Cannes: Elle Fanning’s ‘Sentimental Value’ receives 15-min electrifying ovation

WEB DESK: Cannes erupted in a historic 15-minute standing ovation for Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s dazzling new drama starring Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård. The May 21 premiere left the Neon-backed film’s cast and crew in tears as the Palais crowd roared, shattering this year’s previous 11.5-minute record (Alpha) and cementing its status as the festival’s most euphoric moment.

Fanning, luminous as a fading Hollywood starlet, wept openly as applause thundered through the theater. Beside her, Skarsgård blew kisses to the ecstatic audience, while Trier — visibly overwhelmed — choked up thanking his team: “Many of us fought for years to make this.”

The Norwegian auteur, a Cannes darling since Oslo, August 31st (2011), delivers another masterclass in emotional precision. His The Worst Person in the World catapulted Renate Reinsve to stardom here in 2021; now, Sentimental Value — co-starring Cory Michael Smith and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas—positions Fanning for similar glory.

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Sentimental Value weaves a poignant family saga around two sisters—Nora (Renate Reinsve), a charismatic but insecure actress, and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), a reserved historian—as they grapple with grief after their mother’s death. Their fractured relationship with their estranged father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a self-absorbed filmmaker who abandoned them as children, reaches a turning point when he returns with a deeply personal script—a role based on Nora’s life. Set against their crumbling ancestral home in Oslo, the film becomes a haunting exploration of legacy, reconciliation, and the ghosts we inherit. Joachim Trier crafts another masterful character study where the house itself emerges as a silent witness to generational wounds. 

As the credits rolled, one truth became clear: Trier’s bittersweet ode to fame isn’t just a film — it’s a phenomenon.