Neon’s ‘Sentimental Value,’ Starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve, Is a Surefire Oscar Contender

Cannes: Neon looks likely to land another Palme d'Or by adding "It Was Just an Accident" and "The Secret Agent" to its war chest before jury awards voting.

Last year at this time, “Anora” played like gangbusters at the Palais (audience applause is a Cannes ritual that is part performance and part real, but difficult to quantify), earned raves from the Screen International jury grid, and inevitably, won the Palme d’Or. That gave Neon confidence to play its long Oscar hand, successfully, gaining five Oscar wins including Best Picture, Director, Editing, Actress, and Screenplay.

This year the late-festival movie that performed as well is Joachim Trier’s likely Norwegian Oscar entry “Sentimental Value,” an intense family drama about an established actress (Renate Reinsve) with anxiety issues whose estranged father (Sweden’s Stellan Skarsgård) seeks to regain his foothold in the film industry with a new movie starring his daughter. When she’s not interested, he casts an American actress (Elle Fanning) instead. Both Reinsve and Skarsgård give towering performances that will not be denied at Oscar time, given that Neon, which bought the film a year ago at Cannes before production, is adept at playing the awards game and recently added the Oscar whisperer Ryan Werner (Cinetic Media) to their in-house team as distribution chief. This could be their sixth Palme d’Or win.

Besides, two set pieces, including Reinsve’s panic attack before going on stage opening night, and a heartfelt moment with her sister (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), are scene-stoppers. Movies that draw on the emotions are often winners, especially with actors. Four serve on this year’s jury, including the president Juliette Binoche, plus Halle Berry, Alba Rohrwacher, and Jeremy Strong.

Giving this film a huge leg up is that Trier is already established with Oscar voters; he played the awards game with Neon’s “The Worst Person in the World” (2021), which earned two Oscar nominations including Original Screenplay for Trier and Eskil Vogt, who reteam on “Sentimental Value,” and Best International Feature. They are members of the club. And “Sentimental Value” is a brilliant film, not only about family but about art, legacy, and reconciliation, as both the actress and her aging director father struggle to pursue their art.

Reinsve won Best Actress at Cannes in 2021 for Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” and has since added a number of English-language projects to her slate, from Apple TV+’s “Presumed Innocent” to Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man.” Her star is rising and she’s primed for major stateside awards play.

Just as last year Neon scooped up “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” at the last minute before awards night, just in case “Anora” didn’t bring home the prize, this year they’ve added to their war chest Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” which also played well this week and could win a prize. The Iranian auteur returned to Cannes for the first time since 2003; he conjured up the story in an Iranian prison. Neon also partnered with Panahi in 2021, releasing Cannes special screening “The Year of the Everlasting Storm.”

And not taking any chances, Neon just acquired North American rights to Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s 70s caper “The Secret Agent.” Star Wagner Moura has nabbed some Best Actor heat at Cannes as a technology expert on the run hoping to reunite with his son. The film earned strong reviews for the Brazilian auteur behind “Bacarau.”