Erik (Espen Klouman-Hoiner) and Phillip (Anders Danielsen Lie) are longtime twentysomething friends in Oslo, Norway. They both have written books, are fairly affluent, and still live at home. Their literary hero is a reclusive novelist who after early fame now shuns the media. Phillip's novel is published and causes quite a commotion and Erik's is rejected. More distance grows between them when Phillip falls in love with Kari (Viktoria Winge) and takes her to Paris for a romantic fling. Meanwhile, Erik hangs out with a group of male buddies who have little interest in his feelings of being rejected. None of these men has much respect for women or any capacity to relate to them as equals.

The two friends connect again when Phillip loses his grip on reality and spends some time in a mental hospital. Erik checks in on him regularly but in astonished that he seems to have lost interest in writing. After a publisher decides to purchase Erik's book, he is very happy. A magic moment comes for him when the reclusive novelist makes a favorable evaluation of the book. Erik decides to focus all of his energies on a writing career and so he leaves Oslo to work in solitude. He believes that any involvement in intimate relationships will only distract him from his writing.

Joachim Trier is director and co-writer of this imaginative drama about the delights and challenges of a writing career. Through the clever use of voiceover and flashbacks, the filmmaker has fashioned a playful portrait of two friends who take different paths in their creative expression.