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Storage
One of the shining lights at this year’s Brisbane International Film Festival and now predictability in limited release, Michael Craft’s feature debut Storage, is a film that begs to be seen. It’s dark all right and in a way polarised from itself; its beguiling nature springs from the desolate nature of what we see. There isn’t much to see actually since it exists within that dark corner of cinema so often occupied by the Coen brothers. Think Blood Simple and even Raising Arizona, films where the only characters allowed into the frame are those needed to drive the narrative.
Storage opens with Jimmy (Matthew Scully) witnessing the mindless murder of his father. Before long he’s working for his uncle Leonard (Damien Garvey) in a storage facility where one of the customers, Francis (Robert Mammone), raises Jimmy’s suspicions with his furtive behaviour and after some investigation, he and his uncle take action. Since Storage is one of those films with a secret, to reveal more would allow you to connect the dots but those familiar with the terrain will, in turn, have their suspicions.
The performances here don’t really sing but then the keen direction overrules any chance they have; it’s essentially a four-hander and Craft moves them around like chess pieces. Filmed in Brisbane under the cover of night, clean lines and squared-off frames dominate the visuals and its here that Storage earns its stripes. With broad strokes, Craft imbues his film with its own claustrophobia and the belowground location of much of the action ensures the sweaty atmosphere.
Storage should be standing proudly alongside modern horror classics like Hostel and Saw (it has much in common with both) at the multiplex but if Australian distributors have no faith in outings such as this, our film industry stands no chance. Australian audiences have been conditioned to believe that only American creepfests can truly scare but it depends on your appetite. There are moments of violence in Storage, surprisingly few, but they’re not gratuitous. Craft instead uses those moments to drive his tale further into the dark recesses of a tortured mind. Now that’s stylish.
Michael Dalton
www.storagethemovie.com
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