The Girl With The Needle offers a satisfying dose of hopeless cinema
Film review
Film lists are convenient methods of discovering stories that fit a specific description of what you want to watch, narrowing down the wide range that traditional genre categories create. These breakdowns in categories result in lists of films that provoke a descriptive feeling from the audience. One such list exists on Letterboxd called ‘The World is Hell: Hopeless Cinema’. But what constitutes hopeless cinema? Broadly, a story in which the world appears to be full of pain, grief, pessimism, suffering, betrayal and despair, examining the darkest depths we run into within our existence. If you’re seeking a fine dose of such cinema, Magnus von Horn’s The Girl With The Needle contains every single ingredient you could ask for.
The introduction to the world is awfully bleak. You feel the misery from the outset as the cinematography completely drains colour from early twentieth-century Copenhagen. Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne), a young impoverished woman presumes she’s widowed following the absence of her husband who left to fight in the war. She falls pregnant by a man who can offer her a societal status upgrade due to his wealth. But just when things start to look up for Karoline, it's swiftly ripped away from her. An improvement in circumstances handed to you on a plate? How could you be so naive?
Some might think that a presumed dead husband returning home alive may return a sense of comfort if there ever was any before. But a husband who returns with barely a face due to a shocking disfigurement that guarantees a destiny of unemployment outside of a circus may just push you to the brink of despair. The deprivation may just be enough to make you want to terminate a being growing inside of you, willing to deprive a life out of salvation. But what if someone reached out their helping hand to you? Albeit if this individual seeks to buy and sell your offspring on the black market. A shelter with a bed and blankets isn’t something you’re willing to turn down in such desperation. However, what if the true nature of the business you’re involved in is more harrowing than you could have ever possibly imagined? You may well conclude that the world you exist in is truly hopeless.
Karoline’s journey is one of complete despair. And you feel it every step of the way as she receives a continuous kick in the teeth. But despair progresses to evil, and this is what makes The Girl With The Needle a cold, menacing portrait of the realities of society at its lowest points. Many reviews have revealed or planted too many clues as to what this evil revelation is, but you’re best off allowing the work to surprise and shock you during its unravelling.
This tale is no doubt disturbing, but also quite satisfying due to the cinematic competency on display. Magnus von Horn’s direction of this portrayal of darkness ensures he’s a filmmaker whose work should be highly anticipated in the future. Some of the imagery in this work is unforgettable. Horror and experimentation are some of the tools used to enhance the demonstration of skill in this work.
The Girl With The Needle may not achieve perfection, however, its perceived faults are easy to warm to. At first glance, the aesthetic may not be inviting, but once you start this journey, its mood and intention will quickly connect with you. Showing what may be considered the ‘unseeable’ may have weakened the effect of disturbance, but its courage can be seen as admirable.
This was truly one of the big standouts at Cannes Film Festival. It may not have won any awards at the festival, but this absence of prize recognition doesn’t really matter. What matters is that once you watch The Girl With The Needle, you’ll never forget it. That should at least be the justification for bringing a work into existence, and for even contemplating dedicating your time watching something in the first place.
Out in UK cinemas 10th January 2025