Character Relationship Map: Headhunters

Characters

• Roger Brown (played by Aksel Hennie) — protagonist

  Norway's most successful headhunter who funds his lavish lifestyle through art theft. He sabotages Clas Greve's job interview, accidentally kills his partner Ove, fakes his own death, and frames Ove a...

• Clas Greve (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) — supporting

  A former special forces operative and ex-GPS executive who develops tracking gel and owns a priceless Rubens painting. Secretly employed by HOTE, he manipulates Roger to steal tech, tracks him down, a...

• Lotte (played by Julie R. Ølgaard) — supporting

  Roger's former mistress who breaks up with him but secretly works for Clas. She applies GPS gel to Roger's hair to track him, attacks him with a knife, and is fatally shot in self-defense.

• Brede Sperre (played by Reidar Sørensen) — supporting

  A star detective whose growing reputation causes the police to overlook evidentiary inconsistencies in the case, allowing the framed narrative involving Ove and Clas to remain unchallenged.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Roger Brown → Lotte (Romantic Former Mistress) — Their former affair becomes a source of later betrayal.

  Roger has a mistress named Lotte but eventually breaks up with her.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Brede Sperre → Clas Greve (Unknown Misled Investigator) — The investigation accepts a false account implicating Clas.

  The police accept evidence suggesting that Clas and Roger's former partner were art thieves who killed the farmer, Lotte, and each other.

• Roger Brown → Brede Sperre (Narrative Framed Suspect And Detective) — Roger's survival depends partly on misleading the police investigation.

  The police arrest Roger for the farmer's murder after mistaking him for his dead partner, while Brede Sperre's reputation helps the framed explanation...

• Lotte → Clas Greve (Alliance Secret Operative) — Lotte assists Clas's tracking and manipulation plan.

  Lotte is working for Clas, puts GPS gel in Roger's hair, and was supposed to introduce Roger to Clas.

• Roger Brown → Clas Greve (Narrative Primary Antagonist) — Roger is the protagonist and Clas is the central opposing force.

  Clas tracks Roger, pursues him through multiple locations, and ultimately confronts him at the cabin. Their conflict drives the film's central surviva...

Story Analysis

A deceptive art thief is hunted by a technologically skilled adversary and survives by turning a chain of murders into a convenient false narrative.

Plot Progression

1. The Headhunter's Double Life — Roger presents himself as a successful headhunter while secretly stealing paintings to maintain his lifestyle. His affair with Lotte ends as he is introduced to Clas and a potentially valuable target.
2. The Painting And The Pursuit — Roger steals the Rubens painting and suspects a betrayal after finding a phone beside Clas's bed. He sabotages Clas's recruitment prospects, then becomes entangled in a violent escape after his partne...
3. A Fugitive Without An Identity — Clas pursues Roger to the farm, while Roger struggles to escape through rural terrain and a tractor chase. Hospitalization and a mistaken arrest reveal that Roger's identity has become dangerously con...
4. The Last Betrayals — Roger discovers that Lotte works for Clas and kills her in self-defense. He confesses at home, retrieves the remaining tracking evidence, and prepares for Clas's final confrontation.
5. A Convenient Fiction — Roger kills Clas and uses security footage and planted evidence to frame the dead men for the surrounding murders. The police accept the convenient explanation, allowing Roger to sell his house and re...