The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish: Flickan som lekte med elden) is a 2009 Swedish-Danish crime thriller film with German co-production directed by Daniel Alfredson from a screenplay of Jonas Frykberg and produced by Søren Stærmose.

Starring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace in the main roles, the film follows Lisbeth Salander as she returns to Sweden after spending a year abroad.

She falls under suspicion of having murdered a journalist and his girlfriend, as well as her own social services guardian, Nils Bjurman, while Mikael Blomkvist tries to find her before the authorities.

On returning to Sweden after nearly a year living abroad, Lisbeth Salander reconnects with her ex-girlfriend Miriam Wu and offers her free use of her old apartment.

Later, Salander confronts her sexually abusive former guardian Nils Bjurman after hacking into his email and discovering that he has an appointment booked with a tattoo removal specialist.

[4] A. O. Scott of The New York Times praises Rapace's performance, stating, "tiny and agile, her steely rage showing now and then the tiniest crack of vulnerability, belongs to another dimension altogether.

"[5] Lisa Kennedy of The Denver Post describes Lisbeth Salander as "worth the trouble" and having a "cold stare" the like of which has not been seen since "Clint was roaming the Italian hillsides."

He observes that Rapace remains the chief asset of the series, and that she works well with Michael Nyqvist, who he likens to a more sincere, Swedish version of Larry Hagman.

He writes further that even though Rapace and Nyqvist "could not be better" in their roles, the film should acknowledge the middle ground between the righteous heroes and the evil villains in order to work better as cinematic pulp fiction.

[8] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail describes the film as "Tepid and downright confusing" for those who have not read the books, although he suspects there are few who have not; he notes that the plot, "already thick on the page, often seems impenetrable here."

Although he concedes the plot generates some suspense, he complains it more often results in confusion but hopes the final film in the trilogy will bring greater clarity.