Film Review: "Shell" (2024)

The "shell" misleads you into a mismatched plot from the trailer looking better.

Shell looks like it will be an incredible movie. A commentary about actresses being “old” by 40, starring Kate Hudson in her best Ursula the Sea Witch caliber villainess role? Elizabeth Moss on the run?

When the movie tells you how her youth serum is made, my brain went there. “Oh, this is the direction Shell is taking. A-ha.”

Eye the lipstick in the poster, and tell me you don’t see the whole plot in one image.

Kaia Gerber is in this, playing Kaia Gerber, after a stint on American Horror Story’s spin-off series playing ghost Kaia Gerber. As Shell goes from juicy sci-fi glam to one dimensional monster attacks, Kaia Gerber plays monster Kaia Gerber. One might suppose from the marketing which monster she becomes. You kind of wonder what she’s doing in this movie. Surely, somewhere out there is a good role for her. With her present acting jobs, nothing sticks out to me for her being right for the parts physically or otherwise. But hey, when your mom is Cindy Crawford, and you’re pretty, I guess the world opens doors it doesn’t for those other actresses. Ms. Gerber to me seems better playing, oh, an influencer in a horror movie getting eaten by werewolves, because she may know that universe fairly enough and could base her performance on her true run ins of that crowd.

Here’s a hint. 🦞

The music is trendy and cool in that 1980’s inspiration. As a fellow working film composer who doesn’t want to undervalue someone’s work, I will say what I say, it’s quite catchy, crafted by talent, something out of possibly a 1980’s set murder mystery in Malibu, surrounded by Barbie blonde surfers, set in Spring Breakers neon visually, and no, it doesn’t go with this movie. I was sitting there watching this movie, trying to score this in my head, feeling the alignment being off. Because the right music makes a movie so much better. It’s about the shoe fitting. Are you putting a Louboutin heel on Bigfoot? No, Bigfoot needs possibly an eco friendly, giant sized, earthy brand moccasin with room for his toes. One size does not fit all.

Do I recommend it? Well, watch the first half straight on for a good viewing, skip around the latter scenes to get the idea.