The Girl with the Needle

Having been trained as a journalist, I’m generally not one to back away from an unsettling story, whether told through reporting or on the silver screen. However, there are times when I have to question the wisdom of whether certain films should be made in the first place. Just because it can be done, in my estimation, does not necessarily mean that it should be done. Such is the case with writer-director Magnus von Horn’s third feature outing, a dark, fact-based story that’s innately disturbing and, frankly, pushes the boundaries of good taste. The film, set in Copenhagen as World War I...

I really enjoyed this movie. It was dark, chilling, unsettling and very real. The cinematography took me away. It immersed me so much from picture to picture. Yes, this movie is grotesque and pushes a boundary. But the storytelling is quite fascinating, I love how they created something equally unsettling as it is masterful. Thanks a lot!...

The Girl with the Needle: Technical Brilliance, Narrative Limitations

Magnus Van Horn's "The Girl with the Needle" is a masterclass in period production design and atmospheric storytelling, yet ultimately falls short of its narrative potential.

Set in the bleak landscape of post-World War I Denmark, the film is visually extraordinary. The cinematography and production design meticulously reconstruct a world ravaged by war and social upheaval. Every frame feels authentically gothic - a world of shadows, desperation, and moral ambiguity.

Frederikke Hoffmeier's soundtrack is a haunting c...

Just after the end of the Great War, the young and expecting “Karoline” (Vic Carmen Sonne) finds herself alone and with little prospects after confusion around whether her soldier husband is alive or dead reigns and she is swiftly shunned by the family of her lover, the father of her unborn child. Through the grapevine, she learns of “Dagmar” (Trine Dyrholm) who runs a popular sweet shop that doubles up as an adoption agency where people in her predicament may try to find suitable homes for their children. It’s not so much that “Karoline” wants to go down this path, but she is fa...

*“The Girl with the Needle is a subtly cruel piece of cinema, a film that toys with the viewer's emotions much like Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.

What makes this sadistic tension even more striking is the film's almost naïve sincerity — the kind of naked, unfiltered directorial intent you might associate with early Xavier Dolan.

The photography and the soudtrack are stunning, with each frame carefully composed, offering moments of quiet beauty even as the story becomes increasingly suffocating....