THIS overdone thriller opens with the words: “There is no murder in paradise,” a statement later repeated to chilling effect by the psychopath sought by Child 44’s protagonist Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy).

The “paradise” is 1953 Russia, where Demidov — after refusing to denounce his wife Raisa (Noomi Rapace) as a traitor — is exiled from Moscow to a grim provincial outpost. There, along with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman), they set out to find the vile serial killer who is murdering young boys.

But their hunt for justice dangerously ensnares them in a system-wide cover-up, bringing them up against psychopathic official Vasili (Joel Kinnamann).

Finally, of course, right triumphs — but not before impatience at the tedious narrative sets in, amplified by the unfortunate decision to have English actors employ foreign accents that are mostly unintentionally humorous rather than credible.

Director Daniel Espinosa delivers an atmospheric and occasionally tense but ultimately unconvincing thriller. Richard Price’s overwrought screenplay, based on Tom Rob Smith’s bestselling crime novel, doesn’t help.

Oliver Wood’s cinematography and Czech locations add dramatic impact but the political element is questionable — the film’s just been withdrawn from distribution in Russia —and the story’s overlong and too often overdone.

Rob Smith’s novel is the first of a trilogy but, after this adaptation, a cinematic sequel seems unlikely.