Stellan Skarsgard from In Order of Disappearance (Magnet Releasing)

Revenge and dark humor are two tastes that go wonderfully together, as any Tarantino connoisseur will tell you. In Order of Disappearance adds a dash of Norwegian ennui to the mix, resulting in a powerful film that alternates between biting humor and shocking violence, all against a backdrop of vast frigid landscapes.

Nils (Stellan Skarsgard) works as a snowplow driver, spending his days cutting roads through the endless snow. For his work, he is named Citizen of the Year, but he has little time to celebrate, as he soon learns that his son has died of a supposed overdose. This brings the hermitlike man into the city, where he tortures and kills his way through a mess of gang politics in search of revenge.

As the bodies rack up, the movie pauses to memorialize each victim with a memorial title card. These are initially somber, but repetition and comic timing turn them into the film’s best joke. They also highlight the inevitability of the revenge plot—everyone has their time.

But these men are mere stepping stones for Nils. His white whale is Greven (Pal Sverre Hagen), a kingpin viewers will love to hate. He’s more hipster than mobster, with his man-bun and taste for vegetable smoothies, but his fits of violent rage would be quite at home on an episode of The Sopranos. An amoral dandy enslaved to his emotions, Greven is everything Nils isn’t. Though they only briefly meet, they’re perfect foils.

Speaking of The Sopranos, director Hans Petter Moland proves himself to be a master of the art of the whack. Every kill is stunningly choreographed, giving just enough time to show off the victim’s colorful character before he meets his demise. Furthermore, each pointedly asks if Nils’s lust for revenge has curdled into something even darker. Must he really kill every low-level flunky he encounters in his search for justice? As the film takes more and more enjoyment from the staging of these murders, one wonders whether Nils is starting to enjoy himself, too.

Though the film is near perfect in its pursuit of this revenge, it does stumble when it goes off that path. Women are a particular weakness, as they do little but scold the men. Nils’s wife, Gudrun (Hildegun Riise), disappears halfway through the film with minimal explanation, as if the writer simply didn’t want her to intrude on the rest of the plot.

But at its best, the film is delightfully confounding, maneuvering deftly between levity and darkness. As with all revenge plots, the cost ends up being far more than anyone bargained for, with characters scarred by their experiences. Some are horrific, some are absurd, and many are both. By the end, Nils has done what he’s always accomplished: bringing civilization to a dark, cold corner of the world. Whether anyone will be alive to enjoy it is another matter.