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THE DAMNED (2024)
4 stars
Vertical. UK and Irish cinemas 10th January
To the surprise of the boat crew Eva (Odessa Young) has return for an other season at the remote Icelandic fishing station – which she and her late husband ran. Supplies are running low during a relentless, cold winter.
When they see (shown at a distance) a large ship sinking on the treacherous rocks where her husband had perished, she initially makes the decision not to send the men out to attempt rescuing any survivors so as to not endanger them – a decision that will come back to haunt them all.
However when supplies from the sunken ship wash ashore they decide to venture out to see if there is anything else they can salvage – only to be attacked out of the darkness by men who have somehow survived …
Later, bodies of the ship’s crew wash up on the shore and the fishermen place them in crate like coffins, as they can’t bury them in the icy tundra – there is talk of Draugur, Icelandic folklore, were the spirits of the deceased comeback seeking vengeance.
Strange things start to happen and they begin to see things. Things that may or may not really be there. Shadows, voices in the head… an evil is among them.
This a slow burn, but effectively chilling psychological horror directed by Thordur Palsson, in his feature directorial debut – a film of both quiet moments and bursts of shocking violence which manages build a tension and sense of dread without showing much, with the creeping slow camerawork by Eli Arenson and great music score from Stephen McKeon adding to the atmosphere.
Odessa Young captures the sense of fear in her face and it is gorgeously shot – showing the bleak and barren wintery landscape but also the play of warm light from simple lanterns and candles.
Steve Kirkham
