STACK #257 March 2026

MOVIE FEATURE

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SENTIMENTAL VALUE ART IMITATING LIFE GENRE: Drama RUN TIME: 135 mins The Skarsgård spotlight often falls on brothers Alexander, Gustaf, and Bill, but now their father Stellan is back on centre stage, earning an Oscar nomination for Sentimental Value .

S karsgård plays ageing filmmaker Gustav, reunited with his two adult daughters in an inherited house heavy with memory and unspoken tensions. As he sets out to make one final film, it becomes clear that his personal history is inseparable from the story he wants to tell.

about how he responded to the Norwegian director’s offer. “I’ve been waiting for him. He said he was writing the role for me, so

dynamic.” For Skarsgård, he reflected on his own legacy while making the film: “I did... more than I liked, actually, because I sort of had to revise some of what you think that you're a good parent, and the things that you do for your kids.” “So, I spent time with them

Stellan Skarsgård is fluent in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German, and English. DYK?

we met, we had dinner, and we sort of circled each other carefully, like two dogs sniffing out each other in the ass, but we got tired of that. Eventually, I said, ‘Yes’,” he smiles. For Trier, Sentimental Value grew out of a desire to work again with his Worst Person in the World leading lady, Renate Reinsve. “This movie started with the sisters, then grew into a story about parents and children, and families,” he says. “It’s fascinating how siblings can be so different and unique within the family

Director Joachim Trier uses this setup to ask quietly devastating questions: Who gets to tell a family’s story? What happens when your pain becomes someone else’s material? And is it ever too late to repair emotional damage? When STACK chats with the cast in LA, Skarsgård is candid

but was I really here? That’s the question. I have a feeling that I sometimes was sort of preoccupied even with cooking and I didn’t listen to them while I was cooking or I was thinking about a role and I wasn’t listening – and they all have different needs.” Gill Pringle

• Sentimental Value is out Mar 4

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

The Worst Person in the World, Tár, Past Lives, I’m Still Here.

GENRE: Horror RUN TIME: 112 mins

A lot of horror movies neglect one simple question that most viewers need answered: “What happens to the dog?” GOOD BOY “BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DOG?

G ood Boy takes that concern to heart and is entirely about the dog. In fact, the whole movie is told from the dog’s perspective. “Indy is my own dog and I definitely didn’t plan that he would be the star of the show,” says writer-director Ben Leonberg, who originally sought to audition a whole lot of pups. “But I kind of came to it slowly,” he explains of how Indy became the movie’s lead. “I was trying to figure out how I would even tell a story from a perspective

doing tests with Indy. I was shooting in my own apartment, originally just recreating scenes from The Shining . Instead of Danny wandering up to Room 237, it’s Indy investigating an open door. And that kept growing, and as I was writing the script and learning what was possible from a dog’s performance, Indy ended up being nominated for an acting award from one of the shorts I made, and that sealed the deal. He was the lead from then on.” Good Boy tells the story of a dog who tries to rescue its owner from a supernatural force lurking in their new home. Simple, short, and succinct, it’s an exercise in tension that’s surprisingly scary, and boasts one of the year’s best performances from Indy. But achieving such a performance was no easy feat and required an abundance of patience. “No, I don’t think he knew he was in a movie,”

laughs Leonberg when asked if he thinks Indy was aware of the process. “I will say that he does know what the camera is

now. It did get to the point that he understood that the camera coming out meant he was supposed to do something. “It even got to the point that when we were filming

• Good Boy is out Mar 18

that’s 19 inches off the ground. How would I get a camera that close to an actor who doesn't know he’s in a movie? “So, then I was

his point of view shots, where he’s not in them, he would try to wander into the frame to be there because he thought he was needed. Glenn Cochrane

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

Presence, Skinamarink, Poltergeist, Lake Mungo, Stir of Echoes

28 MARCH 2026

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