A jumper, a cat’s collar, a bracelet, a wallet – these are all examples of things that can stir sentimental value in people; an object closely associated with a family member or close friend, that can carry strong emotions when in your possession.

Danish director Joachim Trier thinks a little bigger for his latest film, with a family home as the nucleus for emotions.

When they were young, sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) lived in their family home in Oslo.

The family dynamic changed when their father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) moved out after breaking up with his wife, which meant they didn’t see much of him after that.

Now grown up, and living elsewhere, they are drawn back to the family home when their mother dies. It sees the return of Gustav too, who is legally the owner of the house.

He has plans for the house, which are slightly out of the ordinary; he’s a film director, and he wants to shoot his latest there, as it’s loosely based on his mother.

What’s more, he wants his daughter Nora, who is an actress, for the starring role, which acts as a catalyst, ramping up the tension within the family.

Trier’s film comes across as semi meta, as it’s about a film being made. But that’s just the outer shell, that when cracked, reveals a deep-ish family drama.

It also has a subplot, which features Elle Fanning playing a popular American actress who is eventually cast as Gustav’s mother. Her appearance, as effervescent as she is, is a mere distraction from the real family issues.

Another distraction is the occasional use of a voice over, which is distracting in its inconsistency, concentrating on past events as it does.

There’s irony that for a family drama, it’s quite minimal; all the family members are on speaking terms, with just a hint of frost between Nora and her dad. Trier focuses on other elements to ramp up the drama, such as Nora’s severe stage fright, and scenes shown from previous films that Gustav has made. Without them, everything else is IKEA beige.

Trier’s follow-up to 2021’s the Worst Person in the World - which he also co-wrote like this – is uneven throughout; the family relationship is almost lost with all the satellite narratives around it, which it needs, as the relationship isn’t that absorbing.

It could be argued that it’s classic Scandi, in being archetypically reserved, with emotions being suppressed, so as not reveal their true colours.

Which makes it a bit of a cold fish, which probably isn’t something that anyone has held in sentimental value over – except the odd Scandinavian perhaps.

Some nice, solid performances, but the film itself doesn’t do enough to get sentimental over.