Movie Critique – Elisabeth Moss Gets Outshone by Her Co-Star in Oddball Film
There are scenes in the dumped schlock horror Shell that could paint it as like a frivolous tipsy kitschy gem if described in isolation. Imagine the segment where Kate Hudson's glamorous wellness CEO forces Elisabeth Moss to operate a giant vibrator while making her stare into a reflective surface. Moreover, a initial scene featuring former Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley sadly hacking off crustaceans that have appeared on her flesh before being slaughtered by a unknown murderer. Next, Hudson offers an sophisticated feast of her removed outer layer to excited guests. Furthermore, Kaia Gerber transforms into a giant lobster...
If only Shell was as hilariously enjoyable as those descriptions suggest, but there's something strangely dull about it, with actor-turned-director Max Minghella having difficulty to bring the over-the-top thrills that something as absurd as this so plainly demands. Audiences may wonder what or why Shell is and the target viewers, a low-budget experiment with few attractions for those who didn't participate in the project, appearing more superfluous given its unlucky likeness to The Substance. Both focus on an Hollywood performer struggling to get the jobs and fame she thinks she deserves in a ruthless field, wrongly evaluated for her appearance who is then lured by a game-changing procedure that grants immediate benefits but has horrifying side effects.
Even if Fargeat's version hadn't premiered last year at Cannes, preceding Minghella's made its bow at the Toronto film festival, the comparison would still not be favorable. Even though I was not a big enthusiast of The Substance (a garishly made, excessively lengthy and hollow act of deliberate offense mildly saved by a brilliant star turn) it had an unmistakable memorability, readily securing its deserved place within the pop culture (expect it to be one of the most parodied films in next year's Scary Movie 6). Shell has about the same degree of insight to its obvious social critique (female appearance ideals are extremely harsh!), but it fails to rival its over-the-top body horror, the film finally evoking the kind of low-cost copycat that would have trailed The Substance to the rental shop back in the day (the Orca to its Jaws, the knock-off etc).
It's strangely led by Moss, an actor not known for her levity, wrongly placed in a role that demands someone more willing to dive into the silliness of the genre. She worked with Minghella on The Handmaid's Tale (one can see why they both might crave a break from that show's relentless darkness), and he was so desperate for her to star that he decided to work around her being clearly six months pregnant, cue the star being awkwardly covered in a lot of big hoodies and coats. As an insecure actor seeking to push her entry into Hollywood with the help of a crustaceous skin routine, she might not really sell the role, but as the sinister 68-year-old CEO of a dangerous beauty brand, Hudson is in significantly better form.
The actress, who remains a consistently overlooked talent, is again a delight to watch, mastering a particular West Coast variety of insincere authenticity supported by something truly menacing and it's in her unfortunately limited scenes that we see what the film had the potential to become. Coupled with a more comfortable co-star and a wittier script, the film could have come across like a wildly vicious cross between a mid-century women's drama and an 80s creature feature, something Death Becomes Her did so exceptionally.
But the script, from Jack Stanley, who also wrote the similarly limp action thriller Lou, is never as acidic or as clever as it should have been, social commentary kept to its most blatant (the ending hinging on the use of an NDA is more humorous in concept than realization). Minghella doesn't seem confident in what he's really trying to make, his film as simply, slowly filmed as a afternoon serial with an equally rubbishy soundtrack. If he's trying to do a self-aware carbon copy of a bottom shelf VHS horror, then he hasn't pushed hard enough into studied pastiche to convince the audience. Shell should take us all the way into madness, but it's too fearful to make the jump.
Shell is up for hire via streaming in the US, in Australia on 30 October and in the UK on 7 November
