Shell, directed by Max Minhella combines body horror and dark comedy to reflect Hollywoods obsession with youth and beauty, and to be honest, it was pretty disappointing.
The film stars Elisabeth Moss as Samantha, a desperate actress making a last ditch attempt to revive her career in an industry that has sidelined her for her older age. I did like the premise and was very excited after I saw the promo for it. Although, I enjoyed many of the camp elements and 80’s inspired setting, this films premise and execution felt like a film that should have been released 10 years ago when the conversation surrounding body positivity and excessive use of photoshop were relevant.
Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) becomes the target of Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) the head of Shell Clinic, a place that promises eternal beauty by using the shells of crabs. As Zoe takes Samantha under her wing, she undergoes the magical treatment and begins to live out her dreams of being an actress. Samantha and Zoe become very close until Samantha’s treatments stop working for her.
The good parts about this the atmosphere and dark comedy. The set design merged Hollywood vintage glamour with 90’s futuristic edge and the practical effects, although stomach turning, were scary AF. Kate Hudson plays Zoe as she does most of her characters- shallow and forgettable and Moss plays Samantha as if she was gunning for an Oscar. The casting was mismatched and and their chemistry was imbalanced, but it was still a fun watch.
But the worst parts of the film were the entire plot and messaging. It is incredibly hard to take social commentary about pop culture’s youth-obsessed nature when your main cast is making money from it. Kate Hudson is literally the brand ambassador of Alma, a medical cosmetics beauty brand. They have access to the best health freaks in the business to keep them looking young forever. As a result, this movie becomes a satire of itself because its lack of self-awareness and takes itself too seriously.
The other issue I had was the pacing. The film struggles to keep its momentum, especially in the first act. Everything is so rushed and, when the second act arrives, it began to lose my interest because of the massive tonal shift. Ultimately, it will make a great popcorn movie and has the “it’s so bad it’s good” elements to make it a cult horror-comedy, but it also has potential to be forgettable.
Shell is playing at TIFF ’24. For more information, click here.
