Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is hired by aged tycoon Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) to look into the 40 year-old disappearance of a favourite niece. Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) checks out Mikael as a preliminary to his hiring, and is intrigued by the old mystery. The two investigators team up and find themselves pursuing several serial killers.