The GIRL with the NEEDLE received one nomination at the 2025 Academy Awards. The film was recognized in the category of Best International Feature Film, representing Denmark. It did not win any Oscars.

The GIRL with the NEEDLE received one nomination at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. The film was recognized in the category of Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language. It did not win any Golden Globes.

The GIRL with the NEEDLE won 11 awards at the 2024 Gdynia Film Festival: Silver Lions for Best Feature Film, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Trine Dyrholm), Best Cinematography (Michał Dymek), Best Music (Frederikke Hoffmeier), Best Art Direction (Jagna Dobesz), Best Costume Design (Małgorzata Fudala), Polish Film Abroad Festivals And Reviews Award, Young Jury Award, Arthouse Cinemas Network Award, Journalists Award, and Best Casting Award (Tanja Grunwald).

Inspired by a true and shocking story from Copenhagen in the aftermath of World War I, a newly unemployed and pregnant young woman is taken in by a charismatic elder to help run an underground adoption agency. A film by Magnus von Horn, starring Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Joachim Fjelstrup, and Tessa Hoder.

During the final years of World War I, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) is evicted from her Copenhagen apartment by landlord Olaf Jensen (Per Thiim Thim), after failing to pay 14 weeks of rent. She struggles to make ends meet with the meager income she earns as a seamstress at a local linen factory, which has been converted to produce military uniforms during the war.

Having received no letters from her husband Peter since he left to fight in the war, she attempts to apply for widow’s compensation, presuming he has died. The factory director Jørgen (Joachim Fjelstrup) informs her that he cannot approve her request for widow’s compensation without Peter’s death certificate. However, given his connections, Jørgen offers to inquire about Peter’s whereabouts, noting that people don’t simply vanish without a trace.

As time passes with no news of Peter’s status, Jørgen and Karoline develop a romantic relationship and quickly become intimate.

Eventually, World War I ends with Germany’s surrender. Jørgen celebrates with his seamstresses and announces that the factory will cease uniform production and return to making the fine linens that have been his family’s signature for generations.

Later, Karoline is surprised to see Peter, whom she had presumed dead, waiting for her outside the factory wearing a facial prosthetic mask. She learns that he wears the mask to conceal his severely mutilated face, likely the result of an explosion. Peter tells her that he visited their old apartment, only to find it occupied by new tenants.

Karoline greets him with coldness upon discovering that he had received her letters but chose not to respond. She condemns him for the misery he caused, forcing her to believe he was dead. She then reveals that she has found someone new and is now pregnant. With no desire to revisit her past life, Karoline erupts in anger, shouting at Peter to get out of her life.

Karoline asks Jørgen to marry her, which he accepts. However, things take an unexpected turn when Jørgen brings her to his mansion to meet his mother (Benedikte Hansen). Jørgen’s mother looks down on Karoline, deeming her unsuitable for her son and their family heritage. She has arranged for the family doctor (Jakob Højlev Jørgensen) to examine Karoline to verify her pregnancy, suspicious that she might be lying to trap her son.

When the doctor confirms Karoline’s pregnancy, Jørgen’s mother declares that Karoline will never marry her son. She insists that while Jørgen can do as he pleases, it won’t be with her money or in her house. It’s revealed that his mother has controlled every aspect of Jørgen’s life, including the factory.

Jørgen then ends his relationship with Karoline, claiming he never intended for their relationship to become this serious. Jørgen’s mother also dismisses Karoline from her position at the factory, ordering her to leave and never return.

With no means to support the baby, Karoline attempts to perform an abortion on herself with a long needle at a public bathhouse, but is stopped by a woman named Dagmar. Dagmar tends to Karoline’s wounds and offers to find a foster home for her baby once it’s born, for a fee. Dagmar tells Karoline to visit her sweet shop and advises her not to name the baby, saying it would make letting go easier.

During her pregnancy, while struggling to find a job, Karoline discovers that Peter has joined a circus as a performer where his disfigurements are exploited. She visits the circus and reunites with Peter, finding him suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and often relying on morphine to manage his psychotic episodes.

Later, Karoline gives birth while working at the factory. Peter expresses his desire to keep the baby, but Karoline tells him the child isn’t his. While Peter is away, Karoline takes the baby to Dagmar, who promises to find wealthy adoptive parents who supposedly want a child but cannot conceive. Although Karoline doesn’t have enough money for Dagmar’s full fee, she promises to return with the remaining payment.

Unable to find job, Karoline revisits Dagmar and pleads Dagmar to hire her to help at the sweet shop. Dagmar initially refuses but eventually changes her mind when Karoline insists that if she doesn’t have a job, she won’t be able to pay Dagmar the remaining she owes her. Since Karoline is still lactating, Dagmar agrees to hire her as a wet nurse for the babies being dropped off at the sweet shop.

Soon, Karoline and Dagmar develop a friendship. Dagmar grows fond of Karoline, taking her to the cinema to watch movies and introducing her to the recreational use of ether for its euphoric effects. Karoline also befriends Dagmar’s supposed daughter, Erena (Ava Knox Martin), whom she breastfeeds.

Ether is a colorless, volatile liquid commonly known as sulfuric ether or simply ether, historically significant for its use as an anesthetic in surgery. It was first introduced as an anesthetic by dentist William Thomas Green Morton in 1846, marking a pivotal moment in medical history by enabling painless surgical procedures.

Despite being hired as Dagmar’s assistant and living at the shop, Karoline knows very little about Dagmar’s underground adoption agency, which she believes helps abandoned babies find new lives with wealthy foster parents.

Karoline grows attached to a baby boy whom Dagmar tasks her with caring for. However, as Dagmar realizes that Karoline’s growing attachment could jeopardize her business, she takes the baby away, claiming she has found a family for him.

When Karoline asks about the clients, Dagmar insists they wish to remain anonymous. While Dagmar takes the baby to deliver him, Karoline secretly follows her and ultimately uncovers a horrific truth that leaves her emotionally shattered.

Directed by Swedish-Polish filmmaker Magnus von Horn, Pigen Med Nålen is a psychological thriller film based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Line Langebek, drawning inspiration from the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye.

Dagmar Johanne Amalie Overbye (1887–1929) was a notorious Danish serial killer, responsible for the deaths of between 9 and 25 infants from 1913 to 1920. Employed as a child caretaker, she murdered the children, including her own, often by strangulation, drowning, or burning them in her masonry heater. The bodies were either cremated, buried, or hidden away. Overby was convicted of nine murders as there was insufficient proof of the others. In March 1921, Overbye was sentenced to death in a highly publicized trial that influenced Danish childcare legislation.

The cinematography by Michał Dymek is stunningly beautiful yet unsettling, with high-contrast black-and-white visuals complemented by Frederikke Hoffmeier’s minimalist score, creating a gritty and gripping atmosphere.

The pacing is deliberately slow, focusing primarily on Karoline, the supposed protagonist of the story. At first glance, she appears to be a good person caught in a series of unfortunate circumstances that force her to give up her baby girl, hoping she will have a better life than the one she can provide. As the story unfolds, however, we realize that Karoline is merely a side character, and Dagmar emerges as the true villain.

I love how the film maintains ambiguity and secrecy around Dagmar’s adoption business, steadily building tension that culminates in a terrifying revelation in the final moments.Trine Dyrholm delivers an outstanding performance as Dagmar Overbye. Her screen presence is both captivating and enigmatic, adding depth to the character.

That said, the excessive use of a baby’s crying and screaming throughout the film felt overly disturbing and, at times, annoying. For this reason, I deduct 0.5 from the film’s overall score.

Pigen Med Nålen premiered at Festival de Cannes on 15 May 2024 where it was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or. The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 6 December, under the title The GIRL with the NEEDLE. Pigen Med Nålen was theatrically release in Poland on 17 January 2025.