Magnus von Horn directed The Girl with the Needle, crime drama from a screenplay him and Line Langebek.
It is very loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped poor women kill their unwanted children. He was first sentenced to death in 1921, which was later changed into lifetime in prison.
The film, which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, is the Danish entry for Best International Feature Oscar.
In Copenhagen, young pregnant Karoline takes on a position as a wet nurse for an older woman named Dagmar to help support herself.
Dagmar operates a clandestine adoption agency under the guise of a candy shop, assisting disadvantaged mothers in need of placing their unwanted newborns in foster homes.
Karoline grows close to Dagmar, but she is soon faced with the nightmarish reality she unwittingly entered.
Von Horn described his third feature, after The Here After (2015) and Sweat (2020), as a “fairy tale for grownups” aimed at “flirting” with genre. And indeed, the movie is a somber and dark, yet also poetic, fable.
Cast
Vic Carmen Sonne as Karoline
Trine Dyrholm as Dagmar
Besir Zeciri as Peter
Joachim Fjelstrup as Jørgen
Tessa Hoder as Frida
Avo Knox Martin as Erena
Anders Hove as the Judge
Ari Alexander as Svendsen
