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The Girl with the Needle

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The Girl with the Needle
Theatrical release poster
DanishPigen med nålen
Directed byMagnus von Horn
Written by
  • Magnus von Horn
  • Line Langebek
Produced by
  • Malene Blenkov
  • Mariusz Włodarski
Starring
CinematographyMichał Dymek
Edited byAgnieszka Glinska
Music byFrederikke Hoffmeier
Production
companies
  • Nordisk Film Denmark
  • Lava Films
  • Nordisk Film Sweden
  • Film i Väst
  • EC1 Łódź
  • Lower Silesia Film Centre
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 15 May 2024 (2024-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 17 January 2025 (2025-01-17) (Poland)
  • 23 January 2025 (2025-01-23) (Denmark)
Running time
115 minutes
Countries
  • Denmark
  • Poland
  • Sweden
LanguageDanish
Box office$116,061[1][2]

The Girl with the Needle (Danish: Pigen med nålen) is a 2024 historical psychological horror film directed by Magnus von Horn, from a screenplay written by von Horn and Line Langebek. Set in 1919, the film stars Vic Carmen Sonne as a young woman who begins working as a wet nurse at a secretive adoption agency for disadvantaged mothers, but who grows suspicious of the woman who runs the operation. It is very loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye.

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 15 May 2024 to critical acclaim. It was named one of the top 5 international films of 2024 by the National Board of Review.[3] The film was chosen as the Danish entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.[4][5] The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.[6]

Plot

[edit]

In 1919 Copenhagen, Karoline is evicted from her apartment and forced to move into squalid conditions. She is unable to apply for widow's compensation because her husband Peter, who has not written back to her since leaving to fight in the war, has not officially been declared dead. Karoline works as a seamstress with her friend Frida and begins a romantic relationship with her boss Jørgen. Karoline becomes pregnant and Jørgen plans to marry her. Karoline visits Jørgen's mother, a wealthy woman who strongly disapproves of Karoline. She has a doctor perform a check on Karoline to see if she is actually pregnant before humiliating Jørgen and forbidding him from marrying her. Jørgen sends Karoline away, ending their relationship and she is fired from her seamstress job. Peter returns from the war, wearing a mask to hide his severely mutilated face. Karoline is disgusted and treats him coldly. Peter is besieged with psychotic episodes while Karoline struggles to find work.

While at a public bathhouse, Karoline attempts to perform an abortion on herself with a needle but is stopped by a woman called Dagmar and her daughter Erena. Dagmar treats Karoline's wounds and instructs her to bring the baby to her sweet shop once it is born. While working at a factory, Karoline ends up giving birth. Peter wants to care for the child but Karoline states that it isn't his and Peter is later kicked out of Karoline's room. Karoline brings the baby to Dagmar's sweet shop where she learns Dagmar is taking babies off mothers and giving them to foster families. Karoline pays Dagmar but is only able to pay half the fee, promising to pay the rest later, before leaving her baby at the shop. Peter takes up work at a circus where he is paraded around as a freak. Karoline visits him and goes up on stage, kissing his destroyed face before leaving.

Karoline returns to the sweet shop, unable to pay the rest of the fee but wanting to work for Dagmar. As Karoline is still lactating, Dagmar reluctantly agrees to let her be a wet nurse for the babies being dropped off at the sweet shop. Karoline starts living at the shop and eventually settles into her new life, befriending Erena and breastfeeding her, although she is uneasy around Dagmar's occasional male suitor Svendsen. Karoline notices Dagmar is elusive and vague about where the babies are going. One night, Erena attempts to breastfeed from Karoline but Karoline refuses as she is currently breastfeeding a baby she has grown attached to. Erena attempts to smother the baby but Karoline fends her off. The next day, Karoline awakens to see Dagmar carrying the baby away in a pram. Suspicious, Karoline follows her and is horrified to witness Dagmar throttling the baby to death in an alley before dumping its body in the sewer. Back at the sweet shop, Karoline confronts Dagmar who admits to killing all the babies she has collected, not wanting to bring something so innocent into a cruel world. Dagmar doses Karoline with ether.

Dagmar continues to dose Karoline with ether, making her near bedbound. Frida, having learned of Dagmar's services from Karoline, drops her own unwanted baby off with them but grows uneasy when she glimpses a disoriented Karoline. Dagmar tries to get Karoline to kill the baby but the two fight, accidentally smothering the baby to death. Later, Frida returns regretting her choice and wanting her baby back, threatening to call the police if the baby isn't returned. As Dagmar panics, Karoline jumps out of a window to her supposed death. Police apprehend Dagmar and takes Erena to an orphanage. Karoline is revealed to have survived her fall and goes to the traveling circus that Peter now lives with. The two reconcile and Karoline is weaned off ether. She lies to Peter about the fate of her child. Dagmar is tried in court for her crimes and imprisoned. Sometime later, Karoline adopts Erena from the orphanage.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The Girl with the Needle is Magnus von Horn's third feature after The Here After (2015) and Sweat (2020). He wrote the screenplay with Line Langebek.[7] It is very loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who manipulated impoverished mothers into leaving their unwanted children in her care, as adoptees, and subsequently murdered them. She was first sentenced to death in 1921, but it was later changed into a lifetime in prison. Overbye remains Denmark's most prolific serial killer.[8][9] Von Horn described the film as a "fairy tale for grownups" and was motivated "not to just make a straight genre piece [but] to flirt with genre. That became a great lens to look at the story, for me and the cinematographer and the set designers and the costumes."[7]

The film was produced by Malene Blenkov for Nordisk Film Denmark and Mariusz Wlodarski for Lava Films (Poland), in co-production with Nordisk Film Sweden.[8]

Release

[edit]
The Girl with the Needle world premiere night at 2024 Cannes Film Festival

The Girl with the Needle was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 15 May 2024.[10] It made its North American premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2024.[11] The film has also been selected for the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, where it will be screened under the World Cinema section.[12]

International sales were handled by The Match Factory, whose parent Mubi acquired distribution rights to the film for North and Latin America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and India a few days after its premiere.[13][14] The film premiered in New York and Los Angeles on 6 December 2024.[4] Gutek Film is set to distribute the film in Poland on 17 January 2025, under the title Dziewczyna z igłą.[15] Nordisk Film Distribution is set to release the film in Denmark on 23 January 2025.[4]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 68 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Threading its grim tale through sumptuous black-and-white photography, The Girl with the Needle is a haunting parable made with superb craft."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17]

The reviews from Cannes described the film as "grippingly acted";[18] a "sombre, commercially uncompromising work";[19] and a "poetic and dark fairy tale."[20]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 25 May 2024 Palme d'Or Magnus von Horn Nominated [21]
Camerimage 23 November 2024 Golden Frog Michał Dymek Won [22][23]
European Film Awards 7 December 2024 European Actress Trine Dyrholm Nominated [24]
[25]
Vic Carmen Sonne Nominated
European Screenwriter Magnus von Horn and Line Langebek Nominated
European Production Design Jagna Dobesz Won [26]
[27]
European Original Score Frederikke Hoffmeier Won
Golden Globe Awards 5 January 2025 Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language The Girl with the Needle Nominated [28]
Golden Reel Awards 23 February 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – International Feature Morten Pilegaard, Oskar Skriver, Christian Roed Dalsgaard, Patrick Ghislain, Julien Naudin Pending [29]
Gdynia Film Festival 27 September 2024 Polish Film Abroad Festivals And Reviews Award Magnus von Horn Won [30]
Young Jury Award Won
Arthouse Cinemas Network Award Won
Journalists Award Won
Best Casting Award Tanja Grunwald Won
28 September 2024 Silver Lions The Girl with the Needle Won [31]
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Trine Dyrholm Won
Best Cinematography Michał Dymek Won
Best Music Frederikke Hoffmeier Won
Best Art Direction Jagna Dobesz Won
Best Costume Design Małgorzata Fudala Won
National Board of Review 7 January 2025 Top Five International Films The Girl with the Needle Won [32]
San Diego Film Critics Society 9 December 2024 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [33]
Seville European Film Festival 16 November 2024 Best Direction Magnus von Horn Won [34]
Best Actress Trine Dyrholm Won
Best Cinematography Michał Dymek Won
Best Art Direction Jagna Dobesz Won

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Pigen med nålen (2024)". The Numbers. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  2. ^ "The Girl with the Needle (2024)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  3. ^ "2024 Archives". National Board of Review. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "'Pigen med nålen' er Danmarks Oscar-kandidat". Danish Film Institute (in Danish). 19 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  5. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (19 September 2024). "Oscars: Denmark Selects 'The Girl With The Needle' As Best International Feature Submission". Deadline. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. ^ Barnard, Matthew (9 December 2024). "NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 82nd ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES®". Golden Globes. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b Vourlias, Christopher (10 May 2024). "Magnus von Horn's Cannes Contender 'The Girl With the Needle' Unveils First Clip (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b Pham, Annika (18 January 2024). "The Match Factory Snaps Up 'Sweat' Director Magnus von Horn's First Genre Pic, 'The Girl With the Needle' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  9. ^ Lerche Kristiansen, Annegerd (15 October 2017). "Vidste du… at denne kvinde er danmarkshistoriens største seriemorder?" (in Danish). DR. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  10. ^ "The Screenings Guide of the 77th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. 8 May 2024. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  11. ^ "The Girl with the Needle". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  12. ^ Deb, Deepshikha (30 September 2024). "MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Unveils 2024 Official Lineup". High On Films. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  13. ^ Abbatescianni, Davide (10 May 2024). "The Match Factory pins its hopes on four competition titles at Cannes". Cineuropa. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  14. ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Ritman, Alex (18 May 2024). "Mubi Acquires Magnus von Horn's Chilling Cannes Competition Entry 'The Girl With the Needle'". Variety. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Dziewczyna z igłą" (in Polish). Gutek Film. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  16. ^ "The Girl with the Needle". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 27 December 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ^ "The Girl with the Needle". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  18. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (16 May 2024). "The Girl With the Needle review – horrific drama based on Denmark's 1921 baby-killer case". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  19. ^ Lodge, Guy (15 May 2024). "'The Girl With the Needle' Review: Magnus von Horn's Expressionistic Nightmare of Women Abandoned by Society". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  20. ^ Utichi, Joe (15 May 2024). "'The Girl With The Needle' Review: Magnus Von Horn's Dark Fairytale Retelling Of Denmark's Most Infamous Serial Murder Case Is Beguiling – Cannes Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  21. ^ Ntim, Zac (11 April 2024). "Cannes Film Festival Lineup Set: Competition Includes Coppola, Audiard, Cronenberg, Arnold, Lanthimos, Sorrentino & Abbasi's Trump Movie — Full List". Deadline. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  22. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (30 October 2024). "'Gladiator 2,' 'Dune 2,' 'Blitz' Among Camerimage's 2024 Main Competition Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  23. ^ Brzeski, Patrick (23 November 2024). "Camerimage: Gripping Danish Drama 'The Girl With the Needle' Wins Golden Frog". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  24. ^ Szalai, Georg (5 November 2024). "European Film Awards: 'The Substance,' 'Emilia Pérez,' 'The Room Next Door,' Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton Among Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  25. ^ "Nominations 2024". European Film Academy. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  26. ^ Dams, Tim (13 November 2024). "'The Substance', 'The Girl With The Needle' lead craft winners at European Film Awards". Screen International. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  27. ^ "Excellence Awards Winners 2024". European Film Academy. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  28. ^ VanHoose, Benjamin (9 December 2024). "2025 Golden Globe Nominations: 'Wicked,' 'The Substance,' 'The Bear' and 'Shōgun' All Score". People.com. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  29. ^ Pedersen, Erik (6 January 2025). "Motion Picture Sound Editors Reveal 2025 MPSE Golden Reel Awards Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  30. ^ "YOUNG GALA | WINNERS OF THE 49TH PFF". Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  31. ^ "WINNERS OF THE 49th PFF". Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  32. ^ "NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW NAMES 2024 HONOREES". National Board of Review. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  33. ^ "2024 San Diego Film Critics Society Nominations". San Diego Film Critics Society. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  34. ^ ""And Their Children After Them" wins the Golden Giraldillo at the Seville European Film Festival". Festival de Sevilla. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
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