Tallinn 2025 Review: NO COMMENT Finds Marital Comedy in a Political Crisis

Norwegian director Petter Næss takes on political satire in his latest film, No Comment, a comedy about spin doctoring and the battle of the sexes. When Prime Minister Alma Solvik (Laila Goody), learns that her husband Sondre Bortnes (Anders Baasmo), has been implicated in insider trading shortly before the election, her team shifts immediately into crisis management.

The response covers blame management, narrative engineering, and reputation survival. Yet Næss’s approach leans toward a loose, behind-the-scenes crazy comedy rather than a sharp political takedown in the vein of The Thick of It.

Working from a premise grounded in the practical mechanics of political communication, No Comment draws not from conspiracy thrillers but from the everyday work of holding power together while navigating spousal tensions. The film takes its cue from the real case involving former Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

Solvik quietly brings on a disgraced strategist, the outspoken spin doctor Karianne Moen (Pia Tjelta). Their partnership becomes the film’s core axis as Moen’s principal strategy is to shift the blame entirely onto Sondre, launching a damage control campaign under that very banner.

Rather than following the conventional contours of political satire, No Comment operates as a womance-driven comedy set within the machinery of government. Solvik and Moen share a past and a camaraderie that exceeds a standard working relationship. The political crisis is tackled with a gusto of a Seth Rogen comedy.

Næss treats the story as an unrestrained farce, sidestepping psychological probing or melodramatic stakes. Parallel to Solvik’s attempts to salvage her public image ahead of the election and manage the risks of employing a controversial spin doctor, screenwriter Ståle Stein Berg structures a mirroring storyline in which Sondre retreats to a chalet with friends for an extended binge. The film ultimately circles back to marital coexistence rather than an examination of elite political maneuvering.

Cinematographer Gaute Gunnari gives the film a polished, lifestyle-oriented look, while Perry Eriksen’s editing often adopts the rhythms of music video montage, with quick cuts set to club beats. In one sequence, Solvik and Moen rap at a private party, and the scene plays almost like a stand-in music video.

Laila Goody presents Solvik as both slightly at sea and willing to embrace the chaos as she balances national responsibility with a domestic crisis. Anders Baasmo takes Bortnes down the road of a man-child in the shadow of his wife, but stubborn with teenager tantrums. After her dramatic role in Don’t Call Me Mama, where she portrayed a middle-aged woman drawn into a clandestine affair, Pia Tjelta shifts registers entirely. As Moen, she is brash, provocative, and often on the verge of self-inflicted derailment.

In the end, No Comment becomes a story about a battle of the sexes, with Solvik and Moen aligned on one side and Bortnes and his friends on the other, as Solvik tries to salvage the situation with the support of her cabinet colleagues. In effect, No Comment is a marriage rom-com set against the backdrop of high politics.

No Comment won the he Best Script Award at the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).