Cold Storage (2026) Review!!

Synopsis – When a mutating, highly contagious fungus escapes a sealed facility, two young employees – joined by a grizzled bioterror operative – must survive the wildest night shift ever to save humanity from extinction.

My Take – If there is one element that I could pick about the HBO smash hit series ‘The Last of Us‘ which I believe it did right (without forgetting the point that how it made us realize than video games adaptations too can have layered storytelling) was that it reintroduced the mainstream audience to the concept of fungal horror. Films that tend to sit on a spectrum between appropriately horrific to uncomfortably comedic.

Something that is also exactly the case of this sophomore feature directorial effort from Jonny Campbell (Alien Autopsy), that is based on a screenplay penned by David Koepp, the writer behind classic franchises like Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, and Mission: Impossible, who adapts his own 2019 debut novel and feeds on the heritage of the sub-genre.

In that sense, all the tenets of contagion nightmares are present, but with a healthy tongue-in-cheek tone, and is structured to act like a cross between John Carpenter‘s classic body possession horror The Thing (1982), The Blob (1988) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), but with a dash of humor akin to Slither (2006). Leaving with an ultimate nostalgic B-movie style popcorn comedy horror flick that keeps us hooked from start to finish.

Yes, it’s begging for a bigger budget, with some underwhelming digital effects employed, and horror fans might find disappointment in how the infected humans and animals don’t ever seem frightening, instead their actions are played mostly for laughs, but the film benefits from a script that understands pacing, tension, and character. As writer Koepp, known for crafting stories that blend spectacle with suspense, leans into the absurdity of the situation without sacrificing credibility. And with director Campbell ensuring the narrative remains precise, favoring atmosphere over excess we have an ‘American lampoon‘ type of in-your-face body horror frightener that always remains an enjoyable ride.

Beginning 18 years ago in Western Australia, where NASA’s Skylab has fallen out of orbit and causes a small outback town to face the wrath of a bizarre alien fungus that begin to spread like wildfire. Thankfully, with quick intervention from biochemist Dr. Hero Martins (Sosie Bacon), Pentagon bio-terror operatives Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson) and Trini Romano (Lesley Manville) manage to contain the fungal spores by nuking the town and delivering them to a secret government cold storage facility, hidden in the side of a mountain in the United States.

But over the decades, the government facility gets buried and sealed inside the mountain, with the external area redeveloped into a public rental storage facility. In the present, the story follows a chatty low-rent security guard Travis “Teacake” Meacham (Joe Keery) and smart new recruit Naomi Williams (Georgina Campbell), who took on this pretty boring, minimum-wage job for their own reasons.

But when a mysterious chirp begins from the facility’s depths, it soon becomes their most exciting night in years as they find remnants of the subterranean military base that was sold off decades earlier. Though the deadly fungus is still in containment, it isn’t going to stay for long as the red lights and dull alarm signal a dangerous breach. Alerting ex-operative Quinn back into action, despite serious back problems. Leaving the fate of humanity in the hands of the unlikely trio.

While writer Koepp has penned plenty of blockbusters with a massive scope, here, director Campbell positions this film as a genre hybrid that is as unsettling as it is entertaining. Mainly as they seem more intrigued by the idea of creating a modern-day splatter B-flick that proudly wears its goofiness on its sleeve, from the over-the-top biker gang led by the lead duo’s boss Griffin (Gavin Spokes), to infected animals using elevators and projectile vomiting.

One of the film’s most unsettling elements is its antagonist: a fungus that cannot be reasoned with, intimidated, or easily destroyed. Its invisibility becomes its greatest weapon, turning everyday environments into potential death traps. The film exploits this fear brilliantly. Ventilation systems, refrigeration units, and even human breath become sources of danger. By focusing on the unseen, the story taps into a primal anxiety of contamination and the loss of control.

Yet, despite its grim premise, the narrative embraces humor as a survival mechanism. Characters crack jokes not because the situation is funny, but because laughter becomes a way to cope with terror. It never undercuts the seriousness of the threat, instead highlighting the absurdity of human behavior when confronted with the incomprehensible. Also, Campbell‘s direction gives the film an extra bump in energy, including an amusing time-lapse showing how a pesky cockroach helped the green fungus breach containment.

It also helps that Joe Keery and Georgina Campbell make for an incredibly charismatic duo. Their arc is predictable, but their dynamic instantly relatable, and their on-screen chemistry is cinema gold, resulting in genuinely funny moments. Keery brings nervous energy and sharp comedic timing, while Campbell’s performance adds emotional depth and resilience to the onscreen proceedings.

Liam Neeson, fresh from his gloriously deadpan turn in last year’s The Naked Gun reboot, is an experience as always. Despite the severity of the growing crisis, his character continues to crack jokes and make light of it, all the while maintaining the intensity the plot demands. Opposite him the sublime Lesley Manville feels a little underused, but manages to shine whenever the screenplay allows her to. In supporting roles, Ellora Torchia adds some quality as her dutiful military liaison, while Sosie Bacon uses every second to showcase her range. On the whole, ‘Cold Storage‘ is a solid horror comedy that effectively balances dread with irreverent wit.