The Plot: Copenhagen, 1918. Seemingly abandoned by her soldier husband Peter (Besir Zeciri), Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) finds herself in deep debt and with no place to go. She finds a job in a factory, where she gets romantically involved with the boss and ends up pregnant. She comes into contact with Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), who runs an innocent-looking sweet shop which is also a front for an underground adoption agency…
The Verdict: In 20th Century Danish history, the name Dagmar Overbye is something of a household name even now – for reasons that will become apparent in The Girl With The Needle. The film is inspired by the case of Overbye, but tells a fictionalised account of events with a frame of reference in the viewpoint of a young, unfortunate woman called Karoline who comes into contact with Dagmar, less for the better and more for the worse. The Swedish-born, Poland-based director Magnus Van Horn, whose previous film Sweat slipped out during the pandemic, proves to be an ideal fit for this gasp-inducing horror story of sorts. There are no misty castles, creaky doors or supernatural beings here. Just questionable people on the margins of society involved in despicable acts that will remain unspoken here for spoiler reasons.
This is a challenging film for any audience, due to its dark themes. However, within that challenge lies a deeply moving story of desperation, condemnation, hope and perhaps a touch of redemption too. Van Horn’s script with Line Langebek Knudsen is carefully constructed from the ground up, taking its time to sketch out the anchor character of Karoline as she undergoes several life events that test her resolve. She’s a compassionate and ultimately decent person, but she’s also vulnerable to exploitation by others who see her as just someone to be used for their own ends. It’s a depiction of a different time, when women had less opportunities and had to make ends meet, one way or another. Vic Carmen Sonne does tremendous work here merely with her doleful, soulful face. She doesn’t even need to speak that much. Pain is etched on her face and her body language like unseen writing. It’s a performance that says a lot by doing little, which is the art of invisible acting.
Contrasted with Karoline is the older Dagmar, who is wise to the world but also knows how to manipulate people. Here then is an equally fine performance from veteran Danish actor Trine Dyrholm, putting a human face on a monster of a character. It’s a film that has subtle misdirection at times – a character turns up hidden behind a partial face mask, eyes glinting in the dark like some sort of David Lynch-induced nightmare. There is a story involving this, with Van Horn keen to show that there’s only one real monster here. The stark but beautiful black and white cinematography by Michal Dymek doubles down on that, calling up German Expressionism to put the story at some remove from reality. And yet for all its occasional bleakness and despair about the human condition, there’s a compassionate core spinning away that not only strengthens its impact but also makes its point with the sharpness of a needle. The Girl With The Needle is Denmark’s official entry for the Oscars and it’s not hard to see why. This is international cinema at its most challenging, engaging and ultimately moving. It may just surprise you.
Rating: 4 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
In short: Makes its point
Directed by Magnus Van Horn.
Starring Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Ava Knox Martin.