Cold Storage

The 90-minute horror/comedy fills an important role in the film landscape.

Sure, they’re rarely award winners, films to debate endlessly or even to watch more than once. But whether it’s a weekend watch with a takeaway, a date night trip to the cinema, a family watch when you have little time or a short something to switch your brain off these movies are often what we reach to.

Cold Storage is another little gem to add to the list.

The key is in making something feel fresh that just inherently isn’t. With its retro tone, short and concise plot and subtle humour, this has a pretty good stab at it.

As two night workers in an old government building turned storage facility witness a long forgotten alien virus find its way out of the basement, a wily old veteran tries to save the day.

There’s some gross out stuff, some fairly cheap looking CGI that actually fits the tone of the film, some subtle jokes that leak into the script without screaming for attention and winning performances.

Liam Neeson has been taking these lightly mocking roles in recent times and he’s again excellent here but Joe Keery and Georgina Campbell make an absolute winning pair in the lead roles and keep our entertainment and attention as we root for them to make it out alive.

The needle drops are pretty obvious but nicely done with their short and sharp flashbacks which give us the exposition we need and, whilst it’s fairly obvious where things are going, it has a lot of fun getting there and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

A great little short film which, in an era of what continues to feel like ever-lengthening run times, is an important commodity.

⭐️⭐️⭐️