The Damned is directed by Thordur Palsson, and the cast includes Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Siobhan Finneran, Rory McCann, Turlough Convery, Lewis Gribben, Francis Magee, MÃcheál Óg Lane.
The Damned positions itself as a brooding fusion of horror and psychological mystery, but ends up as a film that’s all atmosphere, no soul - a beautiful shell echoing with half-formed ideas.
Set in a remote 19th-century Icelandic fishing village - yes, it’s as bleak and unforgiving as it sounds - the story follows Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow tasked with leading a small crew of fishermen. When they witness a shipwreck just off the coast, Eva makes the agonizing decision not to intervene. From there, her crew begins to die off one by one, victims of an invisible, and supposedly symbolic, force.
Let’s start with what the film does well, and by far the best thing about the film, which is the atmosphere. Director Thordur Palsson and his cinematographer clearly understand the visual language of dread. The Icelandic wilderness is rendered with stunning clarity - it’s not just cold, it’s cinematically cold. Every frame is soaked in a kind of elemental hostility, and you can practically feel the frostbite setting in.
Odessa Young does her best to anchor the film, and her performance is restrained, thoughtful, and left to carry far too much. The rest of the cast drifts somewhere between underwritten and outright anonymous. Joe Cole, as Daniel, gets a few moments of intrigue, but most of the crew might as well be credited as "Sea Shanty Extra #2." Their defining traits include being cold, superstitious, and occasionally harmonizing in minor key.
There’s an attempt to weave in maritime folklore and ritualistic burial rites, which hints at richer terrain, such as guilt, grief, and myths. But the film never quite commits to exploring these ideas beyond surface-level gestures. It’s the equivalent of writing “EMOTIONAL METAPHOR HERE” in the margins of a script and then forgetting to come back to it.
The film seems to suggest that the malevolent force picking off the crew is a manifestation of Eva’s guilt, which as we all know, is a classic horror trope. But like much else in the film, this idea is more implied than developed. The film flirts with symbolism but never seals the deal. Instead, it offers vague whispers of meaning, hoping the bleak cinematography will carry the rest.
There is, of course, a “twist” or revelation, because modern horror demands one, but it lands with all the impact of a damp snowball. Rather than deepening our understanding of Eva or the horror she faces, it merely reiterates what we’ve already inferred, such as actions have consequences, guilt lingers, and silence is not catharsis. Insightful stuff, I suppose.
But what we're left with is a film that looks incredible, sounds ominous, and feels important, but rarely is. You can imagine the pitch: “It’s The Witch meets The Thing, but in Iceland and with more death-by-metaphor.” Somewhere along the way, though, the humanity got lost in the snow.
The Damned is not a bad film though, it's watchable and had a lot of promise,, but promise without payoff is its own kind of horror. For all its chilling visuals and solemn tone, the film never quite earns what it’s reaching for. It’s a moody, well-shot meditation on guilt and survival, just one that forgot to bring a heart to the party.
Which is a shame, and quite frustrating, as this could have been quite the film if it wasn't so half baked.