Headhunters

If you loved Girl With The Dragon Tattoo then you’ll also want to sit down and see Headhunters… as it’s the best Scandinavian thriller to surface since The Millenium series. Headhunters will have you constantly trying to guess what happens next and to the filmmakers credit this is a film that leaves you asking no questions.
Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie – Age Of Heroes, A Somewhat Gentle Man) suffers from small-man syndrome. He feels due to his lack of height that the only way he can keep his beautiful wife, Diana (Synnove Macody Lund – newcomer) from straying is to buy her love with expensive gifts. However, his wages as a corporate headhunter doesn’t allow for this so he moonlights as an art thief that has all the local Police scratching their heads.
Then enters Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – Blackthorn, At World’s End) a business mogul, who is paying far too much attention to Diana and has an extremely rare art piece in his collection. He is obvious target for Roger but is it wise to steal from a man who is a creator of GPS technology and is trained by the army to find people?
When the team of screenwriters handed director, Morten Tyldum (Fallen Angels, Buddy) the script for Headhunters he must have been licking his lips, because after just one read he would have been able to tell that he was now at the helm of the best suspense-thrillers to surface in a long time.
Headhunters delivers the best of two worlds. The script is calculating and suspenseful and it’s violence doesn’t hold back. There are no ‘nice’ guys here, everybody is willing to kill to get what they want and Tyldum doesn’t hold back from showing graphic ‘after-scenes’ of a car accident or even the odd head-shot.
The script never allows for the audience to get too comfortable. You can never predict what will happen next, and for most of the film you can’t even work out who is friend or foe. Also outstanding is the fact that the writers make Roger such a hero when you already know that he is a adulterous art thief who will lie to get whatever he wants or needs.
Headhunters also showcases two of Scandinavia’s best actors to the world. Aksel Hennie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are both sensational and either could slot into Hollywood with ease. Synnove Macody Lund can also hold her head up high. She debuts in this film and with her looks and talent I’m sure you will have producers lining up at her door to get her into their films.
This is one terrific thriller that fans of the genre shouldn’t miss. Truly stunning, Headhunters is a film that you will be telling your friends to go and see.
Year: 2012
Director: Morten Tyldum
Stars: Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Synnove Macody Lund
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 100 mins
Rating: ![]()
Dave Griffiths








