Unit 234

Unit 234 (also known as Unit 234: The Lock Up) is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by Andy Tennant and written by Derek Steiner. It stars Don Johnson, Isabelle Fuhrman, and Jack Huston.^[2]

Unit 234
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andy Tennant
Written by	Derek Steiner
Produced by	Blythe Frank Hadeel Reda Lee Dreyfuss William Santor Doug Murray
Starring	Don Johnson Isabelle Fuhrman Jack Huston
Cinematography	John Pardue
Edited by	Piper Kroeze
Music by	George Fenton
Production companies	Productivity Media Type Street Productions Red A Entertainment Round Larry Productions
Distributed by	Brainstorm Media
Release dates	September 30, 2024 (2024-09-30) (United Kingdom) May 9, 2025 (2025-05-09) (United States)
Running time	86 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

At a remote construction site, company owner Jules, who looks seriously ill, his bodyguard and driver Leon, and enforcer Doc wait with henchmen brothers Dante and Carlos for a 'delivery'. Benny arrives in an empty minivan and tries to extract more money from Jules. Searching his wallet, Jules finds a business card for a self-storage facility with unit number and access code written on it. Benny is promptly killed and the gang drives off to the facility, where they realize they need both the code and the key to unlock the unit.

Laurie starts a night shift at the facility after cancelling a weekend trip to her long-distance boyfriend Jordan. Cleaning up unclaimed units, she falls and breaks her mobile phone. Jules arrives and pretends to have lost the key to the unit, but his identity does not match the photo in the database. Laurie orders him to leave, then checks the unit and finds a sedated man inside, handcuffed to a hospital gurney. The man is Clayton; he claims Benny kidnapped him to harvest his organs.

As electricity and phone lines are cut by the gang, Laurie releases Clayton and heads to the office to retrieve the keys to her truck, but is captured by Dante. She pepper-sprays Jules and Dante and runs away, but finds the tires on her vehicle are cut. Carlos attacks Clayton but is killed in the fight.

Laurie breaks from the gang in a truck that was stored in a unit, running over and killing Dante, while Clayton disables Leon's car to avoid pursuit. Driving off, they encounter a police car, but Doc catches up with them in a stolen scooter and shoots the officer. Back in the facility, Laurie is locked in an empty unit, and Clayton is again handcuffed to the gurney.

Jordan arrives, alerted by the power outage. Doc is about to shoot him, but Leon intervenes and kills Doc, then knocks out Jordan. Jules tortures Clayton, cutting off two of his fingers to get him into admitting guilt, but Clayton manages to escape.

Leon releases Laurie. In the office, a satellite TV is running on an uninterruptible power supply. Watching the news feed, Laurie realizes Clayton is a convicted murderer who killed Jules' daughter's entire family. After a successful surgery, he broke from the hospital security with the help of his fellow inmate Benny.

Leon is murdered by Clayton. Laurie runs outside but is cornered by Clayton at the facility's fence. He tries to kill her, but is knocked off by Jules. The police arrives and shoots Jules while he kills Clayton with a cutter tool. As the police question Laurie, coroners remove Benny's body from the scene, revealing the key to the unit hidden in his shoe.

Cast

• Isabelle Fuhrman as Laurie Saltair^[3]
• Don Johnson as Jules
• Jack Huston as Clayton
• James DuMont as Leon^[4]
• Christopher James Baker as Doc^[4]
• Manny Galan as Dante^[4]
• Juvian Marquez as Carlos^[4]
• Anirudh Pisharody as Jordan^[4]
• Rosemberg Salgado as Benny

Production

Filming occurred in the Cayman Islands in April 2022.^[3] In May 2022, it was announced that Jack Huston joined the cast of the film.^[5]

Release

It was released on digital platforms in the United Kingdom by Signature Entertainment on September 30, 2024.^[6] It was released in the United States by Brainstorm Media on May 9, 2025.^[7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 62% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10.^[8]

Hannah Rose of CBR gave the film a rating of 6 out of 10 and she said; It's not a classic, but at the very least Unit 234 shows just how much both its actors and its director are capable of, when given the chance.^[9]

Monique Jones of Common Sense Media gave the film a positive feedback and wrote; This is pretty standard, serviceable action-thriller fare.^[10]

An original score of B- was given by Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com and he wrote; Unit 234 actually makes its way to refreshingly dark final act, and the actors assembled mostly understand what’s required of them, getting the offering to moments of misery that are more compelling than the usual in chases and near-misses.^[11]