The Icelandic tourist board won’t be overly pleased with the way its native son Thordur Palsson depicts the country in The Damned. His vision of a beleaguered fishing station in the 19th century makes you believe Hell can freeze over. And it’s possible that the flesh-stripping wind chill and dwindling food supplies aren’t all its grizzled crew have to contend with. Big on atmosphere but a little disappointing in execution, The Damned borrows from folklore and the slow-burn approach so familiar in contemporary horror with respectable results.

After the death of her husband grants her control of the fishing station, Eva (Odessa Young) is determined to honour his memory and do right by those formerly in his employ, including the gruff Ragnar (Rory McCann), younger fisherman Daniel (Joe Cole), and cook Helga (Siobhan Finneran). When a ship wrecks off the coast Eva makes the tough decision not to help, reasoning they can barely feed themselves. Later, supplies and dead bodies wash up on the shore. But something else seems to have made its way to their camp. The superstitious Helga believes it’s a Draugr, a reanimated corpse fuelled by insatiable hatred.

It’s nice to see some unfamiliar folklore in the genre, and the Draugr is a solid antagonist. Its appearance is a nebulous one, glimpsed sparingly and dismissed as something approaching cabin fever by those yet to catch a glimpse of the creature. Shot against Eli Arenson‘s bleakly beautiful landscapes, you’re left to question whether a silhouette is a rock, a man, or something much worse. There’s the same feeling of untameable disdain for its human protagonists in its setting that permeates Hlynur Pálmason‘s sub-zero passion play Godland. It’s a shame what follows feels a little like a missed opportunity.

With Eva taking charge of this frigid motley crew The Damned comes to resemble The Thing with the character hierarchy of Alien. Odessa Young continues her run in interesting indie fare after Shirley and Mothering Sunday with a solid performance as the scrupulous but troubled leader battling to gain the respect of her men while things fall apart around her. The rest of the cast besides Cole and too-brief appearances from McCann and Finneran are rather anonymous. There’s a burly one, a religious one, and two who are so similar in appearance one can easily assume they’re the same person until they’re stood beside each other. It’s clear early on that the film’s focus is squarely on Eva and how her decision making wears on her sense of morality, which is fine, but Young’s able performance could only have been aided by more finely-sketched support.

Even at its most fraught, there’s a sense of glacial malaise about The Damned which makes proceedings feel static, although it makes sense for the story. In the arctic tundra where the body needs more energy, the fishermen seem to move only when they have to, and then with weary reluctance. Even the inciting incident for the plot comes from a decision not to act. This leaves the atmosphere to generate much of the drama, and there is a palpable sense of dread – and some striking, ambiguous imagery – that carries things through until it unfortunately comes unstuck with an overly sudden and underwhelming conclusion.

Despite its flaws The Damned is an admirable folk horror tale. There’s a confidence about its visual style and patient approach that keeps the attention, and the use of natural lighting and the uneasy flicker of shadows cast by candle light will have you squinting into negative space. It excels in its second act when it revels in its ambiguity and the slow shredding of Eva’s nerves. If only it wasn’t so quick to drop its poker face come the denouement.

In cinemas from Fri 10 Jan 2025