Films for Breakfast

What better film to start off the new year than with a chilling, both literally and thematically, horror film? The Damned follows Eva (Odessa Young), a 19th- century widow who spends her days leading her late husband’s pack of fishermen in their remote village in Iceland. However, when a foreign ship sinks off the coast of the village, Eva and her crew are forced to make difficult and possibly deadly decisions between looking after themselves or helping the washed-up crew. All of this paves way for a premise with unlimited horror potential, but how does it actually live up to the potential?

I’m a sucker for period piece horror… sure, it’s scary when a film is set in modern day. But it’s truly frightening to be put into the perspective of a film like The Damned, where it takes place entirely in the 19th-century. These characters largely have no lifeline for all the horrid things that are about to go down, and are left to their own devices to fend for themselves. And it’s within these moments of the film that it actually shines – director Thordur Palsson delivers a serviceable experience, even effectively delivering some scares I didn’t see coming and nailing the mood and atmosphere to a tee.

My issues with the film lie solely within the screenplay and how tired it was by the end. I can forgive a lot of familiarity in horror films as long as it delivers the goods, and while I do think Palsson does a decent job directing the film, it still ultimately feels too unremarkable for me to recommend. There are far too many stretches within the film that feel like entirely wasted space – like it is deliberately dragging its feet for no reason. I can handle a slow burn horror film, but it has to be in service to something larger for my enjoyment. The Lighthouse from Robert Eggers comes to mind, but that film brilliantly builds upon the relationship between its two leads and effectively establishes a nightmarish setting. It feels as if The Damned has no interest in establishing tone and atmosphere outside of the opening moments.

For a January-released horror film, the performances here are actually quite good. The entire cast of the fishing crew feel believable and authentic in their roles, but Odessa Young is truly a solid lead here – delivering a vulnerable and commanding performance that leads the film in even its slowest moments. That being said, it feels like the performances at hand are significantly stronger than the material that is given to them. The character of Eve is certainly heightened by Young’s performance, but it feels as if the character is a culmination of any grieving horror character you’ve ever seen. It just truly feels tired.

The Damned is far from the worst January-released horror film I’ve seen in the last few years – in fact, if you look at it from those standards, you may be able to appreciate it compared to other slop we’ve gotten in the past. However, just judging it based off its potential, it feels wildly underwhelming to me. Despite a couple of effective scares due to decent direction from Thordur Palsson and Odessa Young serving as a solid horror lead here, it ultimately feels extremely hollow and derivative of better horror films. It’s not a complete waste of time, but it’s hard to recommend when there are so many better versions of this type of film out there.