The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
87%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
27 wins & 91 nominations total
Its graphic violence and sprawling length will prove too much for some viewers to take, but Noomi Rapace’s gripping performance makes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo an unforgettable viewing experience
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is like a Swedish crime novel come to life, but with more tattoos and piercings. Noomi Rapace’s performance as Lisbeth is so good, you’ll want to get a dragon tattoo of your own. The plot is intricate and suspenseful, but at times it feels like you’re watching a really long episode of “Law and Order: SVU.” Overall, it’s a thrilling ride that will leave you wanting more. Just maybe don’t watch it with your grandma.
Production Company(ies)
Mosfilm Tvorcheskoe Obedinienie Pisateley i Kinorabotnikov
Distributor
Music Box Films
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Hofsta Manor, Björkvik, Södermanlands län, Sweden
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for brutal violent content including rape and torture, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, and language
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 32m
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Language(s):English, Swedish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 19, 2010 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 6, 2010
Genre(s)
Drama/Crime
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Andersson, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, written by Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel, Drama, Crime, Mystery & Thriller, $10.1M box office, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Jen Chaney, Nick Schager, Jonathan F Richards, Roger Moore, Rene Rodriguez, Mike Massie, Richard Propes, Allen Almachar, Felicia Feaster, PJ Nabarro, R MPAA rating, produced by Søren Stærmose
Worldwide gross: $232,617,430
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $306,240,352
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 492
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 33,395,894
US/Canada gross: $102,515,793
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $134,961,824
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 566
US/Canada opening weekend: $12,768,604
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $16,809,840
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 736
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $90,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $118,484,809
Production budget ranking: 314
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $63,804,069
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $123,951,474
ROI to date (est.): 68%
ROI ranking: 1,071
Noomi Rapace – Lisbeth Salander
Lena Endre – Erika Berger
Peter Haber – Martin Vanger
Sven-Bertil Taube – Henrik Vanger
Peter Andersson – Nils Bjurman
Director – Niels Arden Oplev
Producer – Søren Stærmose
Writers – Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
Director(s)
Niels Arden Oplev
Writer(s)
Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
Producer(s)
Søren Stærmose
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
27 wins & 91 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (191) | Top Critics (57) | Fresh (163) | Rotten (28)
The film is certainly faithful to every detail of the novel’s intricate plot, which is fair enough, but does give it the feel of a plodding TV whodunit rather than a cinematic experience.
August 30, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
An engrossing and classically suspenseful story
July 9, 2010
Jen Chaney
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Revel[s] in its seedier aspects … while appropriating every aesthetic trope from the modern Hollywood thriller handbook.
June 30, 2010 | Rating: C-
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a handsome thriller, anchored by an arresting performance in the title role by Noomi Rapace.
June 25, 2010
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
A chilling detective tale, a horrific sexual abuse drama and an overlong, emotional, tie-up-every-loose-end melodrama that is sure to be half an hour shorter when Hollywood remakes it without Swedish dialogue and probably without the cool Swedish edge.
May 5, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Rapace’s haunting, enigmatic Lisbeth is the element that leaves you eager for the next two installments. She’s fantastic, and so is the movie.
April 22, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
The overall atmosphere, subject matter, and climax are appropriately gritty.
November 29, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A captivating, hypnotic, and unforgettable thriller.
September 8, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
An intense, unrelenting thriller that also works as a superb character study.
August 12, 2020 | Rating: A+
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
It’s hard to deny the tightening dread that envelops this well-paced thriller.
January 23, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Charleston City Paper
It’s ultimately a film dealing in hackneyed horror tropes and employing a highly slippery and questionable toxic masculinity thesis.
October 31, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
Exciting, compelling and completely absorbing, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is one of the best of the year so far.
October 25, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Nikki Baughan
Roll Credits…
Plot
Mikael Blomkvist is a disgraced journalist who is asked by a wealthy industrialist to write a biography on his family. But what he really wants Blomkvist to do is to find out what happened to his niece, who went missing 40 years ago. Blomkvist, at first, is not interested, till the man offers to help him clear his name. Blomkvist, begins by talking to the man’s relatives who were there when the girl went missing. And some of them are not forth coming. Blomkvist eventually believes that her disappearance might have something to do with some serial killings that took place 20 years before she disappeared. So he asks for a research assistant. So the industrialist’s man suggests Lisbeth Salander, a talented hacker who does background checks for them and who even did one on Blomkvist. When he sees her report, he’s impressed and asks her to work with him and she does. She’s anti-social but is extremely efficient.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No specific tidbit about the cast is mentioned in the Fresh Kernels summary.
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