Movie Review: 'The Damned' is a Terrific Start to 2025

The Damned

Directed by Thordur Paisson

Written by Jamie Hannigan

Starring Odessa Young, Siobhan Finneran

Release Date January 3rd, 2025

Published January 2nd, 2025

The Damned stars Odessa Young as a 19th century era widow in charge of a small, Icelandic fishing outpost. It’s been a year since the death of her husband, Magnus, and she has surprised his crew of fishermen by continuing to man the fishing outpost. The harsh winter makes the job a sorrowful and punishing one but she does it to maintain his legacy. Struggling to provide food and supplies, the rowdy crew is still loyal to Young’s Eva, especially Daniel (Joe Cole), a loyal friend of her late husband.

The plot of The Damned kicks in when a foreign ship is dashed against the rocks within seeing distance of the fishing outpost. The fisherman could attempt to rescue members of the foreign crew but, as the lead fisherman points out, it could be more than a dozen more mouths to feed on the limited supplies that they already have. Eva is left to make the difficult decision not to mount a rescue. However, when supplies from the dashed ship wash up on shore, including a barrel full of bait, Eva decides that rescuing the supplies might be worth the risk.

The Damned is part ghost story and, perhaps, a zombie movie. Director Thordur Paisson, working from a script by Jamie Hannigan, toys with both the supernatural and more logical explanation as to what comes next, a series of deaths among the fishing crew from either some mystery disease, a zombie, or a slow growing mass hysteria overcoming the camp. This story is couched in a series of terrific thriller scenes.

One terrific sequence occurs early on, near the end of the first act. As the fishing crew goes to scavenge supplies from the ship, we get our first glimpse of the danger ahead in the plot. A group of survivors attempts to board the fishing boat and horrifying choices have to be made in order to keep the ship from turning over and to keep the fishing crew from being killed in the process. It’s a harrowing sequence, professionally crafted with genuine scares and a solid use of horror movie gore.

Director Thordur Paisson delivers highly efficient and effective scares from one scene to the next, eliminating crew members strategically in scenes that build suspense, release tension, and build even greater suspense soon after. It’s an exceptionally well crafted piece of horror filmmaking. It may not transcend the genre but some movies are just meant to give you a good chill and that is exactly what The Damned delivers.

I want to highlight one member of the cast in particular for a standout scene. Siobhan Finneran is the fishing camp cook and it falls to her to deliver the needed lore of the movie. Rather than this being a simple exposition dump, Finneran tells the story like a classic fireside scary story. With the flames of candles and a nearby chimney providing the only light, she relates a story about brothers, betrayal, and the supernatural that is truly enthralling in her way of telling it.

I could have listened to Finneran tell stories like this for an entire movie, it’s a terrific scene. The Damned is a really solid way to kick off 2025. Considering that 2024 was among the best years ever for the horror genre, I’m excited to see the momentum of that genre carried into the new year. I had low expectations for The Damned, so having been so surprised by it is certainly playing a role in my enthusiasm for the film. Nevertheless, I am recommending The Damned as a terrific start to the new year at the movies.

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