The Damned

I watched the Icelandic film 🇮🇸 The Damned (2024) in theaters this evening. The storyline follows an Icelandic fishing team that is hunkered down in a shack together trying to survive winter. One day they see a crashed ship in the water with an abandoned crew with nothing they can do to rescue them. After a few days they head out to see if they can obtain supplies and set off a series of unfortunate events that sets a curse on their camp.

This picture is directed by Thordur Palsson, in his directorial debut, and stars Odessa Young (Assassination Nation), Joe Cole (One of these Days), Lewis Gribben (T2 Trainspotting), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) and Mícheál Óg Lane (The Guard).

The Damned is one of those movies that feels like it's missing an ingredient from beginning to end. The atmosphere and desperation of the circumstances is perfectly established with the attire, settings and backdrops. There's good use of background music to establish the drama and intensity. The movie does start with a bang. I'll also say eels aren't used enough in horror movies. There's awesome use of an ax and a fantastic throat slash. There's a strong buildup to the final scene, but the conclusion was disappointing.

In conclusion, The Damned has more than enough going on to keep your attention, but doesn't live up to its potential. I would score this a 6.5/10.

The good reviews have me a bit confused to be honest. Overall this film was boring. Slow burn can be really good and intense but I just think this was too boring, it never felt like it really got going. I will say that the performances are all very good (for a script that is not) and I noticed almost immediately that the score is good. Visually it was somewhat enjoyable but a little bit same same and like I say there just wasn't a lot happening. People dislike the ending but I honestly felt like that could've been the best bit if there was just more plot armour leading to it. The film needed a twist to make it interesting but a rushed twist just annoys everyone and makes the whole thing very mediocre.

GenX reporting-in from the first screening at our AMC. I see almost every horror film. This is the first of 2025, an Icelandic horror about malnurishment, regrets, ghost stories, alcoholism, and fisherman. The cinematography, scenery, costumes and acting are all Very well done, A++. Decent gore. I could understand most of the dialogue, but I wish my theatre would offer open captions for films like this. If I was at home I would pause and rewind parts. It's very good, but not good enough to view it again. In the end it falls short in its climax. Some of the horror is sliced-in or not on screen for long, cut short. But honestly we would be complaining if this film was longer, as its the perfect run time for a slow burner like this; Less boring that way. The landscape and vibe is haunting. Do you have to see this film in the theatre? A: No. If you have A-List or Movie Pass and extra time definitely check it out. It's almost great 6/10 for costumes, scenery and acting.

The film is very atmospheric, filled with dread, frigidness, and quite unsettling. It follows a crew on a coastal Icelandic fishing outpost that comes across another shipwrecked crew. They face a damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario (no pun intended); saving this crew would mean jeopardizing their own safety, but not saving the other crew would be morally wrong. The decision they make haunts them.

The cinematography is very nice, highlighting the Icelandic wintry landscapes, and the sound design is effective. While watching, it feels like you're actually there at the outpost with the characters in the dead of winter.

Odessa Young is great as the lead not only of the film itself, but also of the crew within the film. She's quietly and subtly bold as a widow coming to grips with leading an all-male crew of the coastal fishing outpost inherited from her late husband. Young has good presence here as we follow her going through something sinister that she's in over her head to understand, balancing the terror she's experiencing while also trying to remain a competent leader for her crew. The rest of the ensemble is good too, particularly Cole and Finneran. You really feel the group's esprit de corps and camaderie, which really adds to the film as we see a sinister presence proceed to wreak havoc.

While the story itself is compelling, the film has one issue, and it's a big one: the pacing; which is odd to say since the film is actually not very long, at just 1 hr 29 mins. In large part this is because the film takes place entirely in one small location and it follows the lead primarily, while the other characters are on the sidelines. At the same time, this seclusion adds greatly to the film's atmosphere. So perhaps while many may find this film to be glacial in its pace at times, others very well may appreciate it and take the film to be a slow burn, or a slow thaw, no pun intended.

But however you take this film, it is certainly worth checking out, if only for the great acting and isolating, cold atmosphere.

It's been a while since I've watched a horror movie, but today I decided to fill the gap, because it's rare to find a film that takes you back to such an early era. The action takes place in 1860 in an Icelandic fishing village lost in the ice. The nearest settlement is a three-day journey through snow-capped mountains, a real hell. The landscapes, especially the bay, emphasize the isolation of this place. Add to this the mystical folklore inspired by Scandinavian mythology and the eternal theme of lack of resources - and you get an eerie, disturbing atmosphere. From the first minutes, you feel how isolation, ominous tales around the campfire and the shadow of death weigh on the characters. The situation is fragile, as if ready to collapse at any moment. The film impressed with the choice of place and time, stunning scenery, impeccable camera work and acting. The plot keeps you in suspense until the end, although the ending seemed a little overloaded. A solid eight!