The Damned Review

Paranoia takes an icy grip on cinema once again in Thordur Palsson’s The Damned. For his first narrative feature, the Icelandic native writer/director harks back to the 19th century, presenting the blood-curling folklore and occult tales ingrained within his country’s rich history.

Odessa Young plays Eva, the new centre of a tiny fishing community isolated upon one of Iceland’s vast and beautifully blue shores. Following the death of her husband Magnus, Eva now oversees the work of her husband’s former men. Yet, with their food supply dwindling and the waters void of fish, a hushed neurosis begins to creep over her crew. This is further exacerbated when Eva and her men spot a shipwreck on the horizon. Daniel (Joe Cole) is eager to stage a rescue of the doomed shipmates. However, Eva, considering their already limited food supply and the changing tide’s certain danger, insists they do not take action.

When a barrel of food arrives on shore, Eva and her crew set sail in the dead of night to pillage the shipwreck’s remaining bounty. They find many men still alive, resulting in a deathly struggle, in which the crew murderously beat back the freezing shipmates with their paddles or else be capsized and doomed to the icy waters themselves. Although a few of their number are lost, the journey is successful and with their pantry freshly stocked, the fishing crew sees cause for celebration. That is until dreadful apparitions and ghostly happenings begin to descend upon them, punishing their actions. Unfathomable occurrences and madness eventually take hold, picking them off one by one.

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The Damned’s atmosphere sits somewhere in between Carpenter’s The Thing and Eggers’ The VVitch. However, a middling script hinders the film’s well-established potential. Young’s Eva makes for a fascinating protagonist, becoming the captain-like figure the panic-stricken crew turns to for strength and encouragement. It’s rare to see women take positions of power in male-dominated stories such as these, and Eva goes against the grain of expectation. Madness and paranoia are well-established manifestations of grief, and here we see Eva succumb to the horrors of old. However, a slight runtime and underdeveloped characterisation stop the promising female lead from reaching her full potential.

The film is visually striking. Cinematographer Eli Arenson’s camera contrasts the bold blues and warm yellows of daytime with the vast isolating white of ice and black of nighttime. He creates the colour palate of an ancient tale, emboldening the seafaring legends swirling around in the vast oceans of time. Palsson, too, sustains a gripping sense of horror throughout the movie, treating us to a handful of genuinely frightening jumpscares and unnerving visuals. He presents his home country as a place with nightmares sown into its core.

Although The Damned has all the right ingredients, a lacklustre script, and underdeveloped characters mean the film falls flat on its promise. The film works best when attempting to explore the darker manifestations of grief and guilt. Eva’s emotional turmoil is often palpable, greatly aided by Young’s surefooted performance. However, the biggest issue with the film is that it doesn’t make any meaningful attempt to identify the root of its character’s collective grief with any real proximity. As the plot plays out, all of the film’s individuality falls away and the result is just another paint-by-numbers horror movie. Yet, the spooky story at sea is still a gem for all fans of the genre.