It is said that a house divided against itself will not stand. In the case of Joachim Trier’s film Sentimental Value, that division is rooted in a father’s (Stellan Skarsgard) emotional and physical distance from the lives of his two daughters (Renata Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas). After divorcing their mother, he abandons his family to pursue his career as a filmmaker.
The character known as Gustav Borg only returns to his daughters’ world after their mother has died decades later. This is a fractured family, and as such, each daughter has many years’ worth of repressed grief, remorse, and contempt that has manifested within them in various ways. Even when their father comes back into their lives, it seems to be for his own selfish reasons. But perhaps he is actually driven by something beyond himself. Maybe the eternal bond between a father and his children will find a way to prevail, both because of and in spite of their humanness. The ultimate goal of a healing journey is not to forget about the wounds, but to learn to live with the scars.
To rebuild a house that has collapsed from the inside is not an overnight project. It may take years of intentional planning and the consistent effort to show up on a daily basis to put the pieces back together. By the end of Sentimental Value, the reconstruction of the House of Borg has just begun – but I have no doubt that its foundation will be strong this time. — Thomas Manning (2025)
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