Overview
A bold advertising campaign challenges a dictatorship, igniting hope in a nation.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- tense
- darkly comic
- irreverent
- political film night
- history-focused viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly acclaimed the film's smart, darkly funny political perspective, period authenticity, and inventive fusion of fictional drama with archival television imagery.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film was shot on ¾-inch Sony U-matic tape, matching 1980s broadcast footage and helping fictional scenes mesh with real crackdowns and pro-democracy gatherings.
René Saavedra applies his advertising expertise to design the No campaign, prompting questions about whether political change is being advanced through consumer-style persuasion.
The story focuses on the television advertising campaign while presenting the 1988 referendum and its surrounding pressures through René's professional perspective.
The campaign's bright advertising language and creative improvisation contrast with intimidation, censorship, and the threat posed by Pinochet's regime.
Films like No, and why
The Battle of Chile
shares a history-driven political drama, documentary-style imagery, and moral tension around authoritarian power
Missing
shares a politically engaged historical drama blending fictionalized storytelling with archival footage and institutional conflict
The Insider
shares a sharp advertising-world perspective, period detail, and tension between marketing and political conviction
Wag the Dog
shares a darkly witty portrait of political campaigning and the uneasy relationship between media spectacle and democracy
Movie Details
- Director
- Pablo Larraín
- Release Date
- 2012-08-09
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (490)
Cast
- Gael García Bernal
- Alfredo Castro
- Néstor Cantillana
- Luis Gnecco
- Antonia Zegers
- Jaime Vadell
- Diego Muñoz
- Alejandro Goic
- Marcial Tagle
- Manuela Oyarzún
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is No about?
- An inventive advertising executive turns the tools of commercial persuasion against Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- What is No like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of No as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is No violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in No as mild.
- What did critics think of No?
- Critics broadly acclaimed the film's smart, darkly funny political perspective, period authenticity, and inventive fusion of fictional drama with archival television imagery.
- Which films are like No?
- Films with a similar feel include The Battle of Chile, Missing, The Insider, and Wag the Dog.
- How long is No?
- No runs 118 minutes.
- Where can I watch No?
- In United States, No is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
