‘Sentimental Value’ Pushes Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård Into Oscar Spotlight

It’ll be hard for the Academy to resist “Sentimental Value.”

After finishing as runner-up to the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and now, making a quietly rapturous North American debut at Telluride, Joachim Trier’s Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value” is shaping up to be a formidable player in this year’s international Oscar race — and with the added potential to crack into all the top categories including best picture.

A tender yet unsparing exploration of generational trauma, creative legacy and emotional inheritance, “Sentimental Value” from Neon marks Trier’s return following his Oscar-nominated triumph “The Worst Person in the World” (2021), which landed him an original screenplay nomination. Co-written once again with longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt, the Norwegian auteur’s latest project reunites him with Renate Reinsve, the breakout star of “The Worst Person in the World,” and introduces a powerhouse ensemble including Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and the indelible Stellan Skarsgård, quite possibly all making plays for acting attention.

With Neon eyeing a full awards push, the focus will squarely be on Reinsve and Skarsgård, whose critically lauded turns as a strained father-daughter duo could make them the first-ever Oscar acting nominees for Norwegian-spoken performances — a historic milestone amid the Academy’s increasingly global embrace.

Reinsve, who earned a BAFTA nomination and acclaim for her work as Julie in “The Worst Person in the World,” delivers what many are already calling her finest performance yet. As Nora Borg, a stage and television actress in her late 30s who returns to the family’s Oslo home following her mother’s death, Reinsve charts a rich and emotional terrain — one marked by long-buried grief, personal recalibration, and a hesitant reconciliation with her father. Even Telluride festival director Julie Huntsinger told Variety that Reinsve was on the shortlist to receive one of the festival highly-lauded tributes: “She very easily could have had [a tribute] from us this year — and she will [eventually]. She’s extraordinary.”

At the patron’s brunch on Friday before the fest officially kicked off, Variety shared Huntsinger’s comments about her being considered for a tribute with Reinsve. Surprised at the news, and after a Neon representative explained it further, Reinsve, 39, became visibly moved and began to tear up. “I’ve never seen anyone get so excited at almost getting an award before,” the Neon representative joked.

Experiencing Reinsve’s charm in-person, she can an undeniable and key selling trait of the family drama. And while the performance, is subtle in delivery, it offers a towering payoff, which can be compared to past Oscar nominees like Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years” and Penélope Cruz in “Parallel Mothers.” What could have been a quiet, internalized role becomes, in Reinsve’s hands, a riveting portrait of a woman reckoning with identity.

Should she land a best actress nom, Reinsve would not only make history for a Norwegian-language performance, but join the ranks of a growing number of non-English contenders breaking into the category recently. Just last year, the Academy honored two in the category with Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Pérez,” in Spanish) and Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here,” in Portuguese), signaling a shift in voter openness to international lead turns.

Then there’s Stellan Skarsgård, long regarded as one of international cinema’s most reliable character actors, from his work with Lars von Trier. In “Sentimental Value,” he plays Gustav Borg. a retired, once-celebrated film director grappling with obsolescence, regret and the very legacy Nora wants no part of.

In a career-capping turn that recalls past supporting actor winners like James Coburn (“Affliction”), J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”) and Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Skarsgård’s melancholic wit and raw vulnerability could easily strike a chord with Academy voters. The performance is rich with metatext — a commentary on aging filmmakers, the burden of artistic legacy and the very idea of cinema as inheritance — a theme the Academy has historically embraced. Think best picture winners such as “The Artist” (2011) and “Birdman” (2014), and nominees like “The Fabelmans” (2022), “La La Land” (2016) and “Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood” (2019) — all films that center on moviemaking and found favor with voters.

Let’s not forget… following last year’s landmark win by Zoe Saldaña — the first acting Oscar for a supporting performance in an international feature nominee (“Emilia Pérez” repping France) — there’s now a precedent for Skarsgård to ride a similar wave.

Among the film’s quietest, yet most stirring turns is Elle Fanning’s performance as Rachel, a famous American actress starring in Gustav’s latest film. Fanning — a young performer long admired for her precision and emotional intelligence on screen — brings a quiet ache and layered restraint to the role. Having flirted with Oscar recognition for over a decade, from her breakout in Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” to her recent work in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown,” Fanning once again proves she’s one of the most consistently compelling actors of her generation. And with the supporting actress category known for honoring multiple performers from the same film, it would be unwise to count out the equally affecting Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who plays Nora’s sister and delivers a tearful, resonant impact in the film’s final scenes.

“Sentimental Value” premiered in competition at Cannes, where it came in as the Grand Prix runner-up to Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident.” The film’s warm reception was echoed at Telluride, where Trier, Reinsve, and Skarsgård participated in packed post-screening Q&As, receiving standing ovations from audiences and Academy members in attendance.

With Neon positioning the film as both Norway’s official Oscar submission for international feature and a broader campaign player, “Sentimental Value” could be the most nominated non-English language movie this year. Given the film’s pedigree. and the way it taps into the Academy’s sweet spot for personal, art-meets-life narratives, don’t be surprised if Trier and Vogt once again find themselves in the original screenplay lineup (and vying for their first trophy).

While it remains early in the season, the signs have been clear since its May debut: “Sentimental Value” is no quiet European chamber piece. Its luminous central performances, along with the pedigreed creative team and resonant themes, could create a viable contender in not only international feature but across all categories.

Maybe Fanning was right in Cannes when she declared it — “Joachim Trier Summer.”