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Coming straight off of his fearless, peerlessly playful performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap,” Josh Hartnett is carrying another wild and playful genre experiment with “Fight or Flight.” Hartnett stars as an exiled American agent, Lucas Reyes, who gets a shot at redemption aboard a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. All he has to do is track down and identify the “mysterious, international high-value asset known as The Ghost.” Oh, and the plane is full of assassins trying to kill both of them.

The film marks the feature debut of director James Madigan, who has an extensive background in visual effects, from “The Da Vinci Code” to the “Red” films, as well as second unit credits on films including “The Meg” and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” It’s also a showcase for Hartnett, who threw himself into doing “100% of his stunts,” as Madigan recently told Jimmy Fallon.

Exclusive: BAFTA winner Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Golden Globe winner Gael GarcÍa Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien), BAFTA nominee Noomi Rapace (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Golden Globe nominee Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart) are set to star in sci-fi The End Of It for The Mediapro Studio US & Canada and BBC Film.

Bankside will launch sales at Cannes on the project, which will mark the feature directorial debut of Maria Martinez Bayona, who also penned the script. Production began in April 2025 on location in the Canary Islands, Spain.

The synopsis reads: “In a near-future world where ageing can be cured and death is now optional, Claire (Rebecca Hall) a former provocative artist approaching her 250th birthday, decides she’s had enough – she wants to die. Her decision stirs conflicts with her husband (Gael García Bernal), daughter (Noomi Rapace) and AI assistant (Beanie Feldstein), revealing the humorous complexity of their relationships.

If you’ve already scoured through our massive summer movie preview, then you’re already aware the season’s kick-off is one of the most eclectic months in some time, featuring high-wire blockbusters, the return of beloved auteurs, the year’s finest comedy, and more gems to discover.

16. The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan; May 2)

After one of the most successful films of his career with last year’s Longlegs, Nicolas Cage returns this year with The Surfer, a beach-set psychological thriller directed by Lorcan Finnegan. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In The Surfer, an exploitation film set to pressure-cook, a mild-mannered man is pitted against a group who even Andrew Tate might find a touch extreme. It’s set in South Australia on fictional Luna Bay, the kind of place where if the heat doesn’t get you, something else probably will. The water shines turquoise-blue but the beaches look like scorched earth.

Molly Manning Walker will serve as jury president for the Un Certain Regard section at the 78th Festival de Cannes, running from May 13 to May 24, 2025. The British filmmaker received the top prize in this section in 2023 for her debut feature, How to Have Sex.

Walker expressed enthusiasm about returning to the festival in this capacity. “It’s such an honour to return to Cannes as the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” she said in a statement. “This selection will forever hold a special place in my heart. Being a part of it really changed my world. I can’t wait to discover the films at the epicentre of new cinema. Right now more than ever I feel that cinema is so key to bringing us together and allowing us to feel, to connect with each other. To escape, wonder and learn about each other.”

Joining Walker on the...

UK filmmaker and cinematographer Molly Manning Walker will preside over the jury of Cannes Film Festival’s sidebar Un Certain Regard.

Walker’s debut feature How To Have Sex premiered in the strand in 2023 where it won the top prize.

Joining Walker is French-Swiss director and screenwriter Louise Courvoisier, whose debut Holy Cow won the youth award in Un Certain Regard in 2024, and Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini who took home best director the same year for The Damned.

Rounding out the jury is Vanja Kaludjercic, director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart.

There are...

UK director, screenwriter and cinematographer Molly Manning Walker has been named as president of the Un Certain Regard Jury at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival this May.

She will be joined by French-Swiss director and screenwriter Louise Courvoisier, Croatian director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam Vanja Kaludjercic, Italian director, producer and screenwriter Roberto Minervini and Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart.

They will be decided the prizes in Un Certain Regard section, which showcases art and discovery films by young auteurs and features 20 titles this year, including nine debut features.

The section opens with Tunisian-French director Erige Sehiri’s Promised Sky on May 14, the day after the festival’s opening ceremony.

Manning Walker has a special connection with Un Certain Regard having won its main prize for first feature How To Have Sex in 2023. She turned up late for the ceremony, leading then Jury President John C. Reilly...

Molly Manning Walker will be president of the Un Certain Regard jury at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which takes place May 13 – May 24, 2025. The British filmmaker won the prize in this category in 2023 for her first feature film, “How to Have Sex.”

“It’s such an honour to return to Cannes as the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” the director, writer and cinematographer said in a statement. “This selection will forever hold a special place in my heart. Being a part of it really changed my world. I can’t wait to discover the films at the epicentre of new cinema. Right now more than ever I feel that cinema is so key to bringing us together and allowing us to feel, to connect with each other. To escape, wonder and learn about each other. I’m excited to go on this journey with the other Jury members...

The jury for the Cannes Un Certain Regard program has been announced, with “How to Have Sex” director Molly Manning Walker as the president.

The 2025 Un Certain Regard jury includes French-Swiss director and screenwriter Louise Courvoisier; Vanja Kaludjercic, Croatian director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; Italian director, producer, and screenwriter Roberto Minervini; and Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. The jury will award prizes for the section, which showcases first- and second-time filmmakers of promise. The Un Certain Regard program will open with Tunisian director Erige Sehiri’s “Promised Sky” on Wednesday, May 14.

This year, a total of 20 films have been selected for Un Certain Regard, including nine first films, such as Harris Dickinson’s “Urchin,” Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” and Kristen Stewart’s “The Chronology of Water.”

Un Certain Regard Jury President Walker previously won the 2023 Un Certain Regard Prize for her directorial debut “How to Have Sex.

How to Have Sex director Molly Manning Walker will head up this year’s jury for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar.

The British filmmaker, whose debut feature won the section’s top prize in 2023, will be joined on the jury by French-Swiss director Louise Courvoisier, whose Holy Cow won Un Certain Regard’s Youth Award last year, Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini, the 2024 ex-aequno best director winner for The Damned, Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 Bpm), and International Film Festival Rotterdam director Vanja Kaludjercic.

“It’s such an honour to return to Cannes as the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” Walker said in a statement. “This selection will forever hold a special place in my heart. Being a part of it really changed my world. I can’t wait to discover the films at the epicentre of new cinema. Right now more than ever I feel that cinema is...

The Cannes Film Festival‘s Un Certain Regard program may not have the same clout as the fest’s main competition, but it always features a handful of films whose unconventional approach makes for must-see material. A good example from last year’s Cannes? Robert Minervini‘s ‘The Damned,” which finally hits US theaters next month.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2025

Minervini’s latest film is a Civil War drama about a group of Union soldiers sent to patrol the nascent country’s western territories.

Continue reading ‘The Damned’ Trailer: Roberto Minervini’s Civil War Drama Hits Theaters On May 14 at The Playlist.

A filmmaker whose work always renders as thrillingly intimate and alive, Roberto Minervini took another unexpected turn in his latest film. The Damned, which picked up the Un Certain Regard Best Director prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, heads to the frontier of the Civil War as we follow a group of volunteer soldiers. Picked up by Grasshopper Film for a release beginning May 16, the first trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Winter 1862. In the midst of the Civil War, the US Army sends a company of volunteer soldiers to the western territories, with the task of patrolling the unchartered borderlands. As their mission ultimately changes course, the meaning behind their engagement begins to elude them.”

Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his review, “While The Damned sometimes resembles a reenactment, Minervini makes a valid attempt to highlight war’s aimless priorities on its marginalized and unheralded members. Throughout his career,...

Roberto Minervini’s narrative debut “The Damned” revisits the U.S. Civil War in a cinema verite style. Minervini, who has helmed a slew of documentary films, deployed his nonfiction techniques for the feature that premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard program. Minervini won the Best Director award for “The Damned” at the festival.

Jeremiah Knupp, René W. Solomon, Cuyler Ballenger, Noah Carlson, Judah Carlson, Tim Carlson, and Bill Gehring are among the actors playing Civil War soldiers in the feature set during the winter of 1862. The official synopsis reads: “In the midst of the Civil War, the U.S. Army sends a company of volunteer soldiers to the western territories, with the task of patrolling the uncharted borderlands. As their mission ultimately changes course, the meaning behind their engagement begins to elude them.”

Minervini said in a press statement that “The Damned” sets out to...

This week on the Film Stories Podcast Network: close-up warfare, close-up aliens, close-up nuclear submarines and more. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Reel Talk

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, which certainly seems to be Alex Garland’s message in his new film Warfare, discussed here by Sam Stokes and guest, Film Stories’ own Ryan Lambie…

The Rest of Us

A brand new season of The Last of Us is here with 2×01 ‘Future Days’, so join host Maria Lattila and guest Hugh McStay to discuss all facets of Joel and Ellie in the premiere…

Podmetheus

Get away from this podcast, you–not really! You’re welcome to come on in and join Aj Black, plus guest Kat Hughes, to discuss James Cameron’s iconic 1986 sequel, Aliens…

The Collectors Commentary

Physical media aficionados Mark McManus and Ian Buckley are back to focus in on Second Sight...

The Hulu May 2025 premiere schedule has been announced and can be viewed below. The streaming service has also revealed the titles that will leave next month.

The Hulu Originals for the month include Kun by Agüero, Matteo Lane: The Al Dente Special, Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2, Nine Puzzles, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2, Summer of 69, and Vanderpump Villa Season 2.

The Last Showgirl, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, FX’s Adults, and Welcome to Wrexham Season 4 will also be available on Hulu in May.

Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Highlights

A look at the originals, exclusives, and premieres that are part of the Hulu May 2025 lineup.

Pita Hall (2025 – Streaming May 2)

Kalender, along with his daughter Filiz, runs a small pita shop inherited from his father. After losing his wife ten years ago, he became withdrawn. Closed to innovations and unwilling to take risks, his shop is also struggling.

Film Movement has acquired North America rights to “Peaches Goes Bananas,” Marie Losier’s documentary about the trailblazing feminist queer icon, musician and producer known as Peaches.

The movie is represented internationally by Best Friend Forever and world premiered at the Venice Days sidebar which runs alongside the film festival.

Film Movement will be releasing the movie theatrically, followed by a roll-out on digital platforms and home entertainment.

The documentary portrays Peaches, whose real name is Merrill Nisker, and showcases her concerts, as well as her bond with her sister Suri and her creative process.

Losier is best known for directing critically lauded documentaries including “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye,” which won the Teddy Award at the Berlinale in 2011; “Cassandro El Exotico!,” winner of the Cannes Acid section in 2018; and “Felix in Wonderland,” which had its world premiere in Locarno in 2019. Losier’s work has also been celebrated...

Brian James, founding guitarist and principal early songwriter for the legendary UK punk band The Damned, has died at the age of 70.

James’ passing was reported on his Facebook page, with no cause of death listed. The guitarist, who was born in London in 1955, had just turned 70 on February 18th.

Prior to The Damned, James played in the proto-punk bands London SS, The Subterraneans, and Bastard. He formed The Damned in 1976 with singer Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies.

James wrote most of the songs on the band’s first two albums — Damned Damned Damned and Music for Pleasure — including “New Rose,” which is considered the first-ever UK punk single (preceding any releases by The Clash or Sex Pistols). However, he quit the band at the end of 1977, the same year both of those albums were released.

He went on to form the band Tanz Der Youth...

To tide you over until all the Jaws 50th anniversary festivities, you can catch Richard Dreyfuss‘ return to shark-infested waters with Into the Deep.

Currently available on VOD, the thriller swims onto Blu-ray and DVD on April 1 from Well Go USA. No special features are listed.

Dreyfuss appears alongside Halloween star Scout Taylor Compton, Callum McGowan, Jon Seda, and Queen of the Damned‘s Stuart Townsend.

While on vacation, a group of tourists are out diving for sunken treasure when a boat approaches. The modern-day pirates kidnap, kill and force the remaining group to retrieve the contraband submerged below.

In exchange for their lives, someone must enter the shark infested waters, but a massive great white shark is hunting them down and this killer is determined not to let anyone escape its waters.

Christian Sesma (Vigilante Diaries) directs from a script by Chad Law (6 Bullets) and Josh Ridgway (The Flood...

Brady Corbet is reminding audiences just how special of a filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve is.

Corbet, whose feature “The Brutalist” is predicted to be a top contender at the 2025 Oscars, said during a visit to the Criterion Closet in the below video that Hansen-Løve is among the modern all-time greats. Writer/director/actor Corbet co-led Hansen-Løve’s 2014 autobiographical film “Eden” alongside fellow filmmaker Greta Gerwig.

“This one I actually have so I’m not going to take it,” Corbet said while holding a Blu-ray of Hansen-Løve’s 2021 film “Bergman Island.” He added, “I just want to call out Mia Hansen-Løve, one of my favorite directors that I worked with years ago on a film called ‘Eden.’ This is her film ‘Bergman Island.’ I encourage everyone to seek it out because I think she is one of our great contemporary treasures.”

Corbet further shared how much a trip to the Criterion Closet...

Pabst Blue Ribbon — known simply as Pbr or ‘peeb’ if you’re a seasoned beer enjoyer — has unveiled the lineup for the 2025 edition of its flagship music festival, Project Pabst. Going down on July 26th and 27th in Portland, Oregon, Project Pabst 2025 is set to feature sets from the likes of Iggy Pop, Devo, Death Cab for Cutie, Japanese Breakfast, and more.

The 2025 lineup for the two-day event also boasts Mannequin Pussy, The Damned, The Chats, Built to Spill, a reunited Cap’n Jazz, Wednesday, The Exploding Hearts, and Gustaf, among others. Check out the full lineup, broken down by day, below.

Get Project Pabst 2025 Tickets Here

Early bird passes for Project Pabst 2025 (including both single-day and weekend passes) are on sale now. The general on-sale then kicks off on Friday, February 28th at 10:00 a.m. Pt.

In addition to the music, those attending Project Pabst 2025 will also be...

An adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, the Osgood Perkins-directed, James Wan-produced The Monkey was released in theaters over the weekend, the second collaboration between Perkins and Neon after last year’s Longlegs. With a 77% Rotten Tomatoes rating and C+ CinemaScore, how did The Monkey fare at the box office in its first weekend?

In 3,200 theaters across the United States, The Monkey scared up $14.2 million at the box office over the weekend, coming in second place behind Captain America: Brave New World.

While the year is young, The Monkey currently has the horror genre’s highest opening weekend of 2025, besting the $10.8 million opening weekend of Universal’s Wolf Man reboot.

Here are the domestic opening numbers for all this year’s horror movies so far:

The Monkey – $14.2 million Wolf Man – $10.8 million Companion – $9.3 million Heart Eyes – $8.3 million Presence – $3.3 million The Damned – $769,721

The Monkey has a reported production budget of $10-11 million,...

In his latest video, Kevin sits down for an exclusive interview with director Thordur Palsson to talk about his feature debut movie The Damned.

A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.

The Damned is currently (still) in UK cinemas, courtesy of Vertical Entertainment. You can also check out Kev’s video review of the film right here.

A brand new theatrical release puts a unique twist on the classic haunted house movie, Richard Dreyfuss returns to the shark attack sub-genre, and one of the late Tony Todd’s final horror movies gets a posthumous release. And that’s just the beginning of this week’s new arrivals.

Here’s all the new horror that released January 20 – January 24, 2025!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

Horror legend Tony Todd leaves behind a handful of roles in horror movies not yet released, and one of the first of his final roles comes courtesy of Werewolf Game, now available on VOD.

In Werewolf Game, “Twelve strangers are kidnapped and forced to play Werewolf Game, to the death. A thrilling feature film based on the iconic party game.”

Sunstrike Pictures tells Bd, “We have a huge influence of John Carpenter and horror manga, to create a...

Directed by Thordur Palsson, The Damned is an Irish horror drama that unfolds in the 19th century at an isolated fishing post. The cinematography, the characterization, as well as the suspenseful build-up, deserve appreciation, and the ambiguous ending leaves room for speculation. Eva, a young widow, owned a fish station, and after her husband’s death, she was responsible for running the place. In the cold, harsh winter, when the fishermen gathered at her post, she took it upon herself to ensure the men did not suffer. Her opinion contradicted Ragnar’s, the helmsman, who believed the men should only focus on the catch; after all, they had agreed to live in the brutal cold for the sake of earning some extra money. The catch was not impressive that year, but for Eva, as long as the fishermen were alive and well, she was content. Things soon took a dramatic...

Thordur Palsson’s The Damned, a harrowing and atmospheric horror film set in 19th-century Iceland, has finally arrived for digital streaming. Starring Odessa Young, the film explores themes of survival, guilt, and the supernatural, making it a must-watch for horror enthusiasts. If you’re looking for where to watch or stream The Damned, here’s everything you need to know.

What is The Damned About?

Set during a particularly cruel winter, The Damned follows Eva (Odessa Young), a widow tasked with leading her isolated fishing community after a devastating shipwreck. With their food supplies nearly exhausted, Eva and her crew face an impossible choice: attempt to rescue the shipwrecked survivors or ensure their own survival through the harsh season.

As the community grapples with the consequences of their decision, guilt begins to take hold, and a growing sense of dread consumes the inhabitants. Believing they are being punished for their choices,...

Thordur Palsson’s “The Damned” is not the only 2024 film with that title. There is also Roberto Minervini’s war drama, set in 1862, which premiered at Cannes. This article is not about that brooding drama. Instead, it is about Palsson’s horror film that stars Odessa Young and Joe Cole in the central roles. It follows a young widow (played by Young) trying to run a fishing outpost in the Arctic bay. While trying to survive through a brutally cold winter in an isolated piece of land, she and a group of fishers start to lose their sanity as they are surrounded by the ghosts of their past misdeeds and regrets.

Spoilers Ahead

The Damned (2024 Palsson film) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:

“The Damned” is an English horror film directed by Thordur Palsson based on Jamie Hannigan’s screenplay. It follows the hardships faced by the inhabitants of a fishing outpost in the freezing,...

2025 had a strong start with an interesting variety of movies released in theaters, and these, along with some of the biggest hits from the final weeks of 2024, are now in theaters. 2024 saw some big hits on the big screen from different genres and was an overall successful year for the film industry, with movies like the comedy The Fall Guy, the drama Challengers, horror with Late Night With The Devil and Longlegs, the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and the long-awaited Gladiator II.

The first days of January brought the horror movie The Damned, a one-of-a-kind musical biographical movie with Better Man, and the sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Now joining them and more is a new version of a horror classic directed by Leigh Whannell and a buddy movie starring Keke Palmer and Sza.

Related 30 Best Movies On Netflix Right Now (January 2025)

From Godzilla Minus One to Under Paris and The Gentlemen,...

January Box Office: Bad Boys For Life Holds 2nd Biggest Opening Weekend In North America( Photo Credit – YouTube )

January is the first month of the year, and it brings new hope for the upcoming days. People stay immersed in the New Year’s celebrations, and they are incomplete without movies. Several movies have come out in January over the years, and today, we are here to rank the top 5 biggest opening weekends in North America in January. Will Smith gloates at #2 owing to his film Bad Boys for Life. Scroll below for the deets.

Bad Boys for Life was released in 2020 and was the sequel to Bad Boys II, which came out almost two decades back in 2003. It was the first film in the franchise which was not directed by Michael Bay. The movie reportedly became the third-highest-grossing of the year. Besides that, Kung Fu Panda 3 is also one...

The Damned (1969), followed by Death in Venice (1971) and Ludwig (1973), is a historical drama film by Luchino Visconti and the first installment of the aforementioned German trilogy. Set in the backdrop of Hitler’s rise to power, the film portrays the steady disintegration of the affluent Essenbeck family due to the actions of one Hauptsturmführer Aschenbach, a highly influential and manipulative leader of the Schutzstaffel.

Events in the film are driven by real-life incidents that were instrumental to the transformation of the Weimar Republic (Hitler as Chancellor) to Nazi Germany (Hitler as Führer). These include the Reichstag fire and the Röhm purge, among others.

A Milanese nobleman himself, Visconti (officially The Count of Lonate Pozzolo) luxuriates in the decay of German nobility due to Nazi interference and the intrinsic decadence of the members of the Essenbeck family. As a result, The Damned presents itself as a detailed study of instability, sexual transgression,...

The Damned has been made to a high standard. The film is extremely well-crafted; the cast, the period setting, and the eerie and isolated fishing village where the story plays out all help to create a tense and believable story as a group of fisherman find themselves the subject of a supernatural attack.

The Damned, set in 19th-century Iceland, follows a widow faced with a dire decision when a shipwreck endangers her struggling fishing village. Amidst a harsh winter, she must weigh the risks of rescuing survivors against the dwindling resources vital for her community's survival.

Runtime 89 minutesGenres Drama, Mystery, HorrorCast Guillermo Uria, Mícheál Óg Lane, Turlough Convery, Francis Magee, Lewis Gribben, Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Siobhan Finneran, Rory McCannDirector Thordur PalssonWriters Jamie Hannigan

The Damned takes place in the 19th century and focuses on a small group of fishermen who are having a challenging season. The action truly begins when Eva,...

Awards contenders dominate new releases at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as Babygirl, Maria and A Real Pain all launch.

Nicole Kidman returns withBabygirl,which Entertainment Film Distributors is opening in 575 locations. Halina Reijn’s 18-ratederotic drama stars Kidmanas a high-powered CEO who becomes embroiled in an affair with a young intern, played by Harris Dickinson. Further cast include Antonio Banderas and Sophie Wilde.

Other awards contenders with 18-ratings include this year’s Anora, which grossed just shy of £2m for Universal and 2023’s Poor Things, with a £1.6m opening and a £7.1m total run for Disney’s Searchlight.

The 2025 box office has so far been dominated by the final movies of 2024, but Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and Better Man arrive with hopes of potentially bringing the new year some early hits. Although the Robbie Williams biopic, where he's a CGI chimpanzee, received a limited theatrical release at Christmas, it only played in six theaters. January 10th marks the wide release of Better Man as it squares off with Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s sequel to 2018's surprise action/crime hit Den of Thieves.

The option for audiences to watch Den of Thieves 2 in theaters, and Better Man for that matter, is just what the box office needs at this stage. Mufasa: The Lion King, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Nosferatu, Moana 2, and Wicked were the top five earners at the domestic box office during the first weekend of January. With Vertical's horror movie...

For the first of the new year, Kevin sits down to review another of his picks of the big budget / low budget / no budget movie landscape. Giving you his personal opinion on why you should or shouldn’t give this movie your time… This episode it’s horror film The Damned, the feature debut of director Thordur Palsson.

A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.

The Damned will be available in UK and Irish cinemas from 10th January, courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.

Universal’s “Nosferatu” made a chilling debut at the U.K. and Ireland box office, securing the overall top spot with £5.2 million ($6.5 million), including previews.

Over the three-day weekend the gothic horror remake, with $3.8 million, was just behind Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.” The photorealistic animation continued to roar with $4 million in its third week, bringing its total to $25.9 million.

Studiocanal’s “We Live in Time” landed in third place with $3.5 million. Meanwhile, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” from Paramount, last weekend’s chart-topper, dropped to fourth, adding $3.3 million to its total of $23.4 million. Disney’s “Moana 2” continued to show remarkable staying power, rounding out the top five with $2.2 million in its sixth week for a cumulative gross of $47.8 million.

Universal’s “Wicked” held firm in sixth place, earning $2 million in its seventh week, pushing its total to $71.7 million. The family favorite “Paddington in Peru” from Studiocanal slipped to seventh,...

Mysterious deaths befall members of an isolated 19th-century fishing community after they choose not to aid the survivors of a shipwreck

Every film ought to have a signature image, and slow-burn supernatural chiller The Damned has a doozy: a body washed ashore shows unexpected signs of life, a stirring in the midsection … but surprise, slash the bloated stomach open and there’s an eel in there, wriggling about and presumably feasting on guts. Unfortunately nothing else provides quite so fulsomely gothic a moment, which is a shame, because it’s an arresting flourish.

Set in Iceland during the 19th century, The Damned is more about atmosphere and buildup than set pieces or delivery. The plot is light-touch. There’s a shipwreck off the coast where a tiny fishing community are barely scraping by. The community have a choice: try to help the shipwrecked people or let them perish. The more...

Mufasa: The Lion King clawed its way past Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in a tightly contested race and won the No. 1 spot at the box office to kick off the first weekend of 2025. Director Barry Jenkins’ animated adventure made an estimated $23.8 million (per The Numbers) and claimed the top spot for the second consecutive weekend. Meanwhile, the Sega sequel brought in another $21.2 million en route to the silver medal. The Disney prequel/sequel also thrived overseas.

Mufasa had made $168.6 million at the domestic box office at the time of this writing. However, the Mouse House’s latest flick continued to fare even better internationally, with a total of $307.8 million for a worldwide take of $476.4 million. Meanwhile, Sonic 3 hadn’t done quite that well, but the Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey team-up still managed to make $336.3 million globally. Unfortunately, that’s not a franchise record for the speedy hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2...

Modernity does not express itself everywhere in the same way. Whilst Europe as a whole saw a flurry of social changes during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, life in the frozen fishing villages of Iceland remained much as it had done for centuries. Indeed, in some ways it’s not so different today. In the midwinter months, when the sun never rises far above the horizon and the air is often full of driving snow, it can be hard to see the line between land and sea, or between past and present.

In the early scenes of The Damned, Eva (Odessa Young) goes walking out among the wrecks, where the exposed bones of dead ships protrude from the snow like the ribcages of fallen giants. Now stripped almost bare by the wind, they have little to offer. Supplies are running low. In the low room where the people of the.

The first horror movie of 2025 has been released in theaters, and it is debuting to a strong Rotten Tomatoes score. 2024 was a good year for horror movies, with A Quiet Place: Day One, Smile 2, and Alien: Romulus leading the way with critical acclaim and box office success. Each turned a profit by thrilling audiences and using strong word-of-mouth to draw viewers to theaters. Notably, every one of these releases was also related to a pre-existing franchise. That happened to track with other genre trends, as the rest of the box office faced similar sequel and prequel success.

As Hollywood prepares for 2025, box office expectations could change. The lingering effects of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes should be behind the industry. Depending on the impact of streaming services and pandemic-related disdain for theaters, theatrical success could continue to be restrained to event movies. Still, the success of horror movies indicates...

A trip to the cinema is an excellent way to pass a winter evening, but it does come with one potential drawback. After braving the winter chill for a brisk speed-walk from your parking spot to the entrance (and avoiding slipping on black ice along the way), the theater’s climate control and comfortable seats can make you temporarily forget how cold it is outside. Thordur Palsson’s directorial debut “The Damned” looks to rectify this problem, as the Icelandic horror film is singularly focused on making its viewers feel the frigid cold that permeates the bones of its characters. From icy landscape shots to midnight huddles between characters that do a middling job of preserving body warmth, Palsson immerses his audience to the point where you can almost feel the mind-numbing cold that pushes his subjects to the brink of madness.

If that strikes you as a remotely pleasant...

As awards season heats up, From Ground Zero, Palestine’s Oscar entry that’s on the shortlist for Best International Feature, debuts this weekend at about 70 AMC locations in top 20 markets and select arthouses including the Quad in New York and Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles.

The documentary from Watermelon Pictures is a series of 22 video diaries by Palestinian filmmakers commissioned and assembled by Gaza native Rashid Masharawi that show what it’s like on the ground in Gaza trying to survive and keep families safe, fed and sheltered amid Israeli bombardments. Mostly shying away from politics, From Ground Zero is a view of life in hellish conditions that also finds hope in small moments of normalcy. Masharawi, who currently lives in France, set up a fund early in the Israel-Hamas war to support filmmaking in Gaza.

Watermelon and parent MPI Media took a risk opening soon after Oscar shortlists were unveiled,...

Throughout The Damned, writer-director Thordur Palsson’s formidable feature debut, the phrase that kept echoing through my head was the chilling proclamation that the “world is dark and full of terrors.” Yes, this is a quote from Game of Thrones, whose Rory McCann is part of the cast here. However, he is not what kept bringing it to mind. No, it was the terror in the eyes of those like Odessa Young and Joe Cole where this was most felt. In the isolated Icelandic fishing village their characters inhabit in the 19th century, this desolate darkness is where death awaits. Not only is this where you can freeze to death, but it’s where the forces beyond our understanding may also lurk. Whether they’re there or not, which is something that’s best left to discover in the film for yourself, they certainly feel petrifyingly real. Even as the...

In the decades following the Second World War, a fear of nuclear war and a potential nuclear apocalypse had a firm grip on the world. This is reflected in the art of the 1950s, 1960s, and beyond, sometimes heavily portrayed and sometimes subtly. Some of the most famous films associated with nuclear anxiety include well-known titles like 1954’s Godzilla or Stanley Kubrick’s satirical Dr. Strangelove, released in 1964. In 1962, Hammer Film Productions, the iconic British purveyors of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, released The Damned, a lesser-known piece of science fiction directed by Joseph Losey and inspired by the nuclear anxiety of the time.

Period horror often has a tough hill to climb within the modern landscape of cinema. Younger generations prefer a more energetic pacing in short bursts so a drawn-out film that relies on tension and dread can be a tough sell. Thankfully, I’m an old man and absolutely love any horror film that can bring me on a journey through hell, regardless of the time period. And thankfully The Damned is able to utilize the setting and give us a glimpse at a time that passed while walking the line of myth. I really enjoyed the film myself.

Actor Odessa Young and Director Thordur Palsson were gracious enough to talk to me about their film The Damned. We got into the very harsh conditions in which they filmed in as well as the difficulties of something as simple as getting equipment to their filming location. But I was surprised to...

Starring: Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann and Siobhan Finneran The Damned, an ominous and chilling thriller, follows Eve and her crew as they come across a shipwreck and are faced with the moral dilemma to either help, or prioritise their own survival. Vertical has announced that Thordur Palsson’s ominous and chilling thriller The Damned will be released in …

The post The Damned | Chilling Nordic horror in UK & Irish cinemas from 10th January appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Plot: A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.

Review: There’s something about a period piece that lends itself to a dreadful atmosphere. Maybe it’s the harsh time period itself, which carries within it such tragedies and misfortune. Death was a constant presence. But there’s also so much room for metaphor and beautiful imagery, making it an ideal candidate for emotionally resonant stories. Especially within the horror genre. And The Damned fully utilizes its time period and setting to deliver a story that resonates even in modern times.

Odessa Young stars as Eva, the widow who owns the primary ship for a fishing village. They’ve had a particularly cruel winter, and their food supplies are growing smaller and smaller. She’s faced with some difficult choices. When...

The frozen Westfjords of Iceland serve as more than just a backdrop in The Damned; they are an ever-present character that shapes the very psyche of their people. With its sharp peaks and endless icy horizons, this barren landscape’s stark beauty evokes a sense of both wonder and dread. Here, nature is not just a setting but a relentless force that doesn’t care about human suffering—a stark reminder of humanity’s fragility.

The film’s main themes of survival and guilt are emphasized by the 19th-century setting steeped in isolation and suffering. The characters struggle with choices that echo the historical tensions of seafaring communities dealing with the harsh realities of nature as they are caught in their moral problems. As the weight of custom clashes with the urgency of survival, the period, with its limited technology and ingrained superstitions, further complicates their situation.

The character’s...

Mufasa: The Lion King roared to life and sped past Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at the box office over the Christmas weekend. After finishing in second place behind the Sega sequel last weekend, the latest offering from Disney laid claim to the No. 1 spot over the five-day holiday frame with an estimated $63.7 million domestically. Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey’s team-up settled for the silver medal with $59.9 million. However, the results were quite different where the films’ three-day (Friday-Sunday) totals were concerned.

It was Sonic 3 ($38 million), edging out Mufasa ($37.1 million) by less than $1 million (per The Numbers). Focusing on Mufasa’s impressive comeback, though, the follow-up to The Lion King began its run towards claiming the top spot over the five-day holiday after Mufasa surprisingly won Christmas Day against the feisty hedgehog with a take of $14.7 million. The Disney flick also won Thursday and Sunday, while Sonic took the...

Thordur Palsson’s The Damned coasts on the striking contrasts between the wintry landscapes of its 19th-century setting and the characters who trudge across them in clothes that appear as if they’ve been assembled from blankets or potato sacks. Odessa Young is no less memorable as a young window named Eva, especially in an early scene where she makes it very plain that this woman must always choose her words carefully in the company of men, even among those who so clearly respect her for her savvy.

But there’s evocativeness and then there’s lack of context, and it feels as if the cinematography and Young’s performance are trying to deflect attention from the latter. As indicated by the stories spun by one character (Siobhan Finneran), The Damned draws on Icelandic folklore about the draugr, or reanimated corpse, and from the characters’ names we can, indeed, intuit...

I genuinely enjoyed “The Damned” from director Thordur Palsson. Haunting and creepy with strong themes of grief and abandonment. Odessa Young is wonderful as Eva, a 19th-century widow tasked with making an impossible choice – rescue the shipwrecked off the coast of her isolated fishing post or survive the cruel winter with their last remaining

The post Inside the Terrifying “The Damned’ appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.

This winter, get ready for a chilling tale of moral conflict and survival as The Damned arrives in UK and Irish cinemas on 10 January 2025. Directed by Thordur Palsson, this psychological horror transports audiences to a 19th-century Nordic fishing outpost, where isolation and harsh winter conditions serve as the haunting backdrop for a gripping story.

Starring Odessa Young (The Staircase), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), and Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), The Damned follows Eva, a widowed matriarch, and her tight-knit community. Their fragile existence is upended when a shipwreck is discovered just offshore. Confronted with a harrowing moral dilemma, Eva must decide whether to extend a hand to the stranded crew or safeguard her village’s dwindling resources.

As the consequences of their decision unfold, the villagers are plagued by escalating guilt and a creeping fear that they are being punished for their choices. Tensions mount, relationships fracture, and an eerie...

Screenis listing the 2024 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch withScreenhere.Screenis also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2025here.

January

Wednesday, January 1

Nosferatu(Universal),2073(Altitude),Vanangaan(DJ Tech),Game Changer(Dreamz),We Live In Time(Studiocanal)

Friday, January 3

Nickel Boys(Curzon),Rocco And His Brothers(BFI),Diabel(Magnetes)

Wednesday, January 8

A Real Pain(Disney)

Friday, January 10

Babygirl(Efd),The Girl With The Needle(Mubi),Maria(Studiocanal),The Damned(Vertical/Miracle),It’s Raining Men...