My quick rating – 6.0/10. Kicking off with a lone woman trudging through a whiteout, The Damned wastes no time setting its tone—bleak, cold, and oppressive. Fitting, considering I just got power back after nearly 27 hours without it, thanks to what this town dares call a snowstorm. Compared to the visual avalanche director Thordur Palsson throws at us, my weather woes seem like a light dusting.
Set in the 19th-century Icelandic Westfjords, a location that feels practically tailor-made for supernatural horror, the story centers on Eva (Odessa Young), a recent widow grappling with the moral weight of survival. When a ship crashes offshore during a brutal winter, she and her fellow starving villagers must decide whether saving the survivors is worth risking what little they have left. It’s a grim setup, but one that’s laced with creeping dread and icy folklore.
The film shines most in its atmosphere. Cinematographer Eli Arenson captures Iceland’s desolate beauty in wide, windswept frames of towering snowbanks, rocky outcrops, and gray skies that feel as heavy as the moral choices facing the villagers. The sound design is equally sharp: howling wind and sudden silences all used to unsettling effect. It’s the kind of movie that doesn’t shout “horror” so much as whisper it directly into your ear.
Odessa Young is a powerhouse here, carrying the emotional weight with a quiet intensity. As Eva, she’s tough but haunted, and her gradual unraveling feels both earned and unnerving. There are a few well-executed jump scares scattered through the film, but The Damned leans more on psychological and folkloric horror, particularly the concept of the draugar—restless undead who may or may not be lurking just beyond the veil. When you live with 20 hours of winter darkness, it makes perfect sense that the line between myth and madness would blur.
Thordur Palsson makes a strong debut here, both writing and directing with a sure hand. The pacing may be a touch too glacial for some, especially if you’re not into slow burns, but there’s real substance beneath the snow. That said, the ending did feel rushed, less like a conclusion and more like an abrupt dismount. With a runtime of just 89 minutes, they had room to breathe a bit more before rolling credits.
Still, The Damned delivers. It’s a moody, visually arresting slice of Icelandic horror that gets under your skin. If you like your ghost stories bleak, snowy, and steeped in folklore, this one’s worth your time even if you might want to throw on an extra blanket while watching.
Amazon is one of the few streamers to choose from if you are interested.