Cast: Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell and Liam Neeson
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Jonny Campbell
In Irish Cinemas: 20th February 2026
The premise of Cold Storage spins out of a pulpy, sci-fi “what if”: a fungal specimen sent into orbit aboard Skylab supposedly fused with something alien before the station came crashing down in 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and the Australian outback. Decades later, a scrap of that wreckage ends up in the hands of a canny Aussie who turns it into a roadside curiosity. Everything ticks along nicely until 2007, when the fungus decides to stop lying dormant and starts behaving like something out of a fever dream.
A terrified local manages to contact xenobiologist Dr Hero Martins, who treats the threat as anything but crank territory. She heads to Australia alongside a pair of hardened operatives from a U.S. defence agency, and it doesn’t take long for the grim reality to set in: this organism doesn’t merely infect, but warps behaviour and ultimately reduces victims to a gruesome end.
What remains of the sample is eventually buried deep beneath a government facility in rural Kansas. Time passes, priorities shift, and the danger fades from institutional memory. The bunker is decommissioned, sold off, and reborn as a bland self-storage business, the sort of anonymous place open all hours where nothing of consequence is meant to happen. Naturally, that’s where everything goes sideways.
Enter Travis, a well-meaning but easily led night guard just trying to hold down a steady wage. His routine shifts the moment he’s paired with Naomi, a veterinary student juggling single parenthood and a no-nonsense attitude. Sparks flicker between them, and curiosity quickly overrides common sense when a persistent alarm begins echoing through the building. One late-night wander into the bowels of the facility is all it takes to unleash the nightmare that’s been festering underground for years.
As more characters converge on the storage maze, the story leans knowingly into genre mechanics. Familiar faces introduced early on clearly aren’t done yet, and the film wastes little time steering events toward a chaotic reckoning with a constantly mutating menace.
Tonally, Cold Storage feels like a throwback to the creature features of the 1980s, only with modern levels of splatter and a sharper tongue. The script, penned by David Koepp from his own novel, balances B-movie energy with polished storytelling. There’s a playful rhythm to the dialogue, and the central characters are drawn with enough warmth to keep the audience invested even as the body count starts to climb. A weary, battle-scarred veteran figure brings a dry wit to the proceedings, while the younger leads the madness with an underdog charm.
Director Jonny Campbell shows a confident hand behind the camera, especially for a feature debut. The pacing rarely lags, favouring sudden bursts of grotesque spectacle over cheap jump scares. Visual flourishes, including queasy peeks inside bodies and unlikely hiding places, underline how the fungus spreads, doubling as both exposition and stomach-turning spectacle. The film walks a fine line between mischievous fun and genuine tension, and more often than not, it keeps its footing.
Even the soundtrack choices land well, with breezy classics deployed against scenes of mounting horror to wry effect. It’s a cheeky contrast that reinforces the film’s offbeat personality.
Performance-wise, the cast commits fully to the madness. The seasoned players bring gravitas without losing sight of the tongue-in-cheek tone, while the younger ensemble injects heart and humour. There’s a particularly endearing quality to the central pairing, which helps anchor the film when it threatens to spiral into pure chaos. Supporting turns add colour, including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from a legendary veteran that’s almost unrecognisable under the role’s quirks.
One amusing touch appears in the end credits, with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer about animals that hints at the film’s self-awareness. It’s that same wink to the audience that pops up earlier in a cheeky on-screen warning urging viewers to pay attention because the danger is “real.” Taken literally, it’s pure nonsense, but thematically, there’s a sliver of truth. Beneath the gooey thrills sits a faint echo of real-world anxieties about ecological neglect and institutional complacency.
That uneasy undercurrent gives Cold Storage a bit more bite than expected. It’s still first and foremost a rollicking slice of creature-feature escapism, but there’s just enough edge to linger after the credits roll like a bad smell you can’t quite place. For fans of old-school horror with a modern polish, it’s messy, macabre craic that knows exactly what it’s doing.
Overall: 6.5/10
Movie Reviewer
