In Western Europe, on the west side of Scandinavia, on the west side of Oslo, is the greatest place on earth – Smestad. This is where Tina and Bettina lives, the most popular teen girl in high school. With a teen life filled with blogging, boys and parties, everything is great for the girls, right up until they stand before a terrible problem – immigration.
This little social satire is based on two overclass, ignorant, self-obsessed teenage characters made and played by comedians Odd Magnus Williamson and Henrik Thodesen on the late-night comedy show "Torsdag kveld fra Nydalen" on Norwegian TV2. The "girls"" video blog revolved around high-school intrigue and the importance of being from the west side of Oslo and having enough money to show for it, and the great concern was of course whether these 5-minute blog entry skits were enough to base an entire feature film on. Luckily, the screenwriters have done a good job in scaling-up Tina & Bettina, and the result is a full-blown high-school satire with a good combination of local and universal issues and features. The comedy balances quite effectively on the edge of overcooking, and to my surprise, the many music video segments work as intensifiers rather than the opposite. Fine comedy acting by Williamson and Thodesen is the icing on this remarkably tasty and creative cake.