The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

The best-known film on the list, and the right version to watch. Niels Arden Oplev's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel pairs Michael Nyqvist's disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist with Noomi Rapace's hacker Lisbeth Salander on a decades-old disappearance inside a wealthy industrial family. Rapace's guarded, ferocious Salander is the reason to choose this over the 2011 Hollywood film, and the Swedish version's colder, less glossy look suits a story about what respectable families hide. It is long and patient, closer in rhythm to a TV season than a thriller. Be ready for scenes of sexual violence that are genuinely hard to watch.