10 Best Scenes In David Fincher's Filmography

Once the 2009 Swedish crime thriller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, became an international success, an American remake directed by David Fincher seemed inevitable. While Dragon Tattoo’s plot revolves around hacker Lisbeth Salander investigating a young woman's disappearance, there’s a larger theme of systemic misogyny that’s prevalent throughout the entire film. An equally disturbing and satisfying scene in the first act not only embodies this motif, it effectively sets Lisbeth up as our protagonist.

When Lisbeth is assigned a new legal guardian, Nils Bjurman, she finds herself in a world of s**t. Bjurman turns out to be a sadistic bastard, holding Lisbeth's bank account hostage and repeatedly sexually assaulting her. After secretly filming one of these horrid encounters, Lisbeth takes her swift revenge when she knocks Bjurman unconscious, ties him up, and blackmails him into giving her full access to her money. Once the blubbering fiend complies with her demands, Lisbeth gives him a taste of his own medicine by sodomizing him and tattooing "I'm a rapist pig" across his torso.

The sickening sound design makes your skin crawl, yet at the same time, you can't help but cheer Lisbeth on as she gets back at this monster in the most brutal fashion. Rooney Mara showcases an extraordinary range with this intense performance, convincing us that Lisbeth will take extreme measures to punish abusive behavior.