Cold Storage & Marshmallow

Sometimes one wants a film filled with subtlety and nuance, cinema that plumbs the human condition and makes one a better person. Sometimes one simply wants a movie in which, to quote SCTV Farm Film Report sages Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok, many things get “blowed up real good.” Cold Storage is such a flick, and if I had to narrow my critique down to one word, that word would be “goopy.” One (as if attending a Gallagher concert back in the day) should wear a tarp to see this movie. Which is to say, it’s a lot of fun, smartly written by David Koepp (Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park), and I recommend it. 

In 1979, Skylab breaks up upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, dividing into many pieces scattered across the globe. In 2005, one piece has been discovered in the Australian Outback, and an unfortunate scientist finds out the hard way that it brought back a mutated and very infectious fungal visitor. The military, in the form of Robert (Liam Neeson) and Trini (Lesley Manville), manage to halt the outbreak and secure a sample in a bunker in Kansas. In present day, that military vault is beneath a self-storage facility. Night shift employees Teacake (Joe Keery) and Naomi (Georgina Campbell) hear an unusual beeping, which turns out to be a warning that the vault has been breached, and the fungus is taking over any body it can, from cats to deer to people. Robert is called upon to save the day, while Teacake and Naomi are just trying to stay alive and uninfected.

Neeson is amusing and a good sport, with several characters negatively mentioning his age, but the joke’s on them, because as we know he has a certain set of skills. Manville is perfectly good here, but mainly it’s a surprise to see such an acclaimed dramatic actress in a film that includes a roach-cam sequence. But that’s not even the most surprising appearance – Vanessa Redgrave is in this movie! The mind boggles. Keery is charming as the chatty and easily suggestible Teacake, and genre veteran Campbell always improves any picture she’s in.

Director Jonny Campbell manages to stage all the craziness with clarity and a tight running time, while never skimping on the exploding of several different species. Koepp’s script deftly balances humor and horror, from the odd sight of an infected deer calmly taking an elevator to a group of terrified bikers seeing one of the infected and yelling, “He’s got Covid!” Robert describes the danger of the situation by saying, “We are at pucker factor ten,” but the most immortal line comes from an infected guy who wants to pass on his contagion, who reasonably requests, “Open your mouth, I want to throw up in it!” This is also a film in which people outrun a nuclear explosion by driving really fast, but nothing’s perfect.

The new film Marshmallow seems to be a Friday the 13^th knockoff featuring kids instead of horny teens, but it turns out to be more interesting than that. I’m not going to include any spoilers, because its originality is the entire point. It’s not a perfect film (the quality of the direction varies), but overall I was glad I stuck with it.

Young Morgan (Kue Lawrence) suffers from bullying and a fear of water. Trying to help him socially, his parents send him to summer camp. Initially this doesn’t improve things for Morgan; he’s still bullied and scared to go in the water. However, a couple of the counselors, Franklin (Maxwell Whittington-Cooper) and Rachel (Giorgia Whigham), are kind to him, and he even makes some friends. That’s until he hears the campfire story of a killer doctor who supposedly used to do experiments in the woods before the camp was built, and one night sees the doctor still stalking the forest.

Lawrence does a nice job portraying the unlucky Morgan, who’s enduring more than anyone else realizes. Whittington-Cooper is good as the only counselor really taking the time to watch over Morgan, and Whigham is quietly impressive as the lead counselor who ends up having to take on more than she’s expecting. Kai Cech is amiably charming as Morgan’s “girlfriend,” Pilar, and Max Malas is very likeable as the resilient Dirk.

Director Daniel DelPurgatorio mostly succeeds at making the film look good and keeping the pacing swift, but occasionally he lingers too long on a particular scene and the film’s score hammers home whatever feeling he’s attempting to evoke with a lack of subtlety. Andy Greskoviak’s script, however, is quite smart and creative, especially in the film’s second half, in which one’s patience with the film’s setup is rewarded. It also seems like somebody could’ve come up with a stronger title than Marshmallow, which doesn’t really do this ambitious and enjoyable film justice.