Film Analysis – The Actress Gets Outshone by Her Co-Star in Schlocky Curio
There are sequences in the dumped schlock horror Shell that might present it like a frivolous five-wines-in kitschy gem if taken out of context. Envision the scene where Kate Hudson's seductive health guru makes Elisabeth Moss to operate a enormous device while instructing her to gaze into a mirror. Additionally, a cold open starring former Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley emotionally cutting away growths that have developed on her skin before being killed by a masked killer. Then, Hudson serves an elegant dinner of her removed outer layer to eager guests. Furthermore, Kaia Gerber becomes a massive sea creature...
If only Shell was as hilariously enjoyable as that all makes it sound, but there's something strangely dull about it, with star turned helmer Max Minghella finding it hard to provide the over-the-top thrills that something as absurd as this so obviously needs. The purpose remains unclear what or why Shell is and its intended audience, a cheaply made lark with few attractions for those who had no role in the production, feeling even less necessary given its regrettable similarity to The Substance. Each center on an LA actor fighting to get the attention and work she feels entitled to in a ruthless field, unfairly critiqued for her looks who is then lured by a game-changing procedure that provides instant rewards but has terrifying consequences.
Even if Fargeat's version hadn't premiered last year at Cannes, preceding Minghella's was shown at the Toronto film festival, the contrast would still not be kind. Even though I was not a particular fan of The Substance (a garishly made, overlong and shallow act of deliberate offense somewhat rescued by a brilliant star turn) it had an undeniable stickiness, readily securing its rightful spot 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 obvious social critique (female appearance ideals are impossibly punishing!), but it doesn't equal its exaggerated grotesquery, the film ultimately resembling the kind of no-budget rip-off that would have trailed The Substance to the video store back in the day (the lesser counterpart, the knock-off etc).
It's strangely led by Moss, an actress not known for her lightness, wrongly placed in a role that needs someone more ready to dive into the silliness of the genre. She teamed up with Minghella on The Handmaid's Tale (one can see why they both might crave a break from that show's unrelenting bleakness), and he was so determined for her to star that he decided to work around her being noticeably six months pregnant, resulting in the star being obviously concealed in a lot of bulky jackets and outerwear. As an self-doubting performer seeking to elbow her way into Hollywood with the help of a crustaceous skin routine, she might not really convince, but as the slithering 68-year-old CEO of a dangerous beauty brand, Hudson is in much more command.
The performer, who remains a perennially underrated force, is again a delight to watch, mastering a specifically LA brand of insincere authenticity underscored by something authentically dark and it's in her unfortunately limited scenes that we see what the film had the potential to become. Coupled with a more comfortable sparring partner and a more incisive script, the film could have played like a wildly vicious cross between a mid-century women's drama and an 80s creature feature, something Death Becomes Her did so wonderfully well.
But the script, from Jack Stanley, who also wrote the just as flaccid action thriller Lou, is never as biting or as intelligent as it should have been, mockery kept to its most blatant (the climax hinging on the use of an NDA is more amusing in idea than execution). Minghella doesn't seem sure in what he's really trying to produce, his film as simply, lethargically directed as a TV drama with an similarly poor music. If he's trying to do a winking exact duplicate of a cheap cassette scare, then he hasn't taken it sufficiently into studied pastiche to make it believable. Shell should take us all the way to the brink, but it's too afraid to take the plunge.
Shell is up for hire digitally in the US, in Australia on 30 October and in the UK on 7 November
