The Damned (2024 Palsson film)
| The Damned | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Thordur Palsson |
| Screenplay by | Jamie Hannigan |
| Story by | Thordur Palsson |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Eli Arenson |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Stephen McKeon |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Vertical |
Release dates |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom Iceland Ireland Belgium United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $769,721[1] |
The Damned is a 2024 internationally co-produced horror film directed by Thordur Palsson. Written by Jamie Hannigan from a story by Palsson, it stars Joe Cole and Odessa Young. It is currently 2025's highest-grossing film.
Synopsis
[edit]Eva is a young widow trying to run a winter fishing outpost inherited from her late husband. The fishing outpost is isolated in an Arctic bay, with the 3 day mountain journey to the nearest village snowed shut for the winter, and the inlet of the bay made treacherous with jagged rocks called "the Teeth," which claimed the life of her husband, Magnus, the previous winter. Eva owns the outpost and rents equipment, boats, and lodging as well as providing other services, such as cooking and cleaning, to the teams of adventurous fishermen willing to brave the harsh winter conditions.
Inexperienced and not a natural leader, Eva frets over the current, tense, state of the outpost: while on typical years, a man could easily net a small fortune by spring, this year's catch has been so lean that by winter solstice the outpost has nearly run out of supplies and resorted to eating their bait.
As the team readies to row their longboat out for another day of fishing one morning, they witness a large sailing ship wreck upon the Teeth. Some of the men want to row out to offer rescue, but Ragnar, the helmsman and leader of the crew, is vociferously against this action. They lack the food to support any survivors, who might swarm their rescue vessel, and the ship is foreign. The decision is left up to Eva, who, from an abundance of caution, says they will not offer rescue, and will not fish that day out of respect for the dying they can hear from the shore as they watch the ship sink under the waves.
A much needed barrel of salt pork from the now-lost ship washes up on the shore. Worried that further floating rations will be lost to sea, the team and Eva row out to the Teeth in the dark to search before the tide turns. Rather than supplies, they discover survivors from the foreign ship. Unable to understand each other, the survivors swarm the small boat, pulling the crew into the water and threatening to capsize them all in their desperation to climb aboard. Ragnar is drowned in the event. The fishermen beat the survivors off, killing them.
The bodies wash up on the beach the next day. As the bodies are placed in boxes to await a time when the ground won't be too hard to dig for burial, Helga, Eva's aging and deeply superstitious charwoman, cautions that the bodies might come back as draugr, evil revenant creatures fueled by pure hatred and rage who can manipulate people's minds with terrifying dreams. Helga places charms and hexes to ward the draugr off and it seems things are looking up when the crew catch a bumper crop of fish; solving their food shortage for the season.
However, Helga and the food go missing by morning. Soon, Eva and the crew are experiencing terrible waking and sleeping visions of a human-like creature who is constantly nearby, crouching in corners and stalking them. There are wet foot prints left on the floor and up to the ravine. The seamen begin dying in horrific ways, often driven to do it to themselves by what they see.
After discovering one of the coffins empty, the outpost inhabitants conclude that they must be being hunted by a draugr and first try to hunt it, with disastrous and fatal results. With only Eva and the youngest two fishermen left, and having been without food for days, they decide to abandon the post and try for the village, hoping the draugr is too slow to catch them before they reach civilization and aid.
Eva hears the thing which has been stalking them upstairs in the dwelling. She hides, but is grabbed and forced into a confrontation wherein she shoots the being which has been harassing them all and then quickly douses everything with alcohol and sets the building on fire. She runs out to meet the two youngest fishermen, telling them she succeeded in killing the draugr, and as the three of them watch the building burn and listen to the screams of the creature, Eva relives the confrontation.
We see that the being was a foreign sailor who had miraculously survived the wreck and then chose to steal their food and terrorize them in revenge. Unable to understand him, but knowing he was responsible for the deaths of her companions and accurately reading that he meant further harm, Eva shot and then burned him, declaring him as a now-defeated draugr to her friends, who must still survive the winter with her.
Cast
[edit]- Odessa Young as Eva
- Joe Cole as Daniel
- Lewis Gribben as Jonas
- Siobhan Finneran as Helga
- Francis Magee as Skuli
- Rory McCann as Ragnar
- Turlough Convery as Hakon
- Mícheál Óg Lane as Aron
- Andrean Sigurgeirsson as Draugur
Production
[edit]Thordur Palsson wrote the story and directs, while Jamie Hannigan wrote the screenplay. Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Hodol produced for Elation Pictures alongside John Keville and Conor Barry of Wild Atlantic Pictures and Netop Films. ish.[2] Producers also include Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page and Nate Kamiya producing for Ley Line Entertainment.[3]
Odessa Young was cast as Eva in 2021.[2][4] By April 2023 the cast also included Joe Cole, Lewis Gribben, Siobhan Finneran, Francis Magee, Rory McCann, Turlough Convery, Mícheál Óg Lane and Andrean Sigurgeirsson.[5]
Filming took place in Iceland in 2023 and the project entered post-production in spring 2023.[6]
Release
[edit]It had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2024.[7] Prior to, Vertical acquired North American distribution rights to the film, planning to release it later in 2024.[8] The film was released in theaters on January 3, 2025.[9]
Reception
[edit]In the United States, the film made $769,721 from 732 theaters in its opening weekend.[10]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Damned". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
- ^ a b Yossman, K.J. (July 8, 2021). "'Mothering Sunday' Star Odessa Young to Lead Psychological Horror 'The Damned' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (February 1, 2024). "'The Damned' First Look: Odessa Young and Joe Cole Endure a Cruel Winter in Upcoming Horror Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Hoby, Hermione (November 15, 2021). "Introducing… the actress Odessa Young". Financial Times. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (April 27, 2023). "'Gangs of London' Star Joe Cole Joins Odessa Young in 'The Damned' Cast, Protagonist to Launch Sales at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Abbatescianni, Davide (May 3, 2023). "Thordur Palsson's psychological horror The Damned now in post-production". Cineuropa. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Dunn, Jack (April 17, 2024). "Tribeca Festival Reveals 2024 Feature Film Lineup Including New Movies With Lily Gladstone, Jenna Ortega and Michael Cera". Variety. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (June 4, 2024). "Vertical Acquires Supernatural Horror Pic 'The Damned' Ahead Of Tribeca Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Billinton, Alex (October 31, 2024). "Chilling Icelandic Horror Thriller Film 'The Damned' Official US Trailer". First Showing. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
- ^ "Domestic 2025 Weekend 1". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- ^ "The Damned (2024)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
External links
[edit]- The Damned at IMDb