UNIT 234: The Lock Up (2025)
Directed by: Andy Tennant
Written by: Derek Steiner
Starring: Don Johnson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jack Huston
“What’s in the container….what’s in the container?…you’ll soon find out in this by the book but decent thriller….
With VHS stores long gone and the thrill of finding a diamond among the Monday new releases, nothing but a joy that has long been extinguished, the modern fan needs to rely on word of mouth on lesser known films to get their attention.
Unit 234 or The Lock Up as there are different titles floating around is one those films that will get missed by the masses, but found by a core audience that will be pleasantly surprised at what it offers. This is not high art or a film that will be in anyone’s top 100 lists of 2025, but for a weekend watch, it nicely passes the time away.
Orphan’s Isabelle Fuhrman who is always a reliable watch, plays Laurie, a young woman at a crossroads in her life, debating to move to Nashville with her Boyfriend while grieving from the death of her parents and working and going beyond her duty at a storage unit facility.
It’s here during a stormy night that Don Johnson’s character Jules turns up, asking for a key to open one of his lockers – the audience is already aware that whatever is in storage is not his – a strange beeping noise has already attracted the attention of Laurie as she walked past earlier doing her rounds- and also the fact we’ve seen a man killed for Jules to get into said unit
An unmatched ID on the system alerts Laurie to the lies and while at first she tells him to leave, soon after, a cat and mouse game emerges as Laurie discovers what is actually being kept in the the lock up and why Jules and his gang of crooks are so desperate to get their hands on it.
What follows is a night of mayhem and chaos as Laurie tries to stay one step ahead of the gang, resulting in an increased body count and a desperate will to survive.
It’s not brilliant, but its OK! The score of the movie doesn’t help with one scene in particular of two gang members talking, I thought we were heading into Halloween 6 territory of that memorable music score of when the two police officers arrived with that odd jingle.
Also, a third act twist is something many will see coming way before the reveal and the laughable. melodramatic conclusion will bring a huge guffaw for those who reach the end.
But in-between the criticism, there are some decent moments of tension, Fuhrman carries the action sequences really well, once more proving that besides the role of Esther, she deserves another box office smash, while the old pro as he is, Johnson of course can play these characters in his sleep.
The initial mystery will keep you watching and for a B-movie thriller it does more than enough to keep you entertained. You’ll just wish that director Andy Tennant opened his locker a bit more and pulled out a bit more grit and chaos as while it’s all a bit formulaic, to be fair, it’s never ever boring.
UNIT 234 is now available on AMAZON PRIME
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