‘Shell’: Toronto Review

Dir. Max Minghella. US. 2024. 100mins

Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is an ageing actress whose psoriasis has derailed her career to the point where she turns to the titular anti-ageing company owned by renowned wellness guru Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) to reclaim her skin health. This high-concept sci-fi horror flick teases deeper, more sinister secrets, but takes too long to lean into its sillier parts to fully capitalise on its gory potential, instead playing as a glossy bundle of pastiche masquerading as an homage to B-movies. Its close similarity to the recent festival favourite The Substance does not work in its favour.

Plays as a glossy bundle of pastiche masquerading as an homage to B-movies

A sharp shift from Max Minghella’s first feature, the earnest 2018 pop musical Teen Spirit, this swing in the genre space feels like a poor imitation of Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg’s more transgressive 1980s work. It’s also a film in which the usually sure-handed Moss feels wholly miscast. A Special Presentation in Toronto, Shell aims to please midnight movie fans looking for popcorn fun, only to provide exhaustive plot turns instead.

It’s a shame because the pieces are all there. As with The Substance, this horror flick attempts to destabilise the unattainable feminine beauty standards that drive Hollywood by critiquing Tinseltown’s fear of ageing leading ladies. Samantha is one such actress. She was once a star on the cheesy television series Hannah Got a Heart. Now she’s competing against significantly younger actresses like Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), who she used to babysit.

After a failed audition, Samantha’s agency tells her to either turn to Shell or give up her career. Samantha gives in. The treatment, which synthesises human DNA with that of a crustacean — lobsters manage to defy ageing — has immediate results: her dating life picks up, she gets cast in the movie she was previously denied and becomes best buddies with Zoe. 

Shell teases quite a few untravelled roads. There’s Zoe as a Christ-like figure, with Samantha attending a Christmas party where she eats food made from Zoe’s flesh. There’s the sex positive message preached by Zoe that doesn’t totally translate to Samantha who, apart from a passionate kiss, has a sex life that’s depicted as being fairly staid – even though a sexy Shell doctor named Hubert (Arian Moayed) languishes on the periphery as a potential love interest. And then there is the Hollywood ecosystem itself. The film manages to only brush the surface of the toxic practices and standards that drive the entertainment industry and those who run it.

Moss has made a career out of playing neurotic women controlled by a domineering patriarchy in the likes of The Handmaid’s Tale and Shirley, but this bubbly spin on those grave women is ill-suited to her talents. It often feels as though Moss wants to push this mousy character to something more sinister, but is held back by the script. Even when Chloe goes missing and Shell’s miracle drug suddenly forms black lesions on Samantha’s skin, causing her to turn to the police for help, the ensuing freak-out isn’t as kooky as you’d like. Zoe’s hired goons may lurk around the corner to silence Samantha, but that doesn’t mean that anything memorable occurs. The same goes for a game Hudson, whose character could be so much meaner. 

Minghella does attempt to recreate the atmosphere of The Fly or Total Recall through his reliance on harsh stylistic lighting and a prickly synth score. But even these components play as pale imitations of significantly better works. By the time the film finally leans into its absurdities, they arrive too late to make up for the previously overworked acts. If Shell was more bold and more vicious, it could have stood apart from The Substance. As it stands, it already feels outdated.