Plot

The local disability support group visits an involuntary member, not realizing that it will bring them to a critical mass.

The Art of Negative Thinking is a burlesque drama about Geirr (35), who is wheelchair bound after a traffic accident. In an attempt to show everyone how miserable his life is, he has reached a dead end. Isolation, a weapon fixation, self-medication, and endless bitterness result in his girlfriend Ingvild (33) being at an utter loss. In a final desperate attempt to save their relationship, she invites the local positivity group to their home. Through a solution-focused method, this group sees opportunity in the blackest of holes. They have simply become one extremely positive group of people. With the threat of losing his girlfriend hanging over him, Geir reluctantly agrees to meet with them.

Group leader Tori (40) attacks Geirr with all her positive professionalism, and the group does its best to assist her. Still, it does not take long for Geirr to discover that everyone in this smiling gang is at least as miserable as he is: Lillemor (65) is a lonely, bitter divorcee from the nice side of town who has ended up in a tiny apartment; Asbjørn (50) is a speechless stroke patient full of pent-up aggression; and Marte (28), paralyzed from the neck down, smiles from ear to ear to hide how she really feels about her boyfriend Gard (38). Because, after all, he was the one who forgot to secure the climbing rope.

It's time for an intense day at Geirr and Ingvild's, where Geirr refuses to look at anything in a positive light. Eventually he manages to bring the positivity members over to his side; first by neutralizing the group's leader. Totally free from having to think positively, they struggle through a night of despondency, bizarre confrontations and uncomfortable truths, until morning breaks and they again see the light. The positivity group has learned the art of negative thinking.