The film is supported by Screen Ireland, Wallimage and the UK Global Screen Fund financed by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport and administered by the BFI.
Principal photography wrapped last month in Iceland on The Damned, a new psychological horror from award-winning director Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders), starring Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday, Shirley).
A tense psychological horror, The Damned follows Eva, a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when, in the middle of an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing post. Eva and her crew must choose to either rescue the shipwrecked or survive the winter with their last remaining food. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.
In addition to lead actress Odessa Young, newly announced cast includes Joe Cole (Gangs of London, A Small Light), Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley, The Stranger), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones, Slow West), Turlough Convery (Killing Eve, Belfast), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy, Deadwater Fell), Francis Magee (KIN, The Tourist), Mícheál Óg Lane (The Guard, Calvary) and Andrean Sigurgeirsson (A Song Called Hate, When We Are Born). The script was written by Jamie Hannigan. It was developed with the support of Screen Ireland and is based on a story by Thordur Palsson.
Protagonist Pictures, who arranged financing for the film, is handling worldwide sales, which will be launched at the upcoming Marché du Film.
“Thor is an exceptionally exciting filmmaker who has delivered on his promise to thrill and terrify audiences in this stunning debut feature,” said George Hamilton, CCO Protagonist Pictures. “His vision for the film put chills up our spines from the start, and we can’t wait for audiences to see how he and his fiercely talented cast brought this elevated and smart take on the genre to life.”
The Damned is produced by Vision Award winners Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl for Elation Pictures, John Keville and Conor Barry for Wild Atlantic Pictures and Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page and Nate Kamiya producing for Ley Line Entertainment. The film is co-produced by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and Anton Máni Svansson for Join Motion Pictures, and Benoit Roland for Wrong Men.
Protagonist Pictures executive produced the picture with Chief Commercial Officer George Hamilton and Chief Operations Officer James Pugh serving as executive producers alongside Luane Gauer. Niamh Fagan is exec producing for Screen Ireland.
