Shell Film Review
“Shell” is a film that requires you to suspend your disbelief multiple times. You gotta believe that someone as gorgeous as “The Handmaid Tale’s” Elisabeth Moss is a frump. And that Kate Hudson is 68 years old. In reality, that’s actually closer in age to her mother, Goldie Hawn than to mid-40s Hudson. See what we mean about disbelief?
This film sees Moss team up with her “Handmaid’s Tale” love interest, Max Minghella who leaves behind the acting in order to direct. Minghella played the character Nick In the Margaret Atwood adaptation for those playing along at home. In “Shell” they borrow some of that sense of a futuristic setting but the tone here is quite uneven. “Shell” is often unsure if it’s playing things for laughs like a satire, or if it wants to embrace all of its darkness and go full horror.
The premise of this story is that Moss plays a 40-something year old character named Samantha. She was once a highly sought after actress on a sitcom. These days Samantha keeps staring down obscurity and irrelevance, as the female parts she auditions for keep going to younger, doe-eyed influences.
Samantha is ultimately pushed in the direction of a clinic owned by the glamorous Zoe Shannon (a perfectly dazzling, Kate Hudson). Shannon is the CEO of a wellness company that makes some bold claims. They promise that the patients who undergo their treatments will not age a single day. It sounds enticing, except it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
We mentioned Hudson’s mother, Goldie Hawn earlier and this film shares some things in common with her very own flick, “Death Becomes Her.” If you want a more modern take there’s also “The Substance,” as “Shell” also borrows things from the same rulebook. In “Shell,” Hudson plays a psychopathic villain who at one stage goes so far as to serve up her shed skin at a dinner party like it’s a prized sashimi. This was certainly one of the film’s grossest moments.
Cindy Crawford’s daughter, Kaia Gerber plays Chloe Benson, an influencer and young woman who was once babysat by Samantha. The pair now compete with each other at auditions. Este Haim plays Samantha’s straight-talking friend. Meanwhile, Arian Moayed plays an eerie doctor named Hubert who treats Samantha initially for psoriasis. Later she develops some revolting black lesions. Did we mention that not all is as it seems?
“Shell” is a film with a noteworthy cast and it certainly looks handsome enough when it’s not being too disgusting. The main problem is that it strives to be too much, offering lashes of disturbing horror alongside biting satire about impossible-to-achieve beauty standards. It’s enough to make your head hurt. We’re not sure whether this is made for fans of the genre or for dark comedy lovers, or simply for those devotees of Moss and Hudson. All we know is that this is a mysterious film about one highly secretive organization, which seems to lack a proper plot or punchline. This is truth and beauty that is only skin deep…
About the Author
Natalie Salvo Natalie is a Sydney-based writer and lover of all things music, food, photography comedy, art, theatre. You can find her digging in crates at good record stores.
Related Posts
Happyend – Film Review →
Frankenstein – Film Review →
Hedda – Film Review →
