"If only Shell was as outrageously fun as that all makes it sound, but there's something oddly flat about it, actor-turned-director Max Minghella struggling to bring the luridly indulgent pleasures that something as silly as this so obviously needs. It's never quite obvious what or why Shell is and who it might be for, a cheaply made lark with very little to offer those who weren't involved in the production, feeling even less necessary given its unfortunate resemblance to The Substance."
"Both focus on an LA actor struggling to get the attention and work she thinks she deserves in a cruel industry, unfairly critiqued for her looks who is then seduced by a game-changing procedure that provides instant rewards but has horrifying side effects. Even if Fargeat's version hadn't premiered last year at Cannes, four months before Minghella's was unveiled at the Toronto film festival, the comparison would still not be kind."
Shell contains lurid set-pieces: a wellness CEO forcing masturbation with a giant vibrator, Elizabeth Berkley hacking off shells before a masked killing, Hudson serving discarded skin at dinner, and Kaia Gerber transforming into a lobster. Max Minghella directs, but the film feels oddly flat and fails to deliver the luridly indulgent pleasures expected of such material. The narrative centers on an LA actor seeking attention in a cruel industry and undergoing a procedure that grants instant rewards with horrifying side effects. The film resembles The Substance in premise and timing, but lacks that film's provocation, stickiness, and cultural resonance.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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