The Damned (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.

My Take – With increasing critical attention, in recent times, folk horror has become the go to for indie filmmakers hoping to make a name for themselves in the genre.

The latest to join this growing list is this directorial debut from Thordur Palsson, who co-wrote the film with Jamie Hannigan, which tells a bleak monster story that leans heavily into psychological horror and uses elements such as guilt and survival to full effect.

Backed by a very atmospheric set up that is filled with dread, frigidness, and remains quite unsettling throughout, for a first-time effort, the end result is an extremely well-crafted effort. With its game cast, period setting, and isolated fishing village setup, all helping to create a tense and engaging narrative as the group of fisherman find themselves the subject of supernatural attacks.

Indeed, it is an unrelenting film that piles hardships upon tragedies, mixing in heavy doses of paranoia to color the oppressive atmosphere with horror. And for the most part, it’s all very well done. That is until, the final act kicks in.

The climax, which although pieces together everything, falls apart so heavily that it takes you entirely out of the mood by the time end credits begin rolling. Nevertheless, despite the stumble at the end, the film should work for those looking for a grim folk horror, as it has more than enough going on to keep your attention. But only if it had lived up to its expected potential and build-up.

Set during the 19th century, the story follows Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow who manages her late husband’s fishing station at a desolate, completely isolated fjord in Iceland. With Eva is Helga (Siobhan Finneran), a superstitious woman who helps with the cooking and cleaning, and a ragged but respectful crew of fishermen that includes Daniel (Joe Cole) and the stern and experienced Ragnar (Rory McCann). However, this particular winter, the fishing has been meager, and with supplies dwindling, everyone is already on edge.

One morning, the crew spots a ship sinking in the distance, forcing Eva to make a tortuous decision: help the ship’s crew and put her own men at risk of starvation, or leave the crew to their fate and help ensure their own safety. This and subsequent decisions lead to a devastating tragedy. Even worse, Eva and her crew’s choices might have created a draugr, a revenant creature of hatred from Nordic folklore.

Here, director Palsson starts the narrative off grim, and it only gets darker from there. Even before the actual terror kicks in, there is a dread to the story being told. The scarcity of food and loneliness creates a real sense of exile and by extension, fear. The atmosphere after the shipwreck adds a frightening layer that is enhanced with the occasional jump scare.

The film goes beyond just showing how unforgiving nature can be; it digs into human nature itself-relationship dynamics, loss, grief, guilt, trauma, survival versus morality-the nature of evil, superstition and folklore, female agency, and what leadership truly means.

It really explores how isolation and harsh conditions can play tricks on our minds and how we struggle to deal with hard truths. The Icelandic setting perfectly fits the film’s dismal tone. The ice-covered landscape looks beautiful and the harshness of the land can be felt. The cinematography by Eli Arenson gorgeously represents the stark nature of the story.

While the story itself is compelling, the film has one issue, and it’s a big one: the ending. Which comes out of nowhere, explains too much and pushes the whole story a little further away from horror than it maybe shouldn’t have.

Up until the climax, the plot deals with the guilt brought upon by the shipwreck and the monster it has created. The final conflict lessens the impact of everything previous.

Performance wise, Odessa Young is quite the standout and brings a grounded and believable turn as the young widow with a core of steel. She is well supported by the likable Joe Cole and a core group that includes the likes of Lewis Gribben, Francis Magee, Turlough Convery, and Mícheál Óg Lane, who share a natural chemistry. Though Rory McCann and Siobhan Finneran appear only for a limited screen time, they ensure to bring their finest act. On the whole, ‘The Damned‘ is an eerie psychological horror with a fascinating story that falls apart in the climax.