A quiet, tender father–daughter drama
Joachim Trier’s new film “Sentimental Value,” led by Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve, has arrived in U.S. theaters with praise for doing something simple very well. The story is familiar — an estranged father and adult daughter are pushed back together by illness, money worries and old promises — but AP says the film works because Trier lets pauses, sidelong glances and half-said lines carry the emotion. Skarsgård plays the father as a man who knows he failed and is a little ashamed of fixing things this late, while Reinsve gives the daughter enough independence that the film never turns into easy forgiveness. Shot mostly indoors with winter light, it feels like a chamber piece, tightening the focus on two people trying to speak honestly for the first time in years. That intimacy is what makes the film linger after it ends.

Why this stands out in a noisy season
The release calendar is packed with sequels, holiday films and streaming debuts, but “Sentimental Value” offers the kind of adult drama that used to own November. AP notes that the script finds humor in small generational misfires — technology, divorce, work — keeping the tone from getting heavy. Trier also avoids punishing either character; he understands that real family repair is about negotiating past damage, not erasing it. With Skarsgård’s name recognition and Reinsve’s rising profile since “The Worst Person in the World,” the film has a clear path through U.S. arthouse circuits. Even if it does not become a breakout hit, it reminds distributors there is still room for mid-budget European dramas that trust actors and dialogue more than spectacle.