The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Everybody here lives in Sweden, reads Swedish newspapers and speaks English with a Swedish accent, and nobody seems to find that odd. You stop noticing fast, because David Fincher is busy making the whole thing feel like a cold case you’re solving from inside a freezer. Daniel Craig’s Mikael spends a lot of the movie flipping through old photos, which is more gripping than it has any right to be. Rooney Mara is the reason to watch. Her Lisbeth is quiet, sharp and completely her own person. The film also includes abuse that’s hard to sit through, and it treats Lisbeth’s story with real seriousness, so know that going in. My problem is the finish line. At 158 minutes, the mystery wraps up and then the movie keeps going through a long epilogue about money. The opening credits are a small horror film of their own. An 8.0 because it’s a precise, chilly thriller with a great lead, and it doesn’t know when to stop. $904 says you put a sticker over your laptop camera before bed tonight.

What works: Rooney Mara’s fierce, guarded Lisbeth and Fincher’s ice-cold control turn old photographs and archive searches into real suspense.

What doesn’t: The story keeps going long after the mystery is solved, and some of the abuse scenes are very hard to watch.

Who it’s for: Grown-up mystery fans who like slow, careful detective work, and only viewers ready for heavy material.