The opening title card reads: "Pay attention. This shit is real." That is the entire tone of Cold Storage in one line. The Cold Storage review verdict: this is the most fun you will have with a B-movie in 2026, and it knows precisely how ridiculous it is. David Koepp wrote Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible, and now he has written a film about an alien fungus that makes bodies explode in a Kansas self-storage facility. It works.
What Is Cold Storage About?
The Cold Storage plot begins in 1979 when debris from the Skylab space station crashes in the Australian outback. The wreckage carries an alien fungus, one that infects humans, controls their bodies, and causes them to burst. The US government contains it, freezes it underground, then casually forgets about it when the military base closes decades later.
In the present day, that same underground vault sits beneath a busy self-storage company in Atchison, Kansas. Night shift employees Travis "Teacake" Meacham (Joe Keery) and new hire Naomi (Georgina Campbell) start hearing an alarm beeping somewhere in the depths below the building. It is the freezing system failing. The fungus is thawing. Think The Thing set in a fluorescent-lit storage unit, with more jokes and considerably more exploding bodies.
The Cold Storage Cast and Performances
The Cold Storage cast is the best thing about it, and the film is smart enough to know that. Joe Keery, who spent years playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things, plays Teacake as a lovable disaster who has absolutely no business surviving a fungal apocalypse. He and Georgina Campbell have genuine chemistry, the kind where two actors are so comfortable together that the bickering feels like real people rather than scripted friction.
Liam Neeson plays Robert Quinn, the retired Pentagon bioterror operative called back into action when the alarm goes off. He plays it with dry deadpan humor that fits the material far better than his usual action-movie gravity would. The real surprise is Lesley Manville as his former partner Trini Romano. The scenes between Neeson and Manville are the sharpest in the film, two old colleagues trading history while driving toward a catastrophe neither fully wants to face. Vanessa Redgrave appears briefly in a role that includes a firearm and generates one of the biggest laughs in the film. She is 89 years old and she commits completely.
Direction, Visuals, and Score
Director Jonny Campbell is primarily a television veteran, with credits on Sherlock and Succession, and that background shows in the best possible way. He is disciplined with the camera, keeps the location tight and claustrophobic, and never lets the film spiral into the self-indulgent chaos that sinks most creature features. The self-storage building is used brilliantly as a setting: a maze of locked units, narrow corridors, and loading bays that each become their own contained problem.
The practical monster effects by Dave and Lou Elsey are the visual highlight of the film. The fungal-infected humans are genuinely disgusting in a way that feels tactile and real. The CGI animal sequences are a different story: several moments involving infected wildlife look cheap enough to pull you out of the film. Composer Mathieu Lamboley's score leans into the retro creature-feature energy without overdoing it, and the limited soundtrack choices land with real precision. At 98 minutes, the film moves fast enough that its weaknesses rarely have time to settle.
What People Are Saying About Cold Storage
Audience reaction has been warm and consistent. Viewers on Reddit and Letterboxd repeatedly describe Cold Storage as exactly what the trailer promises: fast, gross, frequently funny, and entirely uninterested in being anything more important than a very good time. The most common complaint is that the film is forgettable the moment it ends, which several viewers noted as a genuine limitation even as they admitted they enjoyed every minute of it.
YouTube critics have been broadly positive, with multiple reviews drawing direct comparisons to the creature features of the 1980s. The dynamic between Keery and Campbell is the most praised element across platforms, while Neeson's dry humor is consistently cited as a pleasant change from his recent action work. Cold Storage currently holds a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes from 77 critics and a matching 78% audience score, an unusually aligned result that suggests both camps want the same thing from this film and got it. Metacritic sits at 64 out of 100. IMDb has it at 6.4. For more films that nail this kind of horror-comedy balance, check out our picks for the best horror comedy movies streaming right now.
Is Cold Storage Worth Watching?
Is Cold Storage worth watching? For anyone who loves horror comedy, creature features, or just wants a good film to watch with friends on a Saturday night, the answer is yes without reservation. This is exactly the kind of movie that used to anchor a night at a drive-in: loud, gross, funny, and completely on your side as an audience member. Fans of Shaun of the Dead, The Thing, and Tremors will find it an extremely comfortable place to spend 98 minutes. For more films in that category, have a look at our roundup of the best sci-fi horror films on streaming for what to queue up next.
If you need a film to challenge you, expand your thinking, or leave you with something to wrestle with after the credits roll, Cold Storage is not that film. It is comfort food with gore in it. Some viewers will find that enormously satisfying. Others will find it disposable. Both reactions are correct, and the film is confident enough in what it is that it does not particularly care which camp you fall into.
Where to Watch Cold Storage
Cold Storage streaming is currently available to rent or buy on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video in the United States. Rental prices start at $5.99 and the purchase price is $19.99. The film had a theatrical run beginning February 13, 2026, via Samuel Goldwyn Films, including IMAX screenings, but most screens have since dropped it. In the UK, StudioCanal released it on February 20, 2026. No subscription streaming deal has been confirmed as of March 2026, but given its modest $2 million box office performance, a platform deal is likely coming soon. If you want more solid picks to rent right now, our guide to the best movies on VOD this month has you covered.
Cold Storage will not change your life, and it absolutely does not want to. What it does instead is remind you that a great cast, a sharp script, and a filmmaker who respects the genre can make even the most ridiculous premise into a genuinely entertaining night. Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville in a car driving toward an alien fungus outbreak is something cinema needed, and nobody knew it until now.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cold Storage (2026)
Where can I watch Cold Storage (2026)? Cold Storage is available to rent or buy on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. Rental starts at $5.99. A limited theatrical run via Samuel Goldwyn Films ended in late February 2026. No subscription streaming platform has acquired it yet as of March 2026.
Is Cold Storage (2026) based on a book? Yes. David Koepp adapted the screenplay from his own 2019 novel of the same name. Koepp also wrote Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and Spider-Man for Sam Raimi. He both wrote and produced the film.
What is Cold Storage (2026) rated? Cold Storage carries an R rating for strong horror violence and gore, language throughout, and some drug use. It is not suitable for children.
How long is Cold Storage (2026)? The runtime is 98 minutes, just under one hour and forty minutes.
What is Cold Storage's Rotten Tomatoes score? As of March 2026, Cold Storage holds a 78% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes from 77 reviews and a matching 78% audience score. Metacritic has it at 64 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews. IMDb sits at 6.4 out of 10.
Is Cold Storage similar to The Thing? Multiple critics have drawn the comparison. Both films involve a dangerous organism in a contained setting with a small group of characters trying to survive. Cold Storage is significantly funnier and less paranoid in tone, but the influence is clear and intentional.
Is Liam Neeson good in Cold Storage? Yes, and in a different way than usual. Neeson plays the role with dry comedic timing rather than straight action-hero energy. His scenes with Lesley Manville are the best-written in the film and Neeson clearly enjoys the material.
Did Cold Storage do well at the box office? No. The film earned approximately $2 million worldwide during its theatrical run, a modest result for a film of its cast size. Its long-term success is likely to come from streaming and home video rather than theaters.
Is Cold Storage connected to any other Liam Neeson films? No. It is a standalone film with no connections to any other Neeson franchise or universe. The real-life connection is that Vanessa Redgrave, who appears in the film, is the mother of Neeson's late wife Natasha Richardson, making them family, though the two share no scenes together on screen.
Will there be a Cold Storage sequel? No sequel has been announced as of March 2026. David Koepp's novel does not have a follow-up, and the box office performance makes a theatrical sequel unlikely. A streaming continuation is possible if the film builds an audience on VOD.
