Thordur Palsson’s “The Damned” is not the only 2024 film with that title. There is also Roberto Minervini’s war drama, set in 1862, which premiered at Cannes. This article is not about that brooding drama. Instead, it is about Palsson’s horror film that stars Odessa Young and Joe Cole in the central roles. It follows a young widow (played by Young) trying to run a fishing outpost in the Arctic bay. While trying to survive through a brutally cold winter in an isolated piece of land, she and a group of fishers start to lose their sanity as they are surrounded by the ghosts of their past misdeeds and regrets.
Spoilers Ahead
The Damned (2024 Palsson film) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“The Damned” is an English horror film directed by Thordur Palsson based on Jamie Hannigan’s screenplay. It follows the hardships faced by the inhabitants of a fishing outpost in the freezing, isolated piece of land.
What happens in Thordur Palsson’s ‘The Damned’?
“The Damned” begins in the freezing cold of the Arctic bay where a group of fishers stay for their winter fishing season in the fishing outpost. It is currently run by Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow, who inherited it from her late husband. Her husband, one of the fishermen, died as he approached the hazardous rocky structure of the bay’s inlet known as ‘the Teeth.’ As a result, she is left with the responsibility of the outpost that is facing even more troubles than before. Located in an eerily isolated land, it is far removed from civilization. They can reach the nearest village only after a three-day mountain journey.
Unfortunately, as the weather worsens, they lose access to that village. As if that’s not enough, their catch is far less than usual. So, unlike other seasons, they have to survive on their catch instead of selling it. It is barely enough for all to survive the winter. So, she worries about how they will manage to live with it. The men look at survival a bit differently than her. They are fine with barely getting through. She, however, is also concerned about the quality of their lives. After all, she sees it as her responsibility now that she is in charge of the outpost. It is also worth noting that only one woman is accompanying her in this outpost. The imbalance lends itself to some prejudices later on.
The Sinking Ship and the trouble ensues
Shortly after the discussion about the weather, the fishermen notice a foreign ship sinking near the Teeth. While some of them hope to protect those people, others do not want to risk their lives. Eva, responsible for their well-being, chooses the latter option, which does not bode too well. Soon, she notices a rope on the sand and pulls it to find a barrel full of meat. After pulling it back to the shore, she and the fishermen find plentiful meat that helps with their resource concerns. At night, they decide to look for more resources near the place where the ship sank. Instead, they stumble upon a few survivors from the ship.
In a state of panic, they end up killing a terrified foreign man and losing one of theirs. The next day, they find a few dead bodies floating in the water. They put these corpses in wooden coffins, nail them down, and place them on the shore. As they return to their shelters, they start seeing terrifying visions of a dark, eerie human-like figure. Helga (Siobhan Finneran) recounts her superstitions to make sense of this situation. While hoping to consider those theories, Eva tries to get to the bottom of these matters. That’s when she and the fishermen find an open coffin, indicating that someone has escaped.
The Damned (2024 Palsson film) Movie Ending Explained:
After finding an open coffin, the inhabitants of the outpost start to panic. They suffer from fever and terrifying visions of someone lurking around them. Unsure what to make of it, they start to believe that they are facing the wrath of the undead since they didn’t save those on the ship. A fisherman, who previously proposed to save them, accuses Eva of their misfortune. While it all unfolds, she grows fond of one of the fishermen, Daniel’s (Joe Cole) company. However, he gets taken away from her by whoever is tormenting them.
As they mourn Daniel’s loss, the fisherman, who accused her of a lack of sound judgment, apologizes to her. He acknowledges the difficulties of making a decision in such times. Toward the end of “The Damned,” Eva finds the corpses of the fishermen, who froze to death. They are brought back to their shelter and offered the services they can.
Not long after, she comes face to face with the living survivor of the ship that sank. He speaks in a foreign language that she cannot understand. However, she can deduce his helplessness in the situation. Although hoping to help the man, Eva also realizes his perverted temptations. So, she shoots the man to death and burns down the shelter once she escapes it. Outside, she calls him an evil creature that will live with her until the winter ends.
Survival
At the beginning of “The Damned,” Eva talks about how the fishermen only (or largely) think of surviving just the next day and do not think of a distant future. It quickly offers a brief idea of the kind of hardships they need to face. So, thinking of a future that they may not live to see would bring nothing but misery to their lives. Helga sees her superstitions to feel a sense of control over the situation in the unpredictably troubling times. Eva sees the well-being and survival of these fishermen as her responsibility, which is why she cares about the resources falling short. She also doesn’t let the men go rescue those on a sinking ship because it may lead to their deaths. In the film’s final moments, she kills the foreign man upon realizing his predatory tendencies to survive.
The Survivor’s Guilt
The horror in “The Damned” stems primarily from a survivor’s guilt. After Eva’s husband’s death, they feel at least a tinge of guilt that they survived. Later, the ‘Teeth’ that led to his demise also resulted in the deaths of some foreign men. The fishermen fall into a moral conundrum, thinking about whether they should protect those lives or theirs. As they choose the latter, they are left with the guilt of either not helping or killing them. It haunts them through the literal manifestation of a human-like figure that creeps up around them. After Daniel’s death, they become even more remorseful.
In the end, after killing the foreign man, Eva is in a complicated state of mind. While she protected herself from his predatory intentions, she also killed someone that their group could have previously saved. Despite her just decision, she is, once again, left to fight the dangers of the natural world and survive through the harsh winter.
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