Tribeca Festival 2024 Review: “The Damned” – An Icelandic Bone Chiller!

Icelandic stories that take place in the dead of winter already have an added intensity and terror within them because of the prolonged darkness and brutal cold the country faces during this time. There are limited hours of sunlight, which can have a grand impact on the health of any human being.

The Damned, set in an Icelandic fishing village, introduces Eva, a young woman with a band of fishermen to take care of after the passing of her husband. When the crew witnesses a shipwreck off the coast one afternoon, the dilemma whether to save any remaining men or leave them behind crosses their minds. With limited food and resources to last themselves for the winter, the decision they make results in a visit from a dark entity that shifts everything they thought they knew about their own legends.

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Thordur Palsson’s period piece horror film set in the 19th century is a testament to how to utilize space and setting to elevate suspense and tension. The vast Icelandic ocean and area surrounding the small fishing village is shot gorgeously by Palsson with bright yet dreary lighting for day scenes with candlelight being the primary source of light for scenes after dusk. The combination of the score and atmosphere developed through its production maximizes this nautical horror’s ability to make one shiver in their seat.

The idea of men isolated away from society in the dead of winter, causing isolation to make them go mad, isn’t a new concept but The Damned extends its thematic material to take on more through Eva’s character. Due to the decision Eva makes early on, to prioritize the safety of the men in her care, her maddening guilt that is shared by multiple of the men as well takes a toll on her psychological state.

The way Palsson’s script is able to add to the crew’s guilt is by developing the theme of how humans connect to old stories and legends. When away from the rest of the world, people often use the stories they are told to make sense of their surroundings and the situations they are placed in. Upon the beginning of their upcoming fishing season, the crew is told a story about the Draugur, a spirit that sought revenge on a young man who killed his brother.

As a result, the tale of the Draugur seeps into the mind of the crew in order to make sense of the terrible things happening around them. Through instantaneous editing to evoke fear and shadowy lighting to maintain the Draugur’s true form, Palsson and Jamie Hannigan’s script, as it pertains to the power of storytelling and its impact on one’s fears, is strongly created.

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The development of Eva’s character over the course of the film displays another sense of horror, the responsibility one undertakes for other human lives. When Eva comes to terms with her inability to carry out her one job of keeping the men in her care safe, it causes her to spin out of control and for her mind to go to the darkest of places. The Damned is able to harness the fear of self failure and how much easier it can be to project it onto another force. Combined with its exploration of human fears linked with startling images, The Damned is a bone chilling nautical film that feels like an old legend out of a storybook.

‘The Damned’ Rating – 4.5/5

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