Das Mädchen mit der Nadel

"The Girl with the Needle" is an upsetting film based on true events that contains some almost unbearable scenes of violence perpetrated against babies. The movie is about Karoline, a desperate woman who gives her baby up for adoption and then joins the black market baby adoption ring run by Dagmar, played in a mesmerizing and award-worthy performance by the actress Trine Dyrholm. Though Karoline is the film's central character and events are told through her perspective, it's Dyrholm who walks away with this movie, managing to make a baby killer not an entirely horrific character, and even to a certain extent leading us to a place where we understand her motives even if we find her actions unconscionable. It takes a seriously good actress to pull off that feat.

The film looks and sounds like a horror movie. It reminded me at times of both "The Elephant Man" and "The White Ribbon," not because of its story in either case, but because of its visual style for the former, and its tone for the latter.

Grade: A-