Overall faithful to the book, although at times feels like it zips through the plot in order to keep this faithfulness. There are some shortcuts that the film takes to visualize the lengthy source material from the book, and even though it clocks in at 2.5 hours (initially intended as two 90 minute TV features) it still feels as though it goes at a slightly rushed pace. The performances are great, and accurately portray the characters in the book, relying a lot on character actors and taking great benefit from the two leads' screen presence. It is hard for me to say if I would have liked this less had I not read the novel, I can only say that I did not find it detrimental to have done so before watching (despite it no longer being a mystery at that point). I will definitely be waiting for the two sequels as they emerge, having finished the remaining books by then. I can't imagine what the Hollywood adaptation of this will be, I am just glad that there at least was a Swedish adaptation that I could get a hold of, as the cultural nuances of the book seem to be preserved (as best can be done in such a compressed format) when viewed in the original Swedish. The cinematography is gorgeous and at no point did I think this was anything less than cinema-worthy material, despite originally being intended for TV. Overall enjoyable and a good companion to the book.