Shell Review – Elisabeth Moss Gets Substance-d by Her Co-Star in Oddball Film
There are moments in the unveiled schlock horror Shell that might present it like a wild inebriated kitschy gem if taken out of context. Imagine the scene where the actress's seductive wellness CEO compels Elisabeth Moss to masturbate with a enormous device while instructing her to gaze into a reflective surface. Moreover, a cold open starring former Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley sadly hacking off shells that have grown on her skin before being slaughtered by a hooded assailant. Subsequently, Hudson serves an refined meal of her shed epidermis to eager diners. Plus, Kaia Gerber becomes a massive sea creature...
If only Shell was as hilariously enjoyable as those descriptions suggest, but there's something strangely dull about it, with star turned helmer Max Minghella struggling to provide the over-the-top thrills that something as ridiculous as this so clearly requires. Audiences may wonder what or why Shell is and the target viewers, a cheaply made lark with few attractions for those who weren't involved in the project, appearing more superfluous given its regrettable similarity to The Substance. Both focus on an Los Angeles star struggling to get the roles and recognition she thinks she deserves in a ruthless field, unjustly judged for her appearance who is then seduced by a transformative treatment that grants immediate benefits but has frightening drawbacks.
Although Fargeat's version hadn't premiered last year at Cannes, preceding Minghella's was unveiled at the Toronto film festival, the parallel would still not be flattering. Even though I was not a big enthusiast of The Substance (a garishly made, excessively lengthy and hollow act of provocation somewhat rescued by a brilliant star turn) it had an undeniable stickiness, easily finding its deserved place within the entertainment world (expect it to be one of the most mocked movies in next year's Scary Movie 6). Shell has about the same degree of insight to its and-then-what commentary (expectations for women's looks are extremely harsh!), but it can't match its extreme physical terror, the film in the end recalling the kind of cheap imitation that would have come after The Substance to the VHS outlet back in the day (the lesser counterpart, the Critters to its Gremlins etc).
It's strangely led by Moss, an actress not known for her humor, miscast in a role that requires someone more ready to lean into the silliness of the subject matter. She worked with Minghella on The Handmaid's Tale (one can understand why they both might long for a break from that show's relentless darkness), and he was so desperate for her to star that he decided to accommodate her being clearly six months pregnant, leading to the star being obviously concealed in a lot of big hoodies and outerwear. As an insecure actor seeking to push her entry into Hollywood with the help of a exoskeleton-inspired treatment, she might not really sell the role, but as the sleek 68-year-old CEO of a hazardous beauty brand, Hudson is in significantly better form.
The performer, who remains a always underestimated star, is again a delight to watch, excelling at a specifically LA brand of insincere authenticity underscored by something genuinely sinister and it's in her regrettably short scenes that we see what the film had the potential to become. Paired with a more comfortable co-star and a wittier script, the film could have unfolded like a feverishly mean cross between a mid-century women's drama and an 1980s monster movie, something Death Becomes Her did so brilliantly.
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, mockery kept to its most blatant (the climax centering on the use of an NDA is more humorous in concept than delivery). Minghella doesn't seem confident in what he's really trying to create, his film as plainly, lethargically directed as a afternoon serial with an equally rubbishy soundtrack. If he's trying to do a self-aware direct imitation of a low-rent tape fright, then he hasn't pushed hard enough into conscious mimicry to sell it as such. Shell should take us all the way into madness, but it's too fearful to take the plunge.
Shell is available to rent via streaming in the US, in Australia on 30 October and in the UK on 7 November
