Director: Max Minghella
Writer: Jack Stanley
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, Kaia Gerber
Synopsis: Desperate to reclaim her career, once-beloved actress Samantha Lake is drawn into the glamorous world of wellness mogul Zoe Shannon -only to uncover a monstrous truth beneath its flawless surface.
Shell is a cluster of frustration; not only does the film from Mike Minghella have an interesting and timeless premise, but its retro-futuristic aesthetic and score are relegated to a film that barely goes below the surface. It feels like a made-for-TV film with its underwhelming script and messy tone. Barely tapping into the talents that the film’s lead performance possesses, it fails to balance its ambitious swings and campy attempts at relevance. It approaches beauty standards in clever ways that fall short of its potential.
Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is an aging actress who is losing out on roles to women who are younger than her simply because of their age and looks. A once-established actress who worked on a television show when she was younger, she finds that her age is a topic that is coming up more and more. There was a time when she was getting invitations to meet with directors for parts instead of having to read for them. But that time is over, and Shell shows the pressures that aging actresses are under to stay looking young, even for parts that are written for older women. The painful part of it all is that Samantha is not even old, but her natural, untouched-by-doctors appearance stands out in a sea of perfectly polished, youthful faces.
When Samantha is introduced to Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) at the company Shell, she’s apprehensive at first; it’s a new procedure that improves not only the body’s health but also stops the aging process. And with a frontwoman like Zoe, its allure is heightened. She’s a woman who claims to be in her late 60s but has the appearance of someone decades younger. There’s no doubt that the intended results of this treatment are possible, but, as with everything in life, there is a cost. As Samantha and Zoe form a newfound friendship shared over their mutual interest in one another and their profession, it becomes clear that this miracle procedure has more side effects than benefits.
At first, Samantha stands against these types of procedures, and it’s honestly refreshing that she doesn’t bend immediately to the newest end-all-be-all of beauty enhancements. After she loses a part to Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), who she used to babysit, their reconnection sparks a new sense of self-consciousness within Samantha. Writer Jack Stanley’s best work is handling a conflicted Samantha—trying to convince herself these procedures aren’t needed but tired of losing roles and only being known for a nostalgic show. She battles against beauty standards that she at first doesn’t adhere to, being her natural self, but quickly becomes radicalized by the thought of fading into irrelevancy before she’s able to reach her career potential.
The premise of Shell is the most interesting part of the film, especially when the background of the treatment and its potential side effects are revealed. There’s no doubt this film will get compared to others with similar plots like The Substance and even Skincare—both films releasing around the same time that this one premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024. What makes Minghella’s different is that this has much more humor, leading to an inconsistent tone from the get-go. Scenes where Samantha is having a fragile moment after losing a part get interrupted or circumvented with jokes that don’t land. For being labeled as a dark comedy horror, much of the laughs are at the expense of the very women it’s trying to uplift with its anti–plastic surgery themes and messaging.
Outside of a handful of blemish removals, the horror is severely lacking. With the film written by a man and directed by one as well, there’s a feminine touch that is sorely missed. Even with the film’s opening scene, there’s a glimmer of hope that it will live up to its body horror potential, but it’s not revisited in a memorable way until the film’s final moments— which is a little too late for any kind of effectiveness. Samantha is a character that isn’t really explored beyond her career that is fading; her motivations aren’t compelling enough to empathize with her decision to undergo an experimental treatment of this level. More focus goes to twists that take away from many of the film’s topical themes.
What does work in Shell is the performances from Moss and Hudson; both are acting circles around the film’s dull script. Moss brings a realness to her approach to Samantha; being an actress herself, she knows more than anyone the pressures women in the industry face. Playing Samantha with reluctance but also curiosity, she often pretends to think these procedures are worthless but ends up in an office consultation regardless. Paired with Hudson as an ambitious pioneer in the beauty world—much like Moss—she brings a level of experience in this industry that makes the character of Zoe that much more intriguing to watch. Both bounce off each other well and never let themselves get too comfortable with their friendship.
Shell has production design that is wasted on a film that often is shot resembling a made-for-streaming series that gets canceled after a season or two. Scenes are framed in ways that don’t show the true beauty of the sets used. Susie Mancini’s design work brings together a retro-futuristic look that does a lot of heavy lifting in the film’s visual department, with Samantha’s apartment being the piece that sticks out the most. Cell phones double as watches that also double as spy devices, coming in handy to record conversations. There’s a soft color palette used that brings a sense of relaxation and evokes glamorous luxury, especially with how clean everything is. This is in stark contrast to the chaotic energy that the film finds itself in as it progresses. Matched with an equally impressive, poppy score from Eldad Guetta, Shell excels in its craftier aspects.
What Shell lacks in its strong message and uneven tone is slightly made bearable by effortless performances from Moss and Hudson, who take a script devoid of a feminine touch and inject their own experiences to make it worth checking out. With films out there touching on the subject of altering one’s appearance for society’s acceptance in more compelling ways, Shell falls short of standing out.
