I was originally unsure what I would think of the black-and-white film The Girl With the Needle. Although it was a selection from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and Denmark’s Best International Feature Film entry to the 97th Academy Awards, I still had my doubts that the story would be chilling, eerie, and dark enough to scratch my murder-mystery itch.
Before the film started, I heard someone in the audience say, “Is this about a seamstress?” The screen turned black, and we stumbled into the dark story of what’s at stake for women living in a nightmare.
Sure, the film is about the tenderness of new love and the thrill of marriage for young Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne). However, the story crumbles when a knitting needle is used in a public bathhouse for an abortion. From there, we are at the mercy of Karoline’s hardened character and her newfound older friend, Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), who is a baby killer cloaked as a saint.
With a haunting score by Frederikke Hoffmeier and dramatic cinematography that takes us into the dark basement rooms and alleyways of Copenhagen, this film is a dreadful force in which we confront the bleakness of the world.
Swedish director Magnus von Horn took inspiration from the true story of Dagmar Overbye, a Danish serial killer who murdered approximately 25 children post–World War I. It’s a chair-gripping, toe-curling story. While it’s not a horror film, it shows us horrible things. And while I wouldn’t consider it a crime film either, we watch the crime unfold. We even like the criminal at times, just like Karoline, who has innocently fallen into her clutches.
So yes, the film is about a seamstress. But the needle is much more than what we believe it to be. 123 min.
Gene Siskel Film Center
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