Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Girl With the Needle

Play trailer 1:29 Poster for The Girl With the Needle 2024 2h 3m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
92% Tomatometer 111 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A standout selection from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE is a dark fairy tale about one woman's search for tenderness and morality in a cruel world. Both eerie and exquisite, writer-director Magnus von Horn's latest film tracks young factory worker Karoline as she struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. When she ends up unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, the charismatic Dagmar takes her in to help run an underground adoption agency for unwanted children. The two women form an unexpected bond, until a sudden revelation changes everything. Based on a chilling true story, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE presents a masterful gothic vision with profound contemporary resonance. Denmark's Best International Feature Film entry to the 97th Academy Awards® also features EFA-nominated performances from Vic Carmen Sonne and Trine Dyrholm, gorgeous cinematography by EO's Michał Dymek, and a spellbinding score by Frederikke Hoffmeier (Puce Mary).
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Girl With the Needle

The Girl With the Needle

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Threading its grim tale through sumptuous black-and-white photography, The Girl with the Needle is a haunting parable made with superb craft.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Catherine Wheatley Sight & Sound Nov 11
Von Horn isn’t making a social treatise but an adult fairytale. Go to Full Review
Tara Brady Irish Times Feb 28
5/5
The ever-reliable Dyrholm is both charismatic and curdling as the grubby matriarch. But most of the film is writ large and affectingly in Sonne’s agonised face. Go to Full Review
Michael O'Sullivan Washington Post 02/03/2025
3/4
Sonne delivers a twitchy performance, lurching from meek withdrawal to rage. Go to Full Review
Víctor López G. Espinof Jan 20
A kind of dramatic thriller that doesn’t hesitate to flirt with some of the driest, most atmospheric horror conventions, while throwing into the mix a handful of tonal and stylistic elements that, against all odds, work to perfection. Go to Full Review
Yasser Medina Cinefilia Sep 1
6/10
As a Scandinavian historical drama, it embraces psychological horror with a refined aesthetic, but overall, the narrative stumbles on more than one occasion when synthesizing its text on abortion and the social condition of women. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Mauricio Jarufe Caballero Cinencuentro May 28
Unlike other European art-house films, this is a film with agile editing, tight sequences, a certain paranoid tone reminiscent of German Expressionism, mid-century Gothic, and some echoes of Eastern European cinema of the 1960s...[Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Melissa 02/08/2025 Absolutely brutal and unsparing look at life in poverty in post-WWI Denmark and how some people will go to any length to survive. Not for the faint of heart. See more W.L. C @WayneCampbell 2d 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦 was not an easy watch for myriad reasons, not least of which is the grueling two-hour runtime. While there are stories that beg to be told, this wasn’t one of them. It’s straight poverty porn. It was difficult enough to watch Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) trudge through the streets of post-World War I Copenhagen, but to interlace her story with graphic, gratuitous infanticide by the based-on-real-life serial killer Dagmar Overbye (Trine Dyrholm) is too much. Some things don’t need to be committed to celluloid, as most audience members are intelligent enough to fill in the blanks and use their imagination to terrify themselves. Needless to say, this was a one-and-done for me. There is no artistic merit in exploiting the poor and their traumas. See more Damien S Nov 27 Great visuals, very unlikable lead actress for an important story. See more Claudio C @Claudio666 Nov 17 Pigen med nålen / The Girl with the Needle (2024) Too Heavy and Depressing Drama (12,067 – 16 Nov 2025 – by Claudio Carvalho) If you like to read my reviews, see my Blog. Unfortunately RT does not like reviews of serious themes and does not publish them. They just want small sentences, but not a review. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "A Garota da Agulha" ("The Girl with the Needle") My Blog: https://maniacosporfilme.wordpress.com/ See more Vince Q. @Vincedeq Nov 1 Danish entry for Best Foreign Language Film Period atmospheric about the aftermath of World War I in Denmark and the fallout posed by the combination of post-war world econonomic depression and injured soldiers (mentally and emotionally) returning home to the women who remained. Starring Victoria Carmen Sonne in a taut and memorable story-driven performances around the exigency of poverty and the desperation it entails, especially in young women who become pregnant with unwanted children. In this film, we experienced a range of detailed characters in a historic setting pitted against insurmountable obstacles. Absolutely peak filmmaking. See more Jon T @jon_talbot56 Oct 31 This is hard to rate as while it’s very good, it’s also a tough watch. In all my years of movie going l cannot think of anything as unremittingly bleak. I have never seen a better recreation of the harshness of daily life and suffocating social attitudes in nineteenth century Europe. The film vividly explores how people are forced to navigate a world with few comforts for the majority. There is escape and redemption but if feels like a sop to spare the viewer further punishment. See more Read all reviews
The Girl With the Needle

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Little Women 95% 92% Little Women Watchlist TRAILER for Little Women The Quiet Girl 97% 93% The Quiet Girl Watchlist TRAILER for The Quiet Girl Ordinary Angels 84% 99% Ordinary Angels Watchlist TRAILER for Ordinary Angels The Justice of Bunny King 95% 95% The Justice of Bunny King Watchlist TRAILER for The Justice of Bunny King Scrap 98% 99% Scrap Watchlist TRAILER for Scrap Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A standout selection from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE is a dark fairy tale about one woman's search for tenderness and morality in a cruel world. Both eerie and exquisite, writer-director Magnus von Horn's latest film tracks young factory worker Karoline as she struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. When she ends up unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, the charismatic Dagmar takes her in to help run an underground adoption agency for unwanted children. The two women form an unexpected bond, until a sudden revelation changes everything. Based on a chilling true story, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE presents a masterful gothic vision with profound contemporary resonance. Denmark's Best International Feature Film entry to the 97th Academy Awards® also features EFA-nominated performances from Vic Carmen Sonne and Trine Dyrholm, gorgeous cinematography by EO's Michał Dymek, and a spellbinding score by Frederikke Hoffmeier (Puce Mary).
Director
Magnus von Horn
Producer
Malene Blenkov, Mariusz Włodarski
Screenwriter
Magnus von Horn, Line Langebek
Distributor
MUBI
Production Co
Nordisk Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Danish
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 6, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA)
$112.2K
Runtime
2h 3m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Most Popular at Home Now