The Damned
Director: Thordur Palsson
Year Released: 2024
Rating: 1.0
Widow Eva (Odessa Young) and several other individuals from a small, barely sustainable fishing village witness a large ship sinking in the distance but refuse to immediately do anything about it, and then when they do decide to row out (to steal supplies) they don't have the space in their little boat to take survivors back with them - later on, once bodies begin to wash ashore, Eva starts having hallucinations of an undead entity (referred to as a "draugr") and her cohorts slowly go mad. There isn't a whole lot going on with this very simple tale of guilt and superstition - and it isn't what you'd call "unnerving" at all - although cinematographer Eli Arenson deserves a heap of credit for giving it a moody appearance: the exteriors (shot, presumably, in Iceland) are crisp and the interiors rely on candlelight. I've noticed a trend of late with directors making these folk tale-inspired movies recorded in inclement conditions (I was consistently reminded of Godland) ... but it would behoove them to "enrich" their final drafts just a smidge.