
Set in the 1800s, ‘The Damned’ written by Thordur Palsson brings forth a striking perspective together with the underlying sense of Paranoia, which links up to the Superstitious characteristic of being isolated from society that many often relate to Icelandic culture. As the waves rage and a ship appears to be sinking nearby, a small fishing community finds itself debating whether or not it should be saved. In this sense, the movements of the boats are movements of the frustration and disappointment of those forced to remain on shore while their ordinary and familiar world is slowly being demolished.
In the beginning, Eva (Odessa Young), who is a young widow, gets in possession of her husband’s fishing boat and allows the local fishermen to use it, but maintains the right to control. Considering the extent of frozen lands and waters, every decision and every resource matters. Most of the villagers create a friendly environment and gather together in a lonely bar to sing songs about fishing and drinking, however, these appear somewhat artificial since underlying concepts of rivalry and who is stronger is more capable of enduring hardships are much more present than one would expect.
A foreign vessel capsizes in the sea off the town making it a major dilemma for the local people especially whether or not it is worth their time and effort to try and search and retrieve the ship. This argument becomes even more complicated when the shipwreck starts bringing in food and drinks from the sea, which helps the town. The central sentence brings out the major conflict that the towns’ people are faced with; being able to go to the rough rocks nearby where there might be more survivors is risky. As their conscience starts to torment them, their physical bodies remain cold as they look into the depths of the darkness wondering if there were figures standing within or ‘in their heads’.
Although the film begins in an unappealing area where the candle lit exposition of the story takes place, it does steer into wetter, somewhat saurkrautish territory with the introduction of a death of a villager. This seems to sing the arrival of moral tension as tension that could have been stagnant begins to shift angles. For instance, as the frame fixes on Eva, who is conflicted on how to drive the show, there is a gentle swaying, as though the frame was in a rough sea. It is a disgusting sensation, and the film seems only to enjoy consistent calming interludes whenever Eva is with her younger male subordinate Daniel (Joe Cole), who presents his own ethical contention when the two have a threshold of practicality.
The more the movie goes on, the more the calmness of Young’s performance, the depth, and high contrast structuring of Eli Arenson, and Stephen McKeon’s heart-pounding music add to the scheming atmosphere that the movie is trying to create. However, Palson’s approach to the story from the top seems to ruin this creative work of art. So-called jump scares all take the same shape: They all involve the standard ‘fick’ fake outs that almost always go along with something loud and startling. It is exciting the first time but on its countless repeat? As so Much.
This certainly has a more unfortunate effect on the film. While its ensemble remains aware of the plot’s developing inner tensions and sociological divisions, it is too often the case that its repetitive otherworldly images distance the film from the tension. The actors hit each note of self-deprecation with great dramatic artistry, however, the film’s narrative, ethereal symbolism, only served to muddle their emotional intensity. So too does Palsson extend the exploration into the disjunctive interactions between the story’s ‘real’ and ‘fantasy’ events with ease. This over-explaining also afflicts much of the film, but perhaps even more than anywhere else, this is particularly evident at the film’s climax.
That ‘The Damned’ loses its continuity feels like an undesired and unavoidable conclusion. However, its suspense thanks for Young’s magnificent performance as a girl overshadowed by her responsibilities is well maintained for this much longer which speaks to its strengths as a psychological and atmospheric work dealing with profound regrets. That’s a specter that may not need to be physically manifested to be gruesome, yet it is the least of them as a hundred are allowed.
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