‎Headhunters (2011) directed by Morten Tyldum • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Headhunters

2011 ‘Hodejegerne’ Directed by Morten Tyldum

The hunt is on.

An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary..

Aksel Hennie Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Synnøve Macody Lund Julie R. Ølgaard Eivind Sander Baard Owe Kyrre Haugen Sydness Reidar Sørensen Nils Jørgen Kaalstad Joachim Rafaelsen Mats Mogeland Gunnar Skramstad Johnsen Lars Skramstad Johnsen Signe Tynning Nils Gunnar Lie Sondre Abel Mattis Herman Nyquist

100 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Adam Cook ★★★★ 23

It has been a while since I’ve watched such an entertaining and taut thriller as Headhunters. Scandinavian crime dramas are incredibly popular at the moment but this is arguably one of the better recent examples, and whilst it may feature the familiar amoral characters and extreme violence that has characterised films from the region there is a pleasing deftness to the story. The plot centers on a successful headhunter who, moonlighting as a thief, steals valuable art work to finance his lavish lifestyle. However, a chance introduction with a potential target gets him in way over his head and soon he is on the run from everybody he knows.

What makes this film such a joy is its relentless pace…
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…
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.
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…
Review by AJ 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…
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…

Recent reviews

Review by Steve Geiler ★★★★

What To Watch Challenge 2018

CW 46 - A film from Norway
Review by Anas Medras ★

Roger is a charming scoundrel and Norway's most accomplished headhunter. He lives a life of luxury well beyond his means and chooses to subsidize his expensive lifestyle through stealing highly prized art. When his beautiful wife, an art gallery owner, introduces him to a former mercenary in the possession of an extremely valuable painting, he decides to risk it all in order to obtain it, and in doing so, he discovers something which makes him a hunted man.
Review by Toms Bazbauers ★★★½

Aight
Review by Cristiano Carneiro ★★★

#WTWCHALLENGE 2018 - CW 46 - A film from Norway

Bem divertido com uma trama que prende a atenção pelas reviravoltas e pelo protagonista (escroto porém simpático); embora no final você perceba que o plano do vilão não tem muito sentido.
Review by Matthew ★★★★

A spectacular thriller based on a novel by the legendary Jo Nesbø. I've been aware of this film since it was released solely for the fact the tie in song, Weathervane, was performed by Jimmy Gnecco and Pål Waaktaar! So it was quite fulfilling to finally watch the film. Especially as it is undeniably captivating from beginning to end. There are so many moving elements and twists you are constantly left one step behind. Top that off with amazing performances from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau & Aksel Hennie in particular as well as Tyldum's solid direction and it just excels the source material to a whole other level. Sure it's not strictly grounded in reality but it is one satisfying tale and definitely worth your time.
Review by Kyle 🔪 ★★★

Anthony's choice for the Roommate Movie night series.

Anthony's a big Jo Nesbø fan and because the Snowman apparently turned out to be a dud he wanted to show me an adaptation of a Nesbø book that's actually good.

And I did enjoy this a good amount, it sets up its basic players and then throws us into a super well done chase plot even if it feels a bit standard. But I was ultimately disappointed by the explanation of what was going on. Like any good mystery, the story sets the viewer up to guess what's going on and who is siding with who, and the ultimate explanation here was pretty disappointing to me leaving me a bit disappointed at the whole thing.
Review by Chloe

The characters are so thinly written and amoral that it's hard to invest too much in their increasingly wackadoodle pursuits. Still, it all moves at such a pace, I did find myself pulled along by the sheer thrust of the thing,
Review by QED ★★★★

Directed by Morten Tyldum this film based on the novel of the same name stars Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Synnove Macody Lund. An art thief and recruitment specialist ends up stealing from the wrong person.

This is a pretty fun crime film that explores male insecurity through what becomes a farce. The plot takes some unexpected twists and generally keeps you on your toes. Decently made and with good performances this is certainly not your average heist film.
Review by BrodiesFilmkritiken ★★★★

Wer hat wann zum letzten Mal einen Dänischen Film gesehen? Mal abgesehen von „Nightwatch“ von 1994 fällt mir zumindest kein entsprechendes Beispiel ein. Was schade ist, denn die Jungs können es. Zumindest ist ihnen hier ein erstklassiger Film gelungen der eben aufgrund seiner Herkunft nicht allzu viele Zuschauer abgreifen dürfte – leider. Denn an sich hat man hier einen Lupenreinen Thriller der zwar das Genre nicht neu erfindet, aber von allem was man so kennt das absolut Beste zusammenkratzt. Es fällt vielleicht etwas schwer sich zu Beginn mit der Hauptfigur anzufreunden, da dieser ein moralisch absolut fragwürdiger Mensch ist, aber wenn man dan sieht und erlebt wie dem Kerl an die Kehle gegangen werden soll bekommt man doch geradezu Mitleid…