The Reel Review
A middle-aged actress suffering from plaque psoriasis signs up for a popular new treatment to clear up her skin and reverse the aging process. But when strange things start happening to her and others participating in the mysterious program, she realizes that her life may be in danger. Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Elizabeth Berkeley star in this body horror/thriller.
It is only natural to draw parallels between Shell and 2024’s The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Each body horror, about the desperate lengths some women will go to appear youthful, plays it straight initially, with The Substance outpacing Shell in sheer shock value and compelling story telling. Whereas The Substance devolves into ruinous gross-out ridiculousness in its final act, Shell director Max Minghella (Teen Spirit) abruptly shifts his final act in the other direction – camp comedy – a terribly jarring and frankly, equally terrible decision.
Weird, uneven pacing aside, Moss and Hudson both deliver captivating performances and the inclusion of Berkeley (Showgirls) and model Cindy Crawford’s daughter Kaia Gerber (Overcompensating, Bottoms) in brief supporting roles are nice touches. It’s just too bad the story from screenwriter Jack Stanley (The Passenger) went from being somewhat plausible to astoundingly, off-the-rails stupid.
REEL FACTS
• Elisabeth Moss wore loose-fitting clothing during the filming of Shell to hide her pregnancy.
• Elisabeth Moss and Shell director Max Minghella co-star in the TV series The Handmaid’s Tale. The son of Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), the younger Minghella’s acting credits include 2022’s Babylon, 2021’s Spiral and 2011’s The Ides of March.
• Kate Hudson released the studio album “Glorious” in 2024. Her next film will be Christmas 2025’s Song Sung Blue, about Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder in the 1980s and 90s.
Video & Photo
