He’s a shell with shoes.

I think it’s safe to say I’m a bit of a fan of A24 films, although I don’t get around to watching them nearly as often as I’d like. So imagine my surprise and enjoyment when I saw that Marcel the Shell with Shoes On appeared on Netflix of all places. In fact Netflix brought on a few A24 films including Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (a personal favorite of mine) and 2022’s X. That’ll be coming up soon on HBN. Dream Scenario is coming out in March to HBO Max, so that’ll be on the list as well.

Marcel the Shell is a full movie spun off from a series of shorts. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp who also stars as the cameraman and supporting actor, the movie is portrayed as a documentary filmed by a man who moves into an AirBnB only to find the house occupied by a little shell named Marcel and his grandmother Nana Connie. Marcel is played by Jenny Slate who you may recognize as the dog mom from Everything Everywhere or likely the “money pwease” woman from Parks & Rec. Nana Connie is played by Isabella Rossellini who of course played Dorothy Vallens in Blue Velvet.

The plot of the movie of course is that Marcel lost his community, and wants to find them again. How did they disappear? Where are they? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. I did find the trailer a bit misleading in that it seems to suggest this is an adventure movie. It isn’t. In fact most of the film takes place as a documentary in Marcel’s house. We get to see how Marcel lives and how he and his grandma take care of themselves. As Marcel’s video gains traction, he becomes a celebrity on the internet. But in an important lesson, Marcel notes that the people who love him are just an audience, they’re not a community.

An interesting take on parasocial relationships. The stop motion animation is as impressive as it is charming, and the setting is perfect for an A24 film. Nobody in this world is shocked at the idea of a talking, sentient shell. Marcel is never treated as alien to the world, or like his videos are fake, just as a little guy that zoomers on TikTok can show their support for.

Eventually we see Marcel get his interview with Leslie Stahl herself of 60 Minutes, and the show promises to help Marcel find his community again. It’s a movie with little in the way of stakes, but a charming hour and a half that’s sure to tug at your heartstrings. It enjoys a 98% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes with a 90% rating from users, so it’s pretty much a unanimous consensus that this is a film worth watching.

Charming out the ass. Check it out while it’s still on Netflix.

Rating: A-