This has the feel of a ‘Ghostbusters’-style film mixed with a conspiracy thriller and an end-of-the-world disaster movie in the spirit of ‘Outbreak’, complete with military secrets, buried cover-ups and the resurfacing of a past catastrophe that authorities thought had been safely contained. Yet all of this is handled largely as comedy, which makes the film a decidedly odd hybrid. At its centre is a mutant fungus capable of triggering an apocalypse, blending elements of zombie horror with sci-fi farce.

The absurd premise hinges on the idea that this dangerous organism has been stored inside a supposedly high-security unit within an ordinary commercial storage facility. When containment inevitably fails, it falls not to scientists or soldiers but to a ragtag group of night-shift workers to try to save the world, armed with very little information and even less preparation. In that respect, it recalls films like ‘Tremors’, where ordinary people must confront an extraordinary threat, and the connection is playfully reinforced by a cameo from Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon, who starred in that earlier creature feature.

The cast itself is intriguingly eclectic, bringing together Liam Neeson alongside Vanessa Redgrave – who was his real-life mother-in-law – and Lesley Manville, who has previously appeared as Neeson’s on-screen wife. The tone constantly veers between horror and comedy, filled with splatter effects and sharp wisecracks. Infection arrives suddenly and grotesquely: victims begin vomiting uncontrollably, transform into zombie-like figures, and in some cases destroy themselves altogether. It’s messy, chaotic and knowingly ridiculous – a film that embraces its own outrageousness while delivering an oddly entertaining blend of apocalypse and comedy horror.