Episode #43
Sentimental Value
This week we are reviewing Sentimental Value, the 2025 Norwegian family drama written and directed by Joachim Trier, starring Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinsve and Elle Fanning. Two estranged sisters are reunited by the death of their mother. Into this grief walks their father — Gustav, a once-celebrated film director who abandoned the family when the girls were young and who now arrives with a movie script, a plan, and absolutely no self-awareness. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2025 and received nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture — the first Norwegian film to win Best International Feature Film. Before any of that — the Scotsman has been on the Aussie's Instagram. He reads out the celebrity DMs. There is a message to Chris Hemsworth that contains the line "I thought I would to you." There is one to Kate Winslet addressed as "High Cake." The Aussie knew the Hemsworth one was bad while he was writing it. He sent it anyway. Thor has not responded. Neither has Cake. Then — the Perth fans. The Aussie had dinner with Simon and Matt, two of the most dedicated listeners in the show's history. They told him Rohan Reminisces needs to go longer, trivia needs to go deeper, and nobody liked the name change. The Scotsman points out this is everything he has been saying for three years. The Aussie shrugs. On the film. Both hosts loved it, and the conversation it unlocks is one of the best they have had. The film is about a father who cannot have honest conversations with his daughters, so he writes them into a movie instead — and then wonders why they won't just get over it. The Scotsman puts it best in the intro: "The story that follows is about what happens when art is used as a surrogate for the conversations a man cannot bring himself to have with his own children." The discussion goes deep — parental trauma, generational damage, a father who is cold versus one who is absent. Nature versus nurture spirals out from the film in a way that is genuinely thoughtful. The Aussie ties it back to broken homes. The Scotsman ties it back to school shooters. It goes where it goes. The scene between the two sisters — one quietly admitting she tried to take her own life, asking if their father even knows — stops both hosts cold. Elle Fanning slowly dyeing her hair dark and learning a Norwegian accent, trying to become the daughter this man cannot face, until she knocks on his door and tells him it should be his daughter doing this — is one of the best scenes in the film. Rohan Reminisces does not happen. The Aussie arrives with nothing. The Scotsman points out that Matt in Perth walks specifically to listen to it on Saturday mornings. The Aussie promises to do better. Trivia: nine Oscar nominations, Grand Prix at Cannes, 19-minute standing ovation at the premiere. The Scotsman notes that 19 minutes is long enough to soft boil an egg or drive across central Oslo. Stellan Skarsgard — father of eight, four of whom are working actors including Alexander, Bill, and Gustaf — neither confirmed nor denied that Gustav was drawn from his own life. Ratings: 4.2 from the Aussie, 4.5 from the Scotsman. One of the better ones this year. The podcast is out now on YouTube and also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Hit subscribe or follow — it genuinely helps the show keep growing. Thanks for listening.
