Vague Visages’ The Damned review contains minor spoilers. Thordur Palsson’s 2024 movie features Odessa Young, Joe Cole and Turlough Convery. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

The Damned, a Nordic folk horror film, examines moral decay and traditions within an Icelandic fishing village during the 19th century. Thordur Palsson’s superb thriller stars Australian actress Odessa Young (The Staircase) as Eva, a widow who makes a series of questionable decisions while trying to protect her community. Icelandic cinematographer Eli Arenson heightens the suspense via claustrophobic interior sequences — all filmed with chiaroscuro lighting — and expansive exterior scenes which tease a supernatural threat, one that seemingly infiltrates the locals’ hearts and minds. The Damned stays true to folk horror traditions and doesn’t match the innovation of Ari Aster’s modern subgenre classic Midsommar (2019), though Palsson’s filmmaking and storytelling style will undoubtedly spark post-movie discussions across the world about the concept of crime and punishment, à la the great literary philosophizer Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Eva seems enraptured by a spooky tale during The Damned’s first act. But why? The screenplay, written by Jamie Hannigan (The Woman in the Wall) and based on Palsson’s original story, suggests the sullen protagonist remains stuck between a rock and hard place, evidenced further by her unwillingness to develop a romantic relationship with her late husband’s colleague and friend, Daniel (Joe Cole). So, when a ship suddenly appears off the coast during the winter, it’s not a surprise when Eva — who manages the local fishing post — refuses to help a stranded crew, which in turn leads to debates about religion, morals and bad karma. A young local, Jonas (Lewis Gribben), functions as The Damned’s moral center, as he feels obliged to assist his fellow humans when necessary. Meanwhile, a superstitious woman named Helga (Siobhan Finneran) warns Eva about the consequences of her seemingly cold-hearted decisions.

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Visually, The Damned cinematically aligns with “cold” productions like Game of Thrones (2011-19) and True Detective: Night Country (2024). The protagonists struggle with past decisions and often feel trapped by their environment. Incidentally, The Damned’s slow zooms, courtesy of the aforementioned Arenson, offer some clues about Eva’s frame of mind, especially when she starts hallucinating — the result of bad energy that consumes her community and leads to a series of sudden, bizarre deaths. It’s the overall mood and tone that stands out most in The Damned, with numerous jump scares elevating the tension in places where the script would ideally provide viewers with a bit more to chew on.

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For example, one terrified man (Turlough Convery as Hakon) blurts out that “We’re all going to die” — a basic line of dialogue that can be found in most folk horror flicks. But Palsson’s tight storytelling structure ensures that there’s meaning behind the most simplistic lines, as the filmmaker uses red herrings and philosophical debates to enrich the character development. Just as Crime and Punishment’s Rodion Raskolnikov learns a big life lesson by examining his moral code, The Damned’s Eva similarly looks inward to reckon with the past. Young, the lead actress, doesn’t necessarily carry the film with dramatic monologues, but rather complements the established narrative tone (and cinematography) with her character’s observations and immediate reactions. What does it mean when Eva looks entertained by the inherent darkness? And why she is so unwilling to help others? Such behavior hints at moral decay, which perhaps goes unnoticed by the local fisherman, due to the protagonist’s ongoing grieving process.

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The Damned is a cerebral film that should be analyzed in film theory courses. By building to a big twist, Palsson leaves the audience with plenty to discuss and/or think about. And that’s a beautiful thing — the ability to at once entertain and provoke by tweaking formulaic concepts and raising questions about the grey areas associated with moral decay in communities. Sometimes, “moral decay” translates to “someone made a bad decision and changed the perception of the whole region.” I see this a lot here in my native downtown Fargo (a different type of “north country”), where the decisions of a few criminals lead to fear and xenophobia in the surrounding regions. Suddenly, a normal downtown community transforms into something else entirely — all because the mere existence of crime terrifies those who refuse to stray too far from their comfort zone, a place where crime is and has been non-existent. As for the central moral dilemma in The Damned, there’s a double-edged sword to consider, in terms of Eva’s moral obligation to help others in need. Context always matters, as the world isn’t simply full of “good” and “bad” people.

The Damned released theatrically in UK and Irish cinemas on January 10, 2025.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.

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