"The Girl With the Needle": A Haunting Tale of Tragedy and Survival
Magnus von Horn, a Poland-based filmmaker, never imagined himself directing a biopic about a serial killer. To him, the concept felt morally questionable. However, when approached to create a film about Dagmar Overbye—a Danish woman who killed at least nine babies during the 1910s—he saw an opportunity to shift the narrative. Instead of focusing on the killer, Von Horn chose to center his story around a desperate mother seeking adoption services. This decision gave rise to The Girl With the Needle, a film that confronts haunting moral questions while steering clear of sensationalizing true crime.
Von Horn, a creative driven by fear and challenges, found himself deeply unsettled yet fascinated by the project. “How is that possible at all to kill an infant?” he reflected. As a father of two, his youngest born around the time of production, the subject hit uncomfortably close to home. Yet, this discomfort fueled his determination to tell the story from a fresh perspective, one that could resonate emotionally without glorifying the horrors of the crimes themselves.
Set against the backdrop of the waning days of World War I, The Girl With the Needle introduces audiences to Karoline, played by Vic Carmen Sonne. Karoline is a young woman navigating immense hardships. With her husband missing in action and presumed dead, she’s left alone, struggling to survive. In desperation, she begins an affair with her factory owner, Jørgen (Joachim Fjelstrup). The relationship offers her a brief glimpse of hope—Jørgen even agrees to marry her when she becomes pregnant. However, their romance is crushed when Jørgen’s domineering mother threatens to cut him off financially if he marries Karoline.
This betrayal leaves Karoline jobless, alone, and hopeless. In her despair, she attempts a self-induced abortion at a women’s public bathhouse using the titular needle. It’s here, at her lowest moment, that she meets Dagmar (played by Trine Dyrholm). In a chilling twist of fate, Dagmar intervenes, saving both Karoline and her unborn child—only to later take that child’s life.
The bathhouse scene is pivotal in the film’s narrative. Initially, Von Horn and his team experimented with various locations for Karoline and Dagmar’s meeting, but the bathhouse carried an unparalleled symbolic weight. “It’s a natural place for women living in poverty to meet,” Von Horn explains. “Karoline goes there to end a life, and Dagmar saves her, only to later destroy what she saved. It’s such a strange twist—almost like fate playing a cruel game.”
Dagmar, who runs a candy shop in the film, is portrayed as a seemingly kind woman offering an invaluable service to mothers in need. Women, desperate and without options, leave their babies with Dagmar, believing she will find them good homes. For Karoline, Dagmar represents a beacon of hope. But the audience, aware of Dagmar’s dark secret, watches with growing dread as the story unfolds.
What makes The Girl With the Needle particularly compelling is its blend of historical fiction and creative liberty. While Von Horn admits that many details in the film stray from historical accuracy, he defends these choices by emphasizing the emotional truth they aim to convey. “So many things are not historically correct in our film, but that’s not important in my mind,” he says. “The emotional truth is there, and that’s why women trusted Dagmar. On an emotional level, it feels very real.”
The real-life case of Dagmar Overbye did lead to significant legal reforms in Denmark, including the introduction of personal identification numbers to ensure that every child was accounted for. Before these changes, babies could disappear without a trace, and no one would even have proof they existed. “It’s horrifying to think how easily life could be erased back then,” Von Horn reflects.
The film’s heavy subject matter could have made for an unbearably bleak viewing experience, but Von Horn found ways to balance the narrative. Drawing inspiration from classic works like Oliver Twist, The Elephant Man, and The Lighthouse, he gave the story a grounded yet fairy-tale-like quality by shooting it in black-and-white. This stylistic choice creates a sense of distance from reality, allowing viewers to engage with the story without feeling overwhelmed by its darkness.
“I live in Poland, where restrictive abortion laws have removed the freedom of choice from women,” Von Horn says, drawing parallels between the film’s themes and contemporary issues. “I could imagine a version of this story set in modern times, filmed in a hyper-realistic documentary style. But it would be so devastating—no one could bear to watch it. The black-and-white aesthetic and historical setting offer a kind of emotional buffer.”
What truly sets The Girl With the Needle apart is its refusal to simplify its characters or their actions. Dagmar is not depicted as a one-dimensional villain; instead, she is a complex figure whose actions are as horrifying as they are rooted in the desperation of the era. Similarly, Karoline’s journey—from despair to hope and back to despair—captures the grim reality faced by countless women in history.
The film also resonates deeply in today’s socio-political climate, particularly in regions where abortion laws remain contentious. By grounding the story in universal themes of survival, sacrifice, and moral ambiguity, Von Horn invites audiences to reflect on issues that transcend time and geography.
For viewers, The Girl With the Needle is not just a film—it’s an experience. It’s haunting, thought-provoking, and deeply human. Von Horn’s decision to focus on emotional truths rather than historical accuracy ensures that the story lingers in the mind long after the credits roll.
In the end, The Girl With the Needle isn’t just about Dagmar Overbye or her crimes. It’s about the women left with impossible choices, the systems that fail them, and the cruel twists of fate that define their lives. Whether you approach it as a historical drama, a dark fairy tale, or a social commentary, one thing is certain: this is a film that will leave you shaken—and thinking.
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