Popular reviews

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  Review by DirkH ★★★★½ 8

  yes, Yes, YES!!!

  Now, this is what I'm talking about! It is difficult to come up with a truly original plot for a thriller and Headhunters doesn't have the most original premise, but it's execution betrays a creativity that I haven't seen in this genre in a long, long while.

  There is the inevitable point in a film of this type where the main character has to be taken out of his comfort zone in order to create momentum and to create the thrills a film like this relies on. And boy is poor Roger Brown taken out of his comfort zone. The shitstorm that descends on him is one of biblical proportions.

  Without getting into the plot it suffices…

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  Review by Siegel™ ★★★½ 5

  We are introduced to profoundly unlikeable characters, wealthy chauvinists pettily quarreling over expensive paintings and beautiful women, and invested in the hope that these characters fail. But by the end we come to actually sympathize with the lead, as the (literal) deep shit he got himself into uncovers the humanity he had previously kept hidden under layers of suave masculinity. I just wish the score wasn't so overbearing, the movie had exactly zero (0) moments of actual silence, which was pretty annoying and often only serves to undermine the tension.

  anxiety-inducing comedy of errors

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  Review by Silent J ★★★★★ 13

  Usually, when a film has a tone that's all over the place, it can take me out of the film entirely. Not with Headhunters. For this film, the film uses it's tone and audiences expectations to it's advantage to make room for plenty of twists and turns. It starts out as a serious, straightforward crime drama and then as the plot thickens, it transitions into something more gory, bizarre, and even darkly funny. It kept me on the edge of my seat not only wanting more but guessing what would happen next. That's just one of the reasons why I loved this film. It's also well acted, well directed, superbly written, and exciting from beginning to end. It's loads of fun and one of my favorite films that 2012 has to offer.

  If you love films filled with unpredictable twists that keep you guessing, laughing, and surprised on the edge of your seat, this is a must see.

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  Review by Vishwas Verma ★★★★

  Excellent crime thriller 🤯

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  Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★★ 6

  For someone like me, to get what he wants, only one thing matters: Money. A lot of money.
  -Roger Brown

  The only thing I really knew about Headhunters is that, on average, it had a high rating from Letterboxd users. I didn't watch the trailer, didn't read any reviews, didn't even check it's freshness on RottenTomatoes. This Norwegian film, that I had never heard of outside of Letterboxd, turned out to be one of the best thrillers of 2012.

  The plot of the film exists just outside of reality, but is still quite close to it. Unless crazy situations like this are a common occurrence in Norway, if so then i stand corrected. In the first act of the film…

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  Review by Connor ★★★½

  Headhunters is based on the novel by Jo Nesbø and directed by Morten Tyldum. Tyldum is an extremely solid director who only has had one real misfire (Passengers). His work in TV, Counterpart, is especially worth checking out. Headhunters is a Coen Brothers-esque film with incredibly dark humor, extreme suspense, and moments of gory, cathartic violence. At times this felt like the Norwegian version of "No Country For Old Men".

  I don't really want to go into spoilers because this film is best enjoyed going in completely fresh. I'll just say that Aksel Hennie gives a wicked performance as his character arc is extremely.... just see it for yourself. It's fun seeing an early Nikolaj Coster-Waldau before he blew up…

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  Review by A. J. Black ★★★★ 5

  The highest grossing Norwegian film of all time, Headhunters marked out Morten Tyldum as a sharp-eyed director to watch, adapting as he does Jo Nesbo's celebrated crime thriller and fashioning from it a highly entertaining, frequently sparky piece of Scandinavian noir that stands uniquely alone in the annals of the crime thriller. A deep rooted vein of twisted black comedy resides within Tyldum's film, which takes Aksel Hennie's opportunistic corporate headhunter on a visceral, dangerous ride into a story of murder, betrayal and conspiracy, yet does so with remarkable chutzpah - even managing to balance some truly bonkers black comedy thriller sequences with a through line of dramatic discovery, something not many pictures can boast about not just getting away…

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  Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★★ 3

  It's a pretty good indicator of just how lazy those who work in the film based media can be these days. After all, can you find a single sodding review in newspapers, magazines or film websites of Headhunters that doesn't make a mention of Stieg Larsson and/or his Millennium trilogy?

  Because, let's face it, him and Jo Nesbo both wrote/write crime fiction and they're both from that cold bit at the top of Europe! Christ on a bike, with the similarities never end?! Next they'll be telling us they both wear socks! Headhunters is really nothing like that.

  It is instead a crime thriller about a company headhunter who also happens to be an art thief on the side. When…

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  Review by Larry ★★★★ 10

  Ohhh Jaime Lannister... You are one smooth SOB when talking in your native tongue. You are one of the coolest, most suave villains I've seen in a while.

  And Headhunters perfectly accentuates Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's brilliant performance.

  This taut Norwegian thriller is an unexpected punch to gut in the form of explosive violence, genuine suspense, and cool characters. It's an extremely well made movie and looking back, I'd probably say it was one of the best of last year.

  The film is heavy on exposition and characterization, and this is something that pays off in the long run. The characters are all relatable in their own ways, and I found myself to be personally pulled a couple different ways. It's a…

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  Review by Sean ★★★★½ 6

  Now this is how you make a thriller.

  Headhunters starts off familiar enough. Our main character, Roger, is a corporate headhunter who sidelines as an art thief. In the opening scenes, Roger predicts his own downfall. We know that the proverbial shit is going to hit the fan.

  What ensues is a series of events that does everything right. I was constantly engaged with the story and trying to guess motives of characters, how things would end up, who was double crossing who, etc. The best part is that while I pieced together some of the information, the movie constantly kept me re-evaluating the outcome and how everything was going to wrap up.

  There is no information that is just…

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  Review by Ruben ★★★★

  Been using letterboxd wrong for the past year. Today I finally worked out that the ‘add film’ feature is the main thing and basically, yeah. Headhunters is good though.

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  Review by Jane Firehorse ★★★★ 8

  the pace of "headhunters" is relentless; it's amazing how quickly and immensely things turn to sh*t for the protagonist, if you know what i mean. haha. i found all the plot twists fun to watch: sometimes humorous, sometimes horrific, sometimes both at once, in that tarantino-esque way. the film also reminded me a little bit of a sped up "blue ruin".

  but "headhunters" is definitely nordic in flavour, bleak and thrilling. some of the later scenes are unforgettably outrageous! i like, however, that the narrative counter-balances its gut wrenching thrills with some tender moments too. beyond all the head-hunting, this is really a story about finding one's heart.