Tanya Mosley

Renata Reinsve, the radiant star of The Worst Person in the World, here plays Nora, an accomplished stage actor whose mother has recently died.

As she grieves with her younger sister, Agnes, wonderfully played by Inga Ibsdottir Lilias, Nora must deal with the return of their long-estranged father, Gustav, played by Stellan Skarsgård.

Gustav, a film director of some note, abandoned the family when the girls were still young.

Now, years later, he surprises Nora by presenting her with a new script and asking her to play the lead role.

Nora turns him down, and so Gustav casts a Hollywood star, Rachel Kemp, played by Elle Fanning.

Gustav's movie is being financed by Netflix, which allows Trier to introduce some delectable film industry satire.

Rachel is game and loves Gustav's work, but she's clearly ill at ease with the material, partly because she isn't Norwegian, and partly because the character seems based on Gustav's mother, who died tragically when he was just a boy.

In this scene, Rachel meets with Nora, hoping to gain more insight into not only the role, but also Gustav's family dynamics.

Why didn't you want to do the role?

I can't work with him.

Why?

We can't really talk.

But he wanted you to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't know.

I just can't.

I can't get a handle on her, you know?

The more that I study her, the more lost I feel trying to be her.

It's like her sadness is, it's such an overwhelming part of her.