Scandinavian stories are on something of a roll – open-faced, naturally – of late. There was the remarkable success of Denmark’s TV series The Killing, which even saw a US remake, as did Stieg Larrson’s trilogy of books, which made an impact impressively in its native Swedish, as well as with the David Fincher version.

Hoping to follow in their criminal tracks is this adaptation of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø’s book Headhunters.

It looks like Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) has it all: the opulent home, the beautiful wife and a respected position in a firm of headhunters. What others don’t know however, is that his job brings in nowhere near enough money to sustain the grand lifestyle he and his wife have become accustomed to.

Unbeknownst to her, Roger supplements his income with a rather unusual extracurricular activity: he steals paintings. It works like this: when he interviews someone for a highly paid position, he asks them various questions, which include whether he is married, has children, or pets; he also asks them if they have a good eye for art and whether or not they have any valuable pieces in their collection. You would think the alarm bells would start ringing at this stage, but no. He asks them in such a way that they seem like an acceptable line of questioning.

What happens then is that with the help of Ove (Eivind Sander), a friend who works for a security firm, Roger manages to break into his client’s home when he knows full well they're out at the job interview he's set up for them and steal the art work, replacing it with a forgery.

This sting brings in a fair amount of money, but still not quite enough to cover all the expensive bills.

At the gallery of his wife’s show, Roger is introduced to Clas Greve (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau); he’s just made a killing in his last post and has decided to retire early. He’s in Norway to clear out his grand-mother's home. It transpires that his grandmother happened to be in possession of a Rubens; Roger’s wife tells him that it could be worth tens of millions. Greve’s could be the big fish that Roger has been hoping for. But as Roger begins to set his thieving wheels in motion, he suddenly finds that the tables are turned on him, as there's more to Greve’s than meets the eye. Before Roger knows it, the headhunter suddenly becomes the hunted.

One of these dooshes has been at my Dairylea triangles again. Monsters.

Headhunters may well be clearly riding on the coattails of the success from the likes of the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, but it does more than enough to stand on its own merit.

Director Morten Tyldum manages something really quite clever: he manages to take a despicable central protagonist and make an audience side with him throughout his misadventures. He does bottle it somewhat with a finale that reeks of redemption, but the ride is so enthralling up until that point that all is forgiven.

Some credit for this turnaround has to be given to Hennie; despite being an unlikeable rogue from the off, he manages to thaw his character to the point that it’s difficult not to warm to him by the end.

It’s a clever script too; try as you might to second guess where it’s going, it goes off-road – literally in places – taking you in a destination you definitely didn't see coming. And even if you can, Tyldum does it with such flair and style that it’s always worth watching.

It’s got a dark edge, laced with black humour that makes it compelling viewing from beginning to end.

It has that kind of originality that Hollywood seems to be crying out for. So don't be surprised to see a US version pop up some time soon. Don't wait until then however, because just as it is in the art world, the original is always better than some copycat.