The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Played with Fire follows Mikael Blomkvist, who is back at the magazine Millennium, where a young journalist brings him a well-researched story about sex trafficking in Sweden and the powerful men who pay for it. Before the story can run, the journalist and his partner are shot dead in their apartment, and a third killing follows. Attention quickly turns to Lisbeth Salander, a woman from Blomkvist's past, when her fingerprints are found on the weapon. Convinced she is being framed, Blomkvist investigates on his own while Lisbeth, rather than waiting to be caught, pursues the people behind the murders herself. The two move along separate tracks toward the same hidden network, which reaches into official Sweden and into Lisbeth's own history.

Daniel Alfredson directed this second screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium novels, working from a screenplay by Jonas Frykberg and producing alongside Søren Stærmose. Its position in Alfredson's filmography is unusual: it and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest were the second and third of the six features he has directed, coming after Straydogs and before later work such as Echoes from the Dead and Intrigo: Death of an Author. Michael Nyqvist returns as Blomkvist, with Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth, supported by Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Annika Hallin and Per Oscarsson.

Made for a modest 4 million USD, the film took about 62 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.1/10 from 102,000 votes and on TMDB 7/10 from 1,854 votes, while a film critics' rating of 6.2/10 from 159 reviews places critics somewhat below the general audience.