SHELL

CONTAINS SPOILERS! Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson face off as Samantha Lake and Zoe Shannon in this B-grade body horror. Sam is an aspiring actress who undergoes a radical anti-aging treatment developed by Zoe’s mysterious company ‘Shell.’ When Sam begins to suffer gruesome side effects and a fellow patient (Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford) goes missing, she realises her quest for eternal youth comes at a cost. There are a few attempts at satire to prove this film’s not taking itself too seriously and it starts out with promise … but the final thirty minutes descend into a ridiculous crossover between “The Fly” (budget crustacean version) and ‘The Substance’. Directed by Max Minghella, Moss’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ co-star, the script was written in 2017, two years before ‘The Substance’ was even conceived. Unfortunately production delays meant ‘Shell’ was released after Coralie Fargeat’s masterpiece, relegating it to bridesmaid status. Irrespective of bad timing, ‘Shell’ is overshadowed by ‘The Substance’ on all levels. It lacks the story depth, special effects budget, and performances required to connect with viewers. Kate Hudson clearly relishes her role as the campy villain and Moss tries hard to be outraged as Sam, but both struggle to show any range thanks to the dull script. Their talents are wasted. After a short lived cinema run lasting less than a week, it unsurprisingly failed to gain any awards recognition or Oscar nominations. Corny, absurd, and forgettable.