The Dead By Daylight Movie Is In Great Hands, And The Director's First Film Proves It

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Killers from Dead by Daylight Including Huntress, Hag, Nurse, Hillbilly, Wraith, Trapper, and Doctor

Published Jun 20, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Angela Davis is a freelance movies writer for Screen Rant. She specializes in English with concentrations in media analysis and grammar. She's watched a movie every day for the past eight years and learned some of the best ways to write stories during her time at college.

The upcoming Dead by Daylight movie finally has a director, and his first film has proven that the project is in great hands. After ten successful years, Behaviour Interactive's hit video game celebrated its milestone with some major updates. During an event held in Montréal on June 14, 2026, the developers hosted a special panel showcasing what's coming next for the game.

One of the night's biggest surprises was a long-awaited update surrounding the Dead by Daylight movie. Originally announced in 2023, Blumhouse announced that a film adaptation was greenlit. Since then, very little news was made surrounding pre-production until this year.

In February, the film's writers were announced, with the script being penned by High Tension's Alexandre Aja and The Conjuring 2's David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Then, four months later, Jason Blum appeared at Dead by Daylight's anniversary event to announce the film's director. After years of speculation, Thordur Palsson was revealed to be the one helming the adaptation.

Palsson hasn't released much before being tied to Dead by Daylight. Many fans were shocked to see that a relatively small director was chosen to make this highly-anticipated film. However, when watching his feature film debut, 2024's The Damned, it becomes fairly clear why Palsson is the perfect choice to direct the upcoming movie.

The Damned Is Oozing With Atmosphere, Which Is Perfect For Dead By Daylight

Eva Walking Through a Cemetery with Blood-Red Crosses in The Damned Poster

One of the most notable takeaways from The Damned is how much it hinges on its atmosphere. There are many slow and suspenseful shots layered throughout this 89-minute feature, allowing the audience to feel the chill of this icy fishing commune. When night falls, the environment is completely pitch black with lanterns casting massive shadows that cause just as much tension as the actual monster haunting the characters.

While Dead by Daylight is known for its fast-paced gameplay, the creepy and atmospheric lore behind the Entity's realm is what makes the game feel three-dimensional. The Damned does a phenomenal job mirroring Dead by Daylight's world with Palsson's focus on environmental terrors.

Plus, when Eva and others in the commune venture out to recover items from a sunken ship, the fog laying over the water is just as visually creepy as the iconic Fog in Dead by Daylight. The Damned may not have any connection to the popular game, but Palsson's style clearly matches the tone that it's known for.

The Draugr In The Damned Sets Up How Palsson Can Hint At The Entity In Dead By Daylight

The main supernatural antagonist of The Damned is a creature from Scandinavian folklore called a Draugr. When Eva and the others choose not to help a band of survivors from a sunken ship, their guilt awakens the monster, who uses their animosity toward each other to tear them apart.

The Draugr itself is mostly kept in the shadows, only occasionally appearing on-screen. However, the audience never gets a good look at it until the final act when it screams in Eva's face. This is similar to how Dead by Daylight builds upon its lore for the Eldritch terror running the game's Trials, the Entity.

The only thing fans know about the Entity is that it has spidery legs that pull its victims up into its realm to subject them to its endless game. If Palsson were to hint at the game's powerful antagonist the same way he does with the Draugr, it could be a perfect visual representation of the mystery surrounding this cosmic being.

Palsson And Alexandre Aja Could Deliver The Perfect Dead By Daylight Film

The only thing The Damned has that differs from Dead by Daylight is a purposefully slow pace. The film is built around making the film's world creep under the audience's skin. Meanwhile, Dead by Daylight is known for being fast-paced with a killer hunting four survivors as they try to repair generators to escape.

If Palsson's take on the game adaptation mirrored The Damned perfectly, it would be fairly disappointing for fans that expected something a bit closer in pace. However, this is where Alexandre Aja comes into the picture. Aja is best known as one of the most famous French New Wave horror directors who spearheaded High Tension. His style is far more chaotic and gory, as shown in his later projects like 2010's Pirhana remake and 2019's Crawl.

Aja is currently cowriting the Dead by Daylight film, and his style absolutely works with the tone fans are familiar with. By mixing his writing with Palsson's atmospheric eye, the two could put together a film that realizes what makes Dead by Daylight so appealing to fans.