon is made more so when Sissel’s charismatic ex-husband Gustav arrives after having little contact with the family for many years.

The sisters, Nora (“The Worst Person in the World’s” Renate Reinsve), a serious theatre actor who puts her work before everything else, including personal happiness, the other, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) is a wife and mother with a stable job, have had only sporadic contact with Gustaf (Stellan Skarsgård) in the years since he left.

A once famous director, Gustaf abandoned the family as his career took off and has returned to try and convince them to be part of a new film he’s planning on making about the family’s darkest secrets.

Despite the title, “Sentimental Value” is not a sentimental film. Tender, but edged with steel, it’s not in search of easy reconciliation between the disparate characters. Director Joachim Trier, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eskil Vogt, is more interested in an uneasy truce tinged by understanding between Gustav and his daughters.

These characters are unapologetically who they are, so don’t expect great epiphanies. Instead, we are dropped into their dysfunction, their ancestral home and all the baggage that comes with that. It’s a slice-of-life, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny, sometimes devastating. Most importantly, the artifice that usually clouds stories of floundering families is missing. What’s left is raw and real.

As the tightly wound actress and daughter Nora, Reinsve displays the remarkable ability to convey a range of conflicting emotions, often in the same scene. It’s award worthy work, delivered with the precision of a master artisan.

As good as Reinsve is, she is given a run for her money by Skarsgård, whose mix of charm and smarm is as compelling as it is repulsive. A vivid portrait of a man who prioritized his art over his family, it allows the actor to dig deep but never resort to theatrics. His work in the close-ups is subtle but reveals a deep well of emotion just behind the eyes.

With stellar performances and nuanced, grounded storytelling, “Sentimental Value” hits the heart in its portrayal of family bonds and the spaces that sometimes can bring people closer together.