Headhunters

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Headhunters

R

Released Apr 27, 2012

1h 40m

Action

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

97 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

A corporate recruiter (Aksel Hennie), who moonlights as an art thief, plans to steal a valuable painting from the perfect candidate (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) for a job he needs to fill.

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Critics Consensus

Grisly, twisty, and darkly comic, Headhunters is an exhilaratingly oddball take on familiar thriller elements.

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Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

"Headhunters" is an absurd amount of grisly fun, which is a good thing, since, looked at in any great detail, it probably doesn't hold up all that well.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 28, 2012

Full Review

Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

The film holds its twists too close to the chest, and there's little to chew on till the ambitiousness of its plotting is revealed late in the film.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jun 1, 2012

Full Review

Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

"Headhunters" isn't a pretty film, and it doesn't always entirely make sense, but it races along like a man chased by killers.

Rated: 3/4

May 24, 2012

Full Review

Rita Cannon

Battleship Pretension

The point of Headhunters isn't where you land, but the wild ride taken to get there, and that part of the film definitely delivers.

Mar 4, 2021

Full Review

David Harris

Spectrum Culture

A grisly, darkly comic ride that will appeal to those who loved Larsson's garish, tawdry books.

Rated: 3.5/5

Nov 8, 2019

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

A fast and loose cat and mouse caper with a fair share of surprising money shots.

Jul 24, 2019

Full Review

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Jack G

One of if not the best thriller screenplay I've ever seen. Just genius. Criminally underrated.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/30/24

Full Review

Benjamin H

Filled with thrills, great performances and an almost uncompromising athmosphere, Headhunters is an exciting watch and adaptation that unfortunately gets held back by uneven storytelling, some dull characterization (except the protagonist) and a sense of rushness. Translated to Norwegian: Fylt av spenning, gode skuespiller prestasjoner og en nesten barsk atmosfære, Hodejegerne er en engasjerende film og adapsjon som dessverre blir holdt tilbake av ujevn historiefortelling, noe kjedelig karakteriseringer (unntatt hovedkarakteren) og en følelse av hastverk.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/18/24

Full Review

John M

Part caper film with relationship notes. Mystery and thriller but slows down a bit in the middle.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/09/24

Full Review

Terrance L

This is an exceptionally entertaining film. Once the action gets going, the intensity, comedy, and twists will have you glued to the screen.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Jerod S

He lives high on the hog while stealing art on the side. His wife (taller than him) has an affair with an art dealer and the world gets tricky and deadly.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/24

Full Review

Test T

I watched this on DVD recently. English has been added as an option, so you either get the original Norwegian dialog with English subtitles to read, or an odd sounding characterless English translation with all of the lip sync problems which go with it. That said the film is ok. It starts well, but as the story develops it gets very violent, and I found some of the scenes unnecessarily unpleasant to put it mildly! There are a few too many plot twists which I thought undermined the film's credibility, and there is a rather out of place family values thread woven into the plot to cover all bases. By the time the credits role, the film had completely lost it's initial appeal for me. I don't recommend it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/23/23

Full Review

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Morten Tyldum

Director

Aksel Hennie

Roger Brown

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Clas Greve

Synnøve Macody Lund

Diana Brown

Julie R. Ølgaard

Lotte

Eivind Sander

Ove Kjikerud

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Headhunters: Official Clip - Scared

3:00

Headhunters: Official Clip - The Toilet

2:58

Headhunters: Official Clip - Cas's Plan

2:50

Headhunters: Official Clip - Don't Do Anything Stupid

2:46

Headhunters: Official Clip - Diana Tells the Truth

2:16

Headhunters: Official Clip - A Startling Discovery

3:00

Headhunters: Official Clip - The Car Crash

3:00

Headhunters: Official Clip - Finding Ove

2:36

Headhunters: Official Clip - Revenge

2:59

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Synopsis

A corporate recruiter (Aksel Hennie), who moonlights as an art thief, plans to steal a valuable painting from the perfect candidate (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) for a job he needs to fill.

Director: Morten Tyldum
Producer: Asle Vatn, Marianne Gray
Screenwriter: Lars Gudmestad, Ulf Ryberg
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Yellow Bird, TV2 Norge, Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond, ARD Degeto Film
Rating: R (Nudity|Bloody Violence|Some Grisly Images|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 27, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.2M
Runtime: 1h 40m

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