Renate Reinsve, the radiant star of The Worst Person in the World, here plays Nora, an accomplished stage actor whose mother has recently died. As she grieves with her younger sister, Agnes, wonderfully played by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Nora must deal with the return of their long-estranged father, Gustav, played by Stellan Skarsgard. Gustav, a film director of some note, abandoned the family when the girls were still young.
The stately home in the suburbs of Oslo has sheltered generations of the Borg family. As kids, Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) and her younger sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), could hear their mother, Sissel's therapy sessions with clients through the flue of a wood-burning stove in their bedroom. They could hear their parents' conversations as well, both those mundane and tense.
Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier's latest film, premiered at Cannes earlier this year to rapturous reviews and the Grand Prix, making its New York Film Festival premiere this week one of our most anticipated. The film is Trier's sixth feature, co-written with Eskil Vogt like the previous five and similarly interested in the intricate nuances of human relationships. It's also his best yet, a quietly devastating and often funny look at a pair of sisters and their absentee father.