The quick-talking, good-hearted Teacake isn’t a ruthless criminal, he just has a comically hard time saying “no” to people (hence his arrest after unwittingly agreeing to watch the getaway car at a robbery), something that his new coworker Naomi (Campbell) exploits when she persuades him to investigate a strange beeping sound at the bottom of the facility. The issue is that the virus isn’t being kept as frosty as the film’s title might suggest—rather, global warming has caused a spring beneath the facility to heat up and trigger the fungus to breach containment. Suddenly, Teacake and Naomi find themselves facing infected deer, suicidal cats, and a host of other wacky obstacles as they try to survive the night and stop the spread. 

Cold Storage begins with a playful title card (‘Pay attention! This shit is real’), and the film that follows wholly commits to that tongue-in-cheek tone. It’s a modern-day B-movie and an unabashedly fun time at the movies, one that is further improved by a string of excellent performances that exceed the demands of frivolous genre fare. Sporting bleach blonde hair and a neck tattoo reading ‘howdy’, Joe Keery is a standout as the quirky yet charming Teacake. Making a name for himself in comedy-tinged horror media (Stranger Things, Spree), Keery confirms again that he is a consummate leading man, with co-star Liam Neeson aptly labelling him ‘the modern-day Cary Grant.’ His chemistry with the sharp Georgina Campbell (a scream queen herself after roles in Barbarian, Influencers, and the upcoming Psycho Killer amongst other horror films) drives the film, while Neeson evidently enjoys himself with the kind of endearingly hammy performance that has served him well late in his career.