Sentimental Value - Screenplay

by Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt

The 2025 drama film Sentimental Value (Norwegian: Affeksjonsverdi) was written by Norwegian director Joachim Trier and his long-time collaborator Eskil Vogt. The film, which explores themes of family, memory, and home, marks their sixth collaboration.

138 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Ellen Toft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knausgårds analyse av Affeksjonsverdi, denne samlingens aperitivo, klarer selvfølgelig å trekke tråder til Knausgårds liv, «Hvorfor gråt jeg? Jeg ville det jo ikke- er det noe jeg hater så er det å miste kontrollen over følelsene, og det å gråte ser jeg på som skamfullt». Kanskje det er en selvironisk måte å portrettere alle kunstnere som farsfiguren Gustav? Knausgård nevner blant annet sin egen far med dyp sammenheng. Er det i overkant egosentrisk, eller bygger det stødig grunn for å tro at Affeksjonsverdi også lever utenfor filmen?

Samtalen mellom Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier og Mattis Øybø var i tilfelle mer interresant. Fikk spesielt en større respekt for den norske Trier. Han er på jorden, og de store tankene er ikke for store for han. Intelligent type.

Det var en frustrerende, vakker, engasjerende reise å lese manuset. Ser tydeligere hvordan dramaturgien egentlig var ganske klassisk. Karakterene reiser i seg selv og hverandre. Det er deilig at forsoningen forekommer utenfor språkets rekkevidde.

[Ross Bonaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Sentimental Value, writers Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier aren’t just telling the story of a filmmaker (Stellan Skarsgård) and his two daughters (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lileaas) as he tries to make a film about his life. It’s also very much the story of a house and its century of existence, the people who have lived in it, and how this place has become a home to so many. In Trier’s film, this is all intertwined beautifully, and in reading the screenplay, this becomes more pronounced, almost like a better version of Robert Zemeckis’ Here.

Sentimental Value is the most complex script in this list of nominees, an amalgamation of a filmmaker exploring his own life through his film, his daughters, the actress (Elle Fanning) who wants to do justice to this story, the previous films that he’s made, how these films present what he’s feeling, as well as the story of a home. It’s a lot to handle, but Vogt and Trier’s screenplay handled it tremendously well, giving us a fuller picture of the Borg family, rather than feeling overstuffed with unnecessary details and tangents. Vogt and Trier want us to understand how past generations can impact current ones and how the past bleeds into the present in ways we might not even feel. Sentimental Value is a script that’s trying to juggle quite a bit, but it’s the best screenplay in this category because Vogt and Trier know how to present it all in a captivating and impactful way.

[ValTheBookEater]

Thank you sir Joachim Trier for your valuable services in unlocking emotion in every corner of that damned house.