Review: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

A24’s newest offering Marcel the Shell with Shoes on (2023) is both heartfelt and humorous; meaningful and nonsensical. Based on a trilogy of shorts with its first instalment being released in 2010, Marcel has long been a figure which has captured the imagination of audiences. Now in his feature film debut (which has earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature), the tiny shell’s 90-minute journey brings to the big screen some much needed respite from everyday intensity. Though small, his impact has been huge – the very definition of small but mighty. 

The film finds documentary filmmaker ‘Dean’ – rather appropriately played by director and writer Dean Fleischer Camp – temporarily residing in an Airbnb wherein he encounters a shell with one googly eye and scruffy orange shoes, who stands at a mighty height of one-inch tall. This is Marcel – a wickedly funny and honestly sincere individual, accompanied by his pet ball of lint Alan and Grandmother Connie. Dean begins documenting Marcel’s daily escapades until it is revealed that Marcel and Connie are the only two members of their family who remain residing at the Airbnb following the departure of the couple who lived in the property previously. The film follows the journey of Marcel, Dean and Connie navigating their newfound online presence in the hopes of locating the rest of the displaced shell community. 

Director and writer Dean Fleischer Camp manages to accomplish an end product that is as technically impressive as it is practically emotional. Jenny Slate – co-writer, producer and the voice of ‘Marcel’ – is genius throughout, managing to capture a childish innocence that is both inspiring and heart-warming. Plus, the character’s high-pitched tone could have easily bordered on irritating and the line delivery could have fallen flat in some places, but Slate’s comedic background propels her forward and she manages to keep a finger on the pulse of the production, knowing it inside out. No one who I saw the film with seemed as baffled as me as to Isabella Rossellini’s involvement in the production. What do you mean ‘Ingrid Bergman’s daughter is voicing the grandma of a tiny shell that has one eye’? As Nana Connie (appropriately named after a conch shell *wink*, *wink*), Rossellini provides the perfect companion and accompaniment to Slate’s Marcel. Disasterpeace’s score manages to capture the whimsy of the project, detailing both the aspects of hope and loss detailed in the film. After his work on Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022), I wondered how applicable Disasterpeace’s style would be to a completely different tone of production – but with a little help from soft pianos, marimba and synths, Disasterpeace excels once again. Though the cast and crew are few in number, the whole production reads as a genuine passion project. 
I truly never thought that I would be crying over an anthropomorphic shell and his grandma, but here we are. I would truly urge anyone to go see this film – it has the power to transcend audience age ranges and remind even the most sceptical audience member of the whimsy and romanticism that everyday life can have. If it wasn’t previously obvious who I am rooting for to win the Oscar, I’m pretty sure it is now. Marcel the Shell with Shoes on leads with its heart – ridiculous, poignant, sincere and silly – all wrapped in the package of a one-inch shell.

Featured Image: BBC