Given the original real-life story behind it, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that The Girl with the Needle was so bleak. Serial killing, after all, is bad. But rather than focus on the historical killer, writer-director Magnus von Horn hones the camera to focus on one such mother that would have sought for help from Dagmar Overbye, on the circumstances that would have pushed them there, and the terror that they felt once they realized the truth. With gothic black-and-white shots, impeccable framing, and an excellent performance from Vic Carmen Sonne, The Girl with the Needle is harrowing and heartbreaking, especially with how it still remains relevant to our time.
"It’s a bitterly hard-to-stomach brew of a movie, at once hideous and beautifully made, with a chilling supporting turn by Trine Dyrholm."
— Justin Chang
"It’s Sonne’s remarkable, multifarious and shape-shifting performance that really lifts this one above the pack. She uses her face with the expressiveness of a silent film actress, so when the big emotions eventually come they hit especially hard."
— David Jenkins
Struggling to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen, a newly unemployed and pregnant young woman is taken in by a charismatic elder to help run an underground adoption agency. The two form an unexpected bond, until a sudden discovery changes everything.
Copenhagen, 1919. With her husband possibly dead from World War I, young factory worker Karoline Nielsen finds herself unemployed and pregnant. Thankfully, help came from Dagmar Overbye, who runs an underground adoption agency under the guise of a candy shop, though Karoline finds that this fostering is not what it seems.
Vic Carmen Sonne. There’s this shot in the middle that literally depicts her standing out from a crowd, but the range of emotions on Karolina’s bleak face is so compelling.
Yeah, this is a good movie to watch. But I also think it's too emotionally harrowing to watch it again.
Oscars
1 nomination
Golden Globes
1 nomination
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
European Film Awards
2 nominations
