The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest • The Next Reel

"I’m a survivor, as you should know by now."

Stieg Larsson had plans to write an entire series of Millennium novels, but unfortunately died having only written three of them. Because of this, they’re often referred to as the Millennium trilogy. Sure, they have the same characters largely and are centered around the Millennium magazine, but it’s not really a trilogy per se. That being said, when making the three films, it didn’t stop the team from shooting them all back to back to keep the story as cohesive as possible. While it’s great having the three Swedish films feel so much of a whole, it is a challenge seeing this as a trilogy. It doesn’t help that the third film, Daniel Alfredson’s 2009 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, starts to feel a bit like the storytellers are stretching credulity a bit. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we wrap up our series on the Millennium ‘trilogy’ with Alfredson’s film.

We talk about the basic struggles we have with the film, even if we still largely enjoy it. We look at the struggles all trilogies seem to face and how that often is expounded when they shoot them back to back. We talk about the cast and how well they do, most notably the women throughout. We look at the courtroom scene and Dr. Teleborian’s takedown, discussing the camerawork and performances and how that scene stands out as quite effective. And we come back around to talking about Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist and how great they are in their roles.

While we have issues with this film, it’s still one we enjoy and would return to. It’s a series of films that’s dark but definitely worth checking out. So check it out! Then tune in. The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins.

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• Swedish trailer
• US trailer
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• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest — Comixology
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
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