The Damned (2025)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
The Damned is the first major new release of 2025, and fans of gothic horror and suspenseful films will likely find a wonderful discovery to kick off the new year.
The score by Stephen McKeon and the cinematography by Eli Arenson make this a film you absolutely pay attention to as it works through its steps.
There are moments of great tension and suspense, and Odessa Young’s performance as a young widow is really effective in key scenes.
NO
After taking time to build a sense of impending dread and tightening atmosphere, director Thordur Palsson relies on jump scares, or the tease of them, which undoes much of the goodwill generated in the first half of the film.
Rushes sometimes a bit too fast to get to the next major moment - more character development would actually prove helpful.
When supernatural elements force there way into the story, we begin to wonder just what type of movie we are supposed to be getting.
OUR REVIEW
Though the pattern slowed during the pandemic, typically the first movie weekend of a new year features a brand new horror film for audiences to consume. Thankfully, 2025’s The Damned is a vastly superior film to 2024’s Night Swim, though the bar is set relatively low when it comes to offering such comparisons.
Benefiting from strong visuals and first-time director Thordur Palsson’s commitment to making his audience wrestle with elements of suspense, horror, and morality, The Damned is a wicked little film about a remote Icelandic fishing village whose inhabitants face a perilous decision.
Upon realizing that they do not have enough food and reserves to last until the spring, a ship appears nearby and looks to be taking on water. Recognizing the burden a rescue would have on their community, the fishermen must decide to either save those on the boat or essentially look the other way.
Palsson establishes the closeness, and male dominance, of the village early on. Though sparse on reserves, the alcohol flows freely and songs are sung loudly in a nearby pub. Helga (Siobhan Finneran), a town elder, loves to tell a menacing ghost story or two. While unclear how everyone came to live alongside each other, Palsson does a nice job of defining roles and showing us how this community operates.
Ragnar (Rory McCann) leads the men and seems to have final say on most decisions, except those that have to do with the island’s main fishing boat. Those decisions lie with a young widow, Eva (Odessa Young), whose husband owned the vessel prior to his untimely death.
For the first 45 minutes or so, The Damned is a film that actually feels appropiately cold. Shot on location during an Icelandic winter, there are moments where I swore I could see my own breath in front of me while watching. You might catch yourself wringing your hands together whenever you see a fire, or shift in your seat to try and get closer to a gas lamp for heat. The atmosphere and tension work together effectively to place us in an unfriendly, uncomfortable, and rugged, unforgiving setting.
Palsson also provides some truly arresting visuals, including one scene shot by cinematographer Eli Arenson of Eva walking across a hillside littered with makeshift crosses. Death is frequent and constant in a place like this, which makes the decisions suddenly facing the village residents even more difficult and complicated.
While it is not exactly a spoiler to share that Ragnar and Eva initially align in their decision to not help the shipwrecked sailors, unexpected circumstances lead to further debates and power struggles within the community. As alliances shift and opportunities to improve existing conditions only complicate matters further, The Damned unfortunately becomes a film that starts to take on water in its own right.
Palsson’s story, adapted as a screenplay by Jamie Hannigan (“The Woman in the Wall”), falls victim to jump scares and contrived sequences in the second half of the film as Palsson pivots his film into something more of a conventional horror film, as opposed to the suspenseful morality tale he initially offers. Some of the scares work, others not so much, and a great score from Stephen McKeon (Evil Dead Rise) keeps us uncertain and unsettled.
In the end, The Damned is a movie that flirts with greatness and ultimately provides an interesting commentary on guilt, selfishness, and morality amid a backdrop of rock, ice, and cold temperatures and even colder hearts. While there is a lot to recommend here, it is unfortunate that when Palsson makes the deliberate intention to startle and shock the audience, The Damned sheds many of the elements that make it feel unique and different.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann, Lewis Gribben, Siobhan Finneran, Francis Magee
Director: Thordur Palsson
Written by: Jamie Hannigan (screenplay); Thordur Palsson (story)
Release Date: January 3, 2025
Vertical Entertainment