There are scenes in dumped schlock horror Shell that would make it sound like a giddy five-wines-in camp classic if they were described in isolation. There’s the bit where Kate Hudson’s vampy wellness CEO makes Elisabeth Moss masturbate with a giant vibrator while making her stare in the mirror. There’s a cold open starring ex-Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley tearfully hacking off shells that have grown on her skin before getting slaughtered by a masked killer. There’s Hudson serving an elegant dinner of her discarded skin to enthused guests. And then there’s Kaia Gerber turning into a giant lobster …
If only Shell was as outrageously fun as that all makes it sound, but there’s something oddly flat about it, actor-turned-director Max Minghella struggling to bring the luridly indulgent pleasures that something as silly as this so obviously needs. It’s never quite obvious what or why Shell is and who it might be for, a cheaply made lark with very little to offer those who weren’t involved in the production, feeling even less necessary given its unfortunate resemblance to The Substance. Both focus on an LA actor struggling to get the attention and work she thinks she deserves in a cruel industry, unfairly critiqued for her looks who is then seduced by a game-changing procedure that provides instant rewards but has horrifying side effects.
