Joachim Trier returned to the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday night to world premiere his new film Sentimental Value, which scored an extraordinary 19-minute standing ovation after its screening at the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
Reteaming again with Renate Reinsve, who starred in Trier’s 2021 Cannes movie The Worst Person in the World (and won her the Best Actress prize here), Norwegian filmmaker Trier’s latest is a family drama that also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning.
All walked the red carpet tonight in Cannes, where Sentimental Value is playing in the competition lineup, before entering the venue for the screening. The crowd erupted as the lights came up.
In the film, Reinsve plays Nora, an actress, who with her younger sister Agnes (Lilleaas) are reunite with their estranged father Gustav (Skarsgård), a once-famous director who offers Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star (Fanning). All come together in a swirl of complex family dynamics.
While there is no official record for Cannes ovations — there is certainly no official method for timing applause here — it’s roundly considered that Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 fantasy drama Pan’s Labyrinth set the mark at 22 minutes. But tonight’s 19-minute tally for Sentimental Value certainly has made the family drama’s presence known in the hunt for the Palme d’Or.
Neon, which as distributed the past five Palme d’Or winners here, pre-bought North American rights to the film in Cannes last year, marking the second collaboration for Neon, Trier and Reinsve after The Worst Person in the World. Mubi holds other territory rights.