Affeksjonsverdi (2025)
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A filmmaker's return to his family home leads to a complex reunion with his estranged daughters and a high-stakes production.
The story
After a troubled marriage and a long absence, film director Gustav Borg returns to his family home in Norway to reclaim it following the death of his ex-wife. His daughters, Nora and Agnes, have grown to resent him for his years of absence and difficult personality. As Gustav struggles to fund his latest project, he seeks to film a story inspired by his mother's traumatic past during the Nazi occupation. He attempts to cast his daughter Nora in the lead role, but she initially refuses to engage with his vision, leading to a tense dynamic between the family members as they navigate their shared history and the demands of the production.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Gustav Borg returns to his ancestral home in Oslo after his ex-wife's death to reclaim the property and film a project inspired by his mother's trauma during the Nazi occupation. His daughters, Nora (a struggling actress) and Agnes (a historian), are estranged from him due to his drinking and long absences. When Gustav hires an American actress, Rachel, to play the role of his mother, it creates friction, especially as Nora feels neglected. After a series of personal and professional setbacks, including a breakdown for Gustav and a realization by Agnes regarding the shared trauma in their family, the sisters' relationship shifts. Agnes discovers that the script reflects both her mother's history and Nora's own secret struggles. This leads Nora to finally accept the role. The film concludes with the production moving to a studio set, where Nora performs the final scene with her brother, ending with a moment of mutual understanding between her and her father.
- Original title
- Sentimental Value
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 133
- Production countries
- Norway; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- Norwegian
- Directors
- Joachim Trier
- Writers
- Eskil Vogt · writer; Joachim Trier · writer
- Cast and characters
- Renate Reinsve · Nora Borg; Stellan Skarsgård · Gustav Borg; Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas · Agnes Borg Pettersen; Elle Fanning · Rachel Kemp; Anders Danielsen Lie · Jakob; Jesper Christensen · Michael; Lena Endre · Ingrid Berger; Cory Michael Smith · Sam
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- generational trauma; father-daughter relationships; artistic ambition; reconciliation
- Tone and mood
- dramatic; somber
- Premise and plot tags
- family drama; film industry; historical trauma
- Reception
- The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and receiving high scores on Metacritic.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 86 · scale: 100 · review count: 45
- Production trivia
- The production used a real villa in Oslo's Frogner neighborhood as a stand-in for the residence.; The film's score was composed by Hania Rani in her first film scoring stint.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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