The Girl with the Needle (2024)

The Girl with the Needle

• As I work my way through my Oscars nom list, this was next up. It’s Denmark’s submission for Best International Feature Film, and rightfully so. As I understand it, it’s based on a real life baby serial killer (loosely). On that note, you can certainly feel the emotional and mental impact of this film, especially to those who love kids. It’s something that’s very sad, but it’s also done tastefully. Of course, you might wonder how killing a baby can be done tastefully, but somehow, they did. It’s distressing, but you can see the different effects it has on someone’s mind and physical being. It did take me some time to get into it, I think because the buildup to the reveal was so slow. Not that the scenes weren’t necessary, they just took some time to establish the characters and situations. Especially with Peter. For some reason, he was the number one thing that stuck with me after the film was done. Everything that happened with Karoline was important, and Peter helped her out, but Peter himself was the hidden gem of the film. Without him, there’s no film. Visually, there are many very impressive shots and scenes. Shot in black in white, it provides for a very authentic telling, and the production and costume design was flawless. So realistic, accurate, and just perfect. You feel like you are a part of the film, not just watching it. Very well done from everyone involved. Overall, the acting was on point, the cinematography was crisp, the score was sad and mellow, but very prominent when it needed to be, and the story is gripping, tragic, and spends time throwing you into the vulnerable but hopeful life of Karoline. As I said, it absolutely deserves its Oscar nomination. I’d recommend this to all drama/crime fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go check it out now!