The Gotham Group Signs ‘The Damned’ & ‘The Valhalla Murders’ Director Thordur Palsson 

EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Group has signed Icelandic film director Thordur Palsson whose feature debut, the horror film The Damned, premiered at this year’s Tribeca Festival and will be released domestically by Vertical this fall. 

Palsson was the creator and lead director of The Valhalla Murders, which premiered on Netflix in 2020 as the platform’s first Icelandic original.

“We have been admirers of Thordur’s work since the chilling series The Valhalla Murders and with his debut feature it’s become even clearer that he is one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working today,” said Justin Littman, Gotham Group Partner and Head of International.

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 outpost. With provisions running low, Eva and her crew must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked and prioritizing 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 film stars Odessa Young (The Stand); Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), and Sioban Finnernan (Downton Abbey) with a script by Jamie Hannigan (Pilgrimage) based on a story by Palsson. The film is produced by Elation Pictures, Wild Atlantic Pictures, and Ley Line Entertainment.

Palsson continues to be represented in the UK by Sayle Screen and in the U.S. by CAA.  

Thordur Palsson. Credit: Lilja Jons