Perhaps the most effective aspect of this chilly, brooding spooker is the setting. A remote Icelandic island surrounded by dangerous waters and encased in the sort of damp fog that penetrates one’s bones. It’s as claustrophobic as it is expansive; as oppressive as it is gorgeous. For the characters of The Damned, a gathering of hard-nosed fishermen and a young woman with nowhere else to go, it’s their home for the season. They must survive off the land and sea while capitalizing upon the opportunity provided by the setting. As the sole fishermen in the area, the profit potential is boundless, even if the work is tough.
Odessa Young plays Eva, a young widow who inherited the small village after her husband drowned while fishing near “The Teeth,” a congregation of rocks around the island known for putting anyone who dares to pass through them in peril. As such, she’s responsible for any and all executive decisions that may be made during the fishing season. This is why, when they spot a ship that appears to be stuck in the teeth, Eva is forced to make a decision: go help and risk losing more men during an already scarce season, or ignore it and hope for the best. She chooses the latter, and in doing so triggers a rift among her men. When corpses and supplies begin washing up on shore, her decision is both applauded and condemned: the supplies are a blessing, but the corpses are a sign of darker tides (nautical pun intended).
The Damned is a slow-burn, but a rewarding one for those seeking a compelling mystery and a spooky mood. The slow and steady pace is often interrupted by moments of high horror, creating a near-tangible feeling of dread that places the viewers directly into the fishermen’s damp boots. It’s worth noting that I watched this on a cold and foggy day, which enhanced the mood greatly. The Damned is most certainly not a “January movie” as they’ve come to be known, but it’s a hell of a film to take in during the month of January.
Young makes for a compelling protagonist — Eva is a victim of circumstance and culture, but she proves herself to be a capable leader when pressed, which makes her descent into potentially supernatural confusion that much harder to witness. As for the men who surround her (including Joe Cole and Rory McCann), the performances are all excellent, even though we don’t really get to know these men beyond surface level assessments. Perhaps this is on purpose — these are “work friends” after all — but when people start dying and allegiances shift, it would’ve been nice to know these guys on a deeper level than “the big dude” or “the older guy.” Where this relative anonymity ends up being a benefit is in making it so no single death can be telegraphed. Anyone can go at any time, providing for many truly shocking moments.
The pivotal question soon becomes one of nature vs. supernature (is that a word?). Meaning, is the madness which seems to be spreading a natural effect of isolation and hunger, or did the sins of refusing help to imperiled fishermen awaken the draugr, an undead creature from Nordic myth?
The script, by Jamie Hannigan and director Thordur Palsson masterfully sows doubt as to the true nature of these events, but unfortunately lands in a place that doesn’t feel as earned as was likely hoped. I won’t spoil, but the ending is one that works conceptually, but falters when logic is applied. There’s a potential for this issue to fade with a second viewing, as there are likely clues littered throughout that may only be visible once you know the conclusion. I’m happy to give it another go. The Damned is a good one for February as well.
But even with an unstuck landing, the film is frequently terrifying, unspooling as a nightmare come to life. The management of tension is wonderfully executed, while the beautiful/unforgiving dichotomy of the setting is milked for maximum effect. This one is worth seeing on the big screen.
Also, I want to be on record as saying that I’d like to spend the rest of my life as far away from eels as humanly possible. They are not animals. They are monsters conjured from the darkest recesses of God’s cruel imagination.
Directed by Thordur Palsson
Written by Jamie Hannigan, Thordur Palsson
Starring Odessa Young, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneran, Turlough Convery
Rated R, 89 minutes