First look image released of Screen Ireland supported psychological horror The Damned
Posted: 1st February 2024
Protagonist Pictures have released the first look at The Damned, a new psychological horror from award-winning director Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders) which filmed in Iceland last year. The co-production stars Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday, The Staircase), 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, Generation Z), 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 Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, based on a story by Thordur Palsson.
A tense psychological horror, The Damned follows Eva (Odessa Young), 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 outpost. With provisions running low, Eva and her crew must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked and prioritising their own survival. 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...
The Damned is produced by 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 Co-producers are Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and Anton Máni Svansson and Belgian’s Wrong Men, Benoit Roland.
Protagonist Pictures executive produced the picture with Chief Executive Officer Dave Bishop and Chief Commercial Officer George Hamilton serving as executive producers alongside Luane Gauer.
Ley Line Entertainment financed, alongside BCP. David Darby and Lauren Shelton are the Executive Producers for Ley Line, John Gleeson and Oisin O’Neill for BCP and Niamh Fagan for Screen Ireland. The film is proudly supported by Fís Éireann/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.
The creative team on the film include director of photography Eli Arenson (Lamb), composer Stephen McKeon (Evil Dead Rise) and editors Tony Cranstoun (Vivarium) and Nathan Nugent (Normal People).
Protagonist Pictures, who arranged financing for the film, are handling worldwide sales. The company is co-repping US rights with CAA Media Finance.