Vertical has released the official trailer for The Damned, an ominous and chilling period thriller directed by Icelandic filmmaker Thordur Palsson. The film previously premiered to critical acclaim at the Tribeca Film Festival this year and more recently screened at the Sitges Film Festival. Prior to The Damned, Palsson created “The Valhalla Murders,” the first original Icelandic series produced for Netflix, which became a hit on the platform.
Directed by Palsson, from a script written by Jamie Hannigan (Pilgrimage, “The Woman in the Wall”), based on a story by Palsson, The Damned stars Odessa Young (Assassination Nation, The Order) and Joe Cole (“Peaky Blinders”, A Prayer Before Dawn) and chronicles how a 19th-century widow faces an impossible choice when a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost during a harsh winter. With provisions running low, the widow, Eva, and her close-knit community must decide whether to rescue the shipwrecked crew or prioritize their own survival. Haunted by the consequences of their decision and gripped by guilt, the inhabitants begin to believe they are being punished for their choices.
The ensemble cast is rounded out by Siobhan Finneran (“Downton Abbey”, “Happy Valley”), Rory McCann (Gladiator II, “Game of Thrones”), Turlough Convery (Ready Player One, “Slow Horses”), Lewis Gribben (“Blade Runner 2099”, “Black Mirror”), Francis Magee (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, “Brassic”), Mícheál Óg Lane (Calvary, The Survivalist), Andrean Sigurgeirsson (“The Darkness”), and Guillermo Uria (“The Real Story Of…”).
The film was produced by Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodol (Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures) for Elation Pictures, with additional production from John Keville (Evil Dead Rise, Cocaine Bear) and Conor Barry (The Cured, The Cellar) of Wild Atlantic Pictures, as well as Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, and Nate Kamiya of Ley Line Entertainment (Everything Everywhere All at Once, On Swift Horses). Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and Anton Máni Svansson of Join Motion Pictures (Godland, Beautiful Beings), and Benoit Roland (Filth, The Hole in the Ground) of Wrong Men served as co-producers.
The Damned will release on January 3, 2025 and we’ll leave you with the aforementioned trailer below.
