After the end of his marriage, Dean takes refuge in an Airbnb. Whilst there he comes across two unlikely roommates, Marcel and his grandmother Connie. He then sets out to document and tell the story of the anthropomorphic shells in Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On.
When hearing the name of A24, my mind immediately goes towards the blood soaked world of Ti West’s X, or the horrific emotional trauma of Hereditary. With Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, the production company have a stop motion/live action tale of love, loss and family for the ages. A beautiful, heartwarming and sometimes delightfully odd story that lingers long after the credits roll.
Dean has recently split from his wife and has started renting an apartment. It is here that he comes across Marcel and his Nonna Connie, two anthropomorphic shells, who where left behind by the rest of their family when the previous occupants, Mark and Larissa, had an argument and Mark stormed out, accidentally taking the family with him. Since then, Marcel and Connie have lived happily together, Connie tending her garden with the help of insects she has befriended, while Marcel cares for the mentally deteriorating Connie as best he can, the relationship between the two being the cornerstone of our story as it develops from inquisitive documentary to social media and TV stardom for Marcel.
The stop motion used here is gorgeous. Marcel is adorable, Connie frail and fragile. Coupled with a wonderful script that cements the characters in our hearts, it almost feels akin to the Aardman TV Show Creature Comforts with how natural the language used is, less like that of a scripted feature and more in-key with an off the cuff docu-drama.
Jenny Slate as Marcel has a softness that fans of Parks and Rec may not be aware she is capable of, while Isabella Rossellini is heartbreaking as the caring yet delicate Nonna Connie, with both elevating the movie above what it could have potentially been without such strong performances.
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On has the heart and soul to deliver to even the most stoniest of viewers, and is a heartfelt gem in the sometimes brutal world of A24
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON WILL BE RELEASED ON MEDIUM RARE DVD & BLU-RAY ON 26th JUNE 2023
Andy’s Archive: Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On (2021)
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