‘Shell’: Toronto Review

Dir. Max Minghella. US. 2024. 100mins

Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is an ageing actress whose psoriasis has derailed her profession to the purpose the place she turns to the titular anti-ageing firm owned by famend wellness guru Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) to reclaim her pores and skin well being. This high-concept sci-fi horror flick teases deeper, extra sinister secrets and techniques, however takes too lengthy to lean into its sillier elements to completely capitalise on its gory potential, as an alternative taking part in as a shiny bundle of pastiche masquerading as an homage to B-movies. Its shut similarity to the latest pageant favorite The Substance doesn’t work in its favour.

Performs as a shiny bundle of pastiche masquerading as an homage to B-movies

A pointy shift from Max Minghella’s first function, the earnest 2018 pop musical Teen Spirit, this swing within the style area looks like a poor imitation of Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg’s extra transgressive Eighties work. It’s additionally a movie by which the often sure-handed Moss feels wholly miscast. A Particular Presentation in Toronto, Shell goals to please midnight film followers on the lookout for popcorn enjoyable, solely to supply exhaustive plot turns as an alternative.

It’s a disgrace as a result of the items are all there. As with The Substance, this horror flick makes an attempt to destabilise the unattainable female magnificence requirements that drive Hollywood by critiquing Tinseltown’s concern of ageing main women. Samantha is one such actress. She was as soon as a star on the tacky tv sequence Hannah Received a Coronary heart. Now she’s competing in opposition to considerably youthful actresses like Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), who she used to babysit.

After a failed audition, Samantha’s company tells her to both flip to Shell or hand over her profession. Samantha provides in. The remedy, which synthesises human DNA with that of a crustacean — lobsters handle to defy ageing — has rapid outcomes: her courting life picks up, she will get solid within the film she was beforehand denied and turns into greatest buddies with Zoe. 

Shell teases fairly just a few untravelled roads. There’s Zoe as a Christ-like determine, with Samantha attending a Christmas get together the place she eats meals comprised of Zoe’s flesh. There’s the intercourse optimistic message preached by Zoe that doesn’t completely translate to Samantha who, aside from a passionate kiss, has a intercourse life that’s depicted as being pretty staid – although a horny Shell physician named Hubert (Arian Moayed) languishes on the periphery as a possible love curiosity. After which there may be the Hollywood ecosystem itself. The movie manages to solely brush the floor of the poisonous practices and requirements that drive the leisure trade and people who run it.

Moss has made a profession out of taking part in neurotic ladies managed by a domineering patriarchy within the likes of The Handmaid’s Story and Shirley, however this bubbly spin on these grave ladies is ill-suited to her abilities. It typically feels as if Moss needs to push this mousy character to one thing extra sinister, however is held again by the script. Even when Chloe goes lacking and Shell’s miracle drug out of the blue types black lesions on Samantha’s pores and skin, inflicting her to show to the police for assist, the following freak-out isn’t as kooky as you’d like. Zoe’s employed goons could lurk across the nook to silence Samantha, however that doesn’t imply that something memorable happens. The identical goes for a sport Hudson, whose character might be a lot meaner. 

Minghella does try to recreate the environment of The Fly or Complete Recall by means of his reliance on harsh stylistic lighting and a prickly synth rating. However even these parts play as pale imitations of considerably higher works. By the point the movie lastly leans into its absurdities, they arrive too late to make up for the beforehand overworked acts. If Shell was extra daring and extra vicious, it might have stood aside from The Substance. Because it stands, it already feels outdated.