2024 brought plenty of releases forhorrorfans to sink their teeth into, withfolk horror continuing to be a prominent subgenrethroughout the year. One film, however, was quietly released and has managed to stay relatively under the radar –The Damned. With aRotten Tomatoesscore of 91%, the film has proven itself well worth more attention from mainstream audiences, which is increasingly possible now that it is available to stream onHulu. Set in a remote 19th-century fishing outpost on the edge of the Arctic Circle,The Damnedis a brutal meditation on survival, grief, and the price we have to pay when the consequences of impossible decisions come back to haunt us. Combining the primal dread of folk horror with widespread slow-burn psychological collapse throughout the film’s characters,it’s the kind of film that chills you to the bone, and one any good horror fan needs to see.
What is ‘The Damned’ About?
At the heart ofThe Damnedlies a single, devastating question:how far would you go to keep your people alive? The narrative ofThe Damnedcenters on Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow who is reluctantly leading her late husband’s crew.As winter closes in, Eva must do everything she can to keep her small crew alive as they fight against isolation and starvation, with their hopes of survival diminishing with each passing day. When another ship wrecks offshore, the few survivors call out for help, which presents Eva with an impossible choice – whether to save them. She ultimately decides not to rescue the survivors because there isn’t enough food or shelter for her to offer them any sort of real help – and saving the crew of strangers could mean dooming her own people.
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The horror genre doesn’t typically hang its hat on a specific moment – or choice – like this, asThe Damneddoes. There is no murder,no demonic possession or curse, and possibly not even a monster lurking in the woods waiting for its next victim. Instead, it is just an individual trying to choose between the lesser of two evils in an unforgiving scenario in a harsh environment. That singular, unthinkable choice sets the tone for the rest of the film. The true horror inThe Damneddoes not lie in anexternal threat– it grows from the guilt that begins to fester within Eva herself and her crew after Eva makes the decision to turn away from those in need. A straightforward monster is unneeded –horror is carried in their own hearts.
‘The Damned’ Is a Hypothermic Horror Where Survival Comes at a Price
There is one word that can appropriately sum up the tone ofThe Damned:tense. DirectorThordur Palssoncreates a film that never rushes through its narrative – tension is built slowly over long, quiet scenes where a single glance or lingering silence says more than a scream could ever hope to do. When the supernatural elements of the film do come, they are equally quiet as the rest of the film. Pulling from Nordic folklore, the draugr – an undead warrior bound to his grave by hatred – does not emerge from the shadows as a villain,but as a creeping realization of guilt. While the fear caused by the draugr is real, what is uncertain is if the draugr itself actually exists, or if it is simply a manifestation of the psychological spiral the crew endures because of their guilt.
The line between hallucination and haunting goes unclarified throughoutThe Damned’s runtime, ambiguity which makes the horror of the film hit harder. Either Eva and her crew are being supernaturally punished for the decision she made, or their minds are unraveling under the crushing weight of it – either option is terrifying in its own way, with consequences just as real no matter what the truth is.
Strong Performances and Atmosphere Make ‘The Damned’ A Must-Watch
As Eva, Young shows remarkable restraint with her performance to match that of the narrative itself – consistently masked with stoicism, she beautifully conveys heartbreak, strength, and realistic vulnerability through subtle expressions and quiet dialogue. She is not fearless, or monstrous,just a tragic woman trying to hold the world around her together as it cracks like ice. Alongside her, the rest of the cast follows her example, delivering grounded performances that reflect how trauma can impact us in small, hardly noticeable ways: a tremor in our voice, an outright refusal to speak, or a stare that lingers for just a second too long often reveals how the crew are being swallowed by their own guilt from the inside.
With2024 offering a delicious menu of horror films,The Damnedstands apart because of the things it chooses not to do. It doesn’t rely on gore or elevation to deliver its message, it focuses on building a slow nightmare that’s grounded in real human emotion. The film is ultimately about what people do when the world gives them no good choice and the repercussions of guilt, even when it is our own survival bringing the feeling to us. While it may be natural to viewThe Damnedfrom the surface and assume the monster will come from the sea or the grave of someone who died because of another’s choice, its narrative argues for something much deeper – the monster is the one who can walk back into the comfort of their cabin after leaving others to die.
The Damned
