On the podcast, Alex Heeney unpacks Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value at TIFF 2025, tracing its echoes of Louder Than Bombs and what it adds to Trier’s ongoing explorations of family, grief, and memory.
Joachim Trier’s new film Sentimental Value is already shaping up to be one of the year’s buzziest arthouse hits. In this episode of the podcast, I bring more than a decade of thinking about Trier’s work with his longtime co-writer Eskil Vogt to unpack what this film is doing — and why it’s both devastating and, at times, frustrating.
I trace how Sentimental Value circles back to themes Trier and Vogt have explored throughout their careers: siblings and parentification, houses as sites of memory and trauma, and the complicated roles that parents play in their children’s lives. I look at the film’s searing portrait of Gustav, a narcissistic father who can only relate to his daughters by directing them. And I get into the cathartic moment between the sisters that is really powerful. But, I argue, also telling in what it does and doesn’t let us see.
Situating Sentimental Value within Trier’s body of work on the podcast
Along the way, I put Sentimental Value in conversation with Louder Than Bombs, Trier’s earlier family drama. I show how the new film makes certain themes explicit that Louder left messier and more ambiguous. I also draw connections to Oslo, August 31st and how Sentimental Value explicitly references its haunting ending.
I’ve been watching and studying Trier’s films for 14 years. That includes conducting years of interviews with Trier and his collaborators as part of the book I’m writing on his work. This episode is a snapshot of my thinking right now — not a final word.
✨ Want to go deeper? Because these are films built to be turned over, I’m planning a premium live event this fall. It’s not something you can get from the podcast. It’s a chance to engage with me in real time, to wrestle with Trier’s work, and to discover the kinds of insights that only emerge in conversation.
👉If you’d like to be a part of that, join the waitlist here. Spots will be limited.
Podcast Credits for this episode on Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value
Alex Heeney edited, produced, and recorded the episode.
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An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
