The Damned ending explained: What happened to Eva?

The Damned is a film in the folk horror genre that had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was released on January 3, 2025. The film is directed by Thordur Palsson, who also wrote its story, while the screenplay is by Jamie Hannigan.

The official synopsis of the film reads as follows:

"A 19th-century widow is tasked with making an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her impoverished Icelandic fishing village. Any attempt to rescue survivors risks further depleting the starving villagers’ supplies."

In the end, Eva survives in The Damned, so let's explore the ending in detail:

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What is the plot of The Damned?

The Damned takes place in the 19th century and revolves around Eva, who is a young widow living in a village in Iceland. Amid a chilling winter, a ship sinks near the coast, prompting her to make a decision: either save the ship's folks or save the supplies for her villagers.

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How does The Damned end?

As The Damned progressed, Eva started seeing draugur, which is a supernatural figure right after the man was stabbed in his eyes. Meanwhile, Helga kept telling her that the evil must be stopped, and they will need to burn him.

One day, the fishermen celebrate as they get a catch, but it's all gone the very next day. While Eva believes it's done by Draugur, others feel Helga stole them and ran away. Towards the end of the film, Eva continues to see Draugur as he chases her. She shoots it with a rifle, but nothing happens.

On Helga's advice, she then goes on to burn the entire cabin to stop the evil. The young widow feels relieved as she believes Draugur was responsible for their suffering. However, it was also possible that people were seeing things because of hunger and desperation.

While the cabin is burning, Eva is looking at it and experiences a flashback. In it, she sees a man instead of the Draugur standing in her room. He was a fisherman from a foreign land and had stolen their food. The man was apologetic for his behavior and said that he lost everything when that ship sank on the coast.

This scene hints that it was an actual human being and not a Draugur that was living among the villagers. It is also possible that the fisherman realized that they were hallucinating and kept playing the part to terrorize them. But his words don't match his actions, as he was always ready to attack Eva.

The makers of The Damned leave the ending open to multiple interpretations. It's up to the viewers to draw conclusions and find out if the evil was real or not. In the end, Eva manages to survive, but there is no clarity over the entity.

What are your thoughts on the ending?

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