With her husband missing in action, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne), a young seamstress, struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. An affair with the owner of the clothing factory she works at brings temporary relief from her poverty, but leads to still worse complications. Left with few other options, she turns to a charismatic candy shop owner, Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), who offers special services to women in need. But as it turns out, the woman’s placid façade hides deeper layers of disquiet.
Inspired by the real-life story of one of Denmark’s most infamous serial killers, The Girl with the Needle renders this true-crime story as an expressionist fairytale, with a nightmarish atmosphere reminiscent of Tod Browning and Carl Theodor Dreyer. Featuring lustrous black-and-white cinematography, an ominous soundscape, and bolstered by fearless performances by Sonne and Dryholm, it is a chilling, unforgettable look at the horrors that people are capable of—as well as the social conditions that make them possible.
Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Avo Knox Martin, Joachim Fjelstrup
Denmark/Poland/Sweden
2024
In Danish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Credits
Producer
Malene Blenkov, Mariusz Włodarski
Screenwriter
Magnus von Horn, Line Langebek
Cinematography
Michał Dymek
Editor
Agnieszka Glińska
Production Design
Jagna Dobesz
Magnus von Horn
Magnus von Horn was born in 1983 in Göteborg, Sweden but has lived for almost 20 years in Poland. A graduate of the Polish National Film School in Lodz where he is also currently a teacher. With his short films, he established himself internationally as a promising director presenting at festivals such as Sundance and Locarno. Finding it inspiring to work in different languages his feature film debut, The Here After, was in Swedish and premiered at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2015. His second feature film, Sweat, was in Polish and part of the Cannes official selection in 2020. His third film, The Girl With the Needle, is a Nordisk Film Production and is in Danish.
Filmography: The Here After (2015); Sweat (2020)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Three Colours: Red
Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.
Camp
Reeling from two devastating tragedies, Emily (Zola Grimmer) takes refuge at a summer camp for troubled youth, where she has been offered a position as counsellor. She finds friendship, but also something more unexpected, something truly troubling...
Rose of Nevada
This disconcerting film from the director of Bait and Enys Men feels like a message from another era: two men sign on to a Cornish fishing trawler, but when they return to port they are welcomed into the community 30 years before they left...
Whispers in the Woods
A luxuriant, healing immersion in nature with ravishing wildlife photography, this is the cinematic equivalent of "forest bathing," a trip deep into the Vosges, France, with photographer Vincent Munier (The Velvet Queen), his father and his son.
King Arthur's Night
John Bolton's film of Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef's musical staging recreates Camelot at Harrison Hot Springs. It's a self-referential piece which joyfully reframes a classical narrative through the prisms of disability, inclusivity, and imagination.