‘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 components to totally capitalise on its gory potential, as an alternative enjoying as a shiny bundle of pastiche masquerading as an homage to B-movies. Its shut similarity to the current 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 house appears like a poor imitation of Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg’s extra transgressive Nineteen Eighties work. It’s additionally a movie by which the normally sure-handed Moss feels wholly miscast. A Particular Presentation in Toronto, Shell goals to please midnight film followers in search of 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 girls. Samantha is one such actress. She was as soon as a star on the tacky tv collection Hannah Obtained 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 quit her profession. Samantha offers in. The remedy, which synthesises human DNA with that of a crustacean — lobsters handle to defy ageing — has rapid outcomes: her relationship life picks up, she will get solid within the film she was beforehand denied and turns into greatest buddies with Zoe. 

Shell teases fairly a couple of untravelled roads. There’s Zoe as a Christ-like determine, with Samantha attending a Christmas occasion the place she eats meals constructed from Zoe’s flesh. There’s the intercourse optimistic message preached by Zoe that doesn’t completely translate to Samantha who, other than a passionate kiss, has a intercourse life that’s depicted as being pretty staid – though an attractive 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 enjoying neurotic girls managed by a domineering patriarchy within the likes of The Handmaid’s Story and Shirley, however this bubbly spin on these grave girls 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 all of the sudden 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 might 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 and recreate the ambiance of The Fly or Complete Recall by way 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 may have stood other than The Substance. Because it stands, it already feels outdated.