Sentimental Value (2025)

The funniest part of this movie is when the seven-year-old gets Irreversible for his birthday.

2025 has been the year of movies about parents - so much drama about being a mom or a dad, about what we inherit and what we pass down.

Sentimental Value fits right into that wave, but it might be the densest of the bunch. This is iceberg theory filmmaking - knowing glances, loaded gestures, so much implied meaning beneath every interaction. These are some of the most fully realized characters I’ve watched all year, written and acted with precision that blew me away.

I’m generally anti-films about films, but this uses filmmaking as a lens to explore someone’s inner dialogue without ever feeling like a movie about movies. The craft becomes a vehicle for excavating memory and meaning rather than Hollywood self-congratulation.

I’m still processing my emotional connection to this one, especially Stellan Skarsgård’s character and what the act of creation means to him - whether making something can heal anything, or whether it’s just another way to avoid facing people directly. He looked a lot like my grandpa. I was thinking about him the entire time. Watching the daughters navigate their father’s distance felt like watching my worst fear of being a parent. I could see myself in parts of Stellan - the withdrawal, the inability to articulate feeling, the hiding behind work. I’m not proud of that recognition.

The final scene genuinely took me by surprise. It got me. In more ways than one.

Also, can I just say - Elle Fanning is having a year. Showing up in Hideo Kojima’s game, doing Outer Badlands, and still making arthouse films like this. Good for her. I love how she’s using her star power.

Also on Letterboxd