Headhunters

Author Jo Nesbo is often dubbed the new Stieg Larsson and so naturally this adaptation of his novel Headhunters has been hailed as the new The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

To some extent, this comparison is justified. Like Dragon Tattoo, this is another superior 'Scandi Crime' thriller based on a work by a best-selling Scandinavian author. Expect murder, deception, gore, nudity and plenty of revelations along the way.

But Headhunters is a very different experience to Dragon Tattoo.

Most notably, Headhunters is no detective novel (although interestingly, Nesbo has written a series of detective novels narrating the adventures of Inspector Harry Hole. Presumably, the studios wanted to test Nesbo's appeal with his standalone Headhunters before launching the potential Hole franchise). Instead, this is a race-against-time thriller, sharing more in common with The Fugitive than the slow mystery-unravelling escapades of Dragon Tattoo.

Headhunters tells the story of Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), corporate headhunter and part-time art thief. He has a beautiful wife (Synnove Macody Lund) but is afraid he will lose her to a new acquaintance, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Roger therefore refuses to assist Greve with an upcoming job opportunity. Unfortunately, Greve is a headhunter of a different kind and he takes Roger's rebuttal personally. And so begins a cross-country pursuit with the murderous Greve hunting out the increasingly-desperate Roger. 

Roger's desperate attempts to evade his pursuer highlight the other way in which this differs from Dragon Tattoo: comedy. Whereas, Steig Larsson's novels and their film adaptations are devoid of comic relief, this has never been the case with Jo Nesbo's novels which are filled with pitch-black humour. We therefore get numerous laugh-out-loud dark moments: hiding in a pile of faeces whilst breathing through a toilet roll, sinking a body with rocks only to then discover the man wasn't actually dead, escaping in a tractor with a dead dog skewered on the front, surviving a car crash off a cliff by being wedged in-between two identical fat police officers. The outrageous and increasingly-surreal set-pieces are very welcome in what could have been a formulaic on-the-run story.

The story also feels fresh due to the numerous twists and turns - this is a Nesbo adaptation after all - but also because of Mortem Tyldum's kinetic directing. Headhunters largely whips along at a fast pace (only 100 minutes), with quick-cutting and the time-saving benefits of a first-person narrative. Tyldum even fits in some gritty action scenes, including a barn brawl with a savage dog and a claustrophobic Bourne-style kitchen knife fight. All of this keeps the audience entertained amidst the complex plot.

The two leads of brilliant. Game of Throne's Coster-Waldau is perfectly cast as the charming but deadly Greve. Meanwhile, Hennie carries the film as Roger. Incredibly, Hennie manages to humanise a character who begins the movie stealing, cheating and acting smug. This is mostly done through his downfall (it's hard not to sympathise with a guy submerged in faeces) but also through some touching scenes with his wife towards the latter half of the film. There are not many films where the main character's story arc involves him overcoming small man's syndrome but Hennie handles this well.

Arguably, the wrapping-up of the plot is a little too convenient - a trait common in all Nesbo novels - and the tidy conclusion is reminiscent of an episode of Hustle. But this is necessary for the surprisingly feel-good ending and audiences deserve to leave with a smile after sitting through 100 minutes of suspense.

Headhunters is a hugely-enjoyable thriller, with plenty of original ideas and dark humour. It is a short, sharp slice of Norwegian entertainment that doesn't outstay its welcome. Best of all, it is good to see a Jo Nesbo novel finally arrive on the big screen. Based on Headhunters' success, expect adaptations of his Harry Hole detective novels to follow.

After all, Headhunters has given us a slice. Now we want the Hole.

★★★★