There isn’t really a season for horror movies. These ever-green productions are always affordably produced and find an audience, which is why we see them sprinkled throughout the year. That’s especially true of early January, when holiday hangover and blockbuster fatigue usually lead to a thin set of Box Office choices.
It appears 2025 will be no different as the first wide release of the year is a smaller horror film, The Damned. While it made some festival appearances in 2024, it gets the honor of being the first wide-release new film of 2025. But does that mean you should run out and see it? Let’s not be hasty.
The film is set in the 19th Century at a remote fishing village in Iceland. It’s a particularly harsh winter in a place where winter is usually not pleasant. There, a young widow, Eva (Odessa Young), is leading a crew on a fishing vessel she owns. Her husband was killed in an accident the year prior, and it’s still a raw nerve.
Soon, her crew spot another ship in distress on the ice in the harbor. Some of the men want to help but others view it as too dangerous. Eva has to make the final call. She decides it’s not worth the risk of the lives of her crew, especially with what happened to her husband. Despite pleas for help, they leave the men.
Soon, dark tidings begin for Eva and her crew. They are seemingly haunted, and the men begin to die. It puts their whole mission and all their lives in danger.
I won’t bore you with a long description of this film. It’s a crisp 89 minutes, so it’s not a big commitment. And the setting and idea here seem perfect for an early winter horror release. The story comes from Thordur Palsson, who serves as the director. The script is credited to Jamie Hannigan.
I liked the setting and general set up here. Palsson makes the most of the frozen landscape, mixing in some beautiful images that hold your gauze. That was the best part of this film for me. It creates a sense of foreboding dread about what is to come.
This film also has a decent cast. In addition to Young, the supporting cast includes Joe Cole, Rory McCann, who appeared in Game of Thrones, and Siobhan Finneran, who starred on Downton Abbey. The problem is there isn’t much to do with the cast, who mostly sing, drink, look cold, and fret about their impending doom. None of them has much of an arc so it’s hard to buy into any of them surviving.
The story here has premise in concept, but it’s thin. By the time we get to the turn at the end, it was hard to care and hard to buy into everything that had occurred. It’s a set up that’s engaging with some interesting pieces that ultimately leads to nothing. It’s not worth seeking out in theaters.
The Damned opens nationwide on Friday, January 3.