Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2022)

It is hard to imagine that there will be a more delightful, profound, or touching film all year. This story of an anthropomorphic shell who becomes the subject of a documentary made by the man who moves into the house where the shell lives, touches on themes of isolation, connection, and community. It is wonderfully funny, gorgeously filmed, and just such a wonderful story all around that you will watch it with a big goofy grin and a tear welling up in your eye. 

Film makers Camp, Paley, and Slate bring so much love to this project and bring Marcel to life so incredibly. Marcel is a more actualized character than most you see in serious dramas. His journey is a truly remarkable one because in many ways it is so relatable.

Camp has a natural eye for this. Mockumentary films often struggle to balance the needs of the story with a realistic approach to how a documentary on that subject would actually be made. But there is no problem with that here. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On feels entirely honest, especially as it grapples with the documentary genre's own complex moralities such as how documenting something actually does impact it and by its nature changes all involved.

Often the stories which are told outside the mainstream approaches are the ones which hit the closest to home and Marcel is a great example of that. It is also one of those magical films that anyone could enjoy and relate to. Marcel could be watched by children who will respond to his cuteness and his journey. Adults can relate to the insightful and witty scripts. The story is the sort that can be appreciated in many ways by many audiences. 

You'd have to be fairly closed off not to enjoy the story of Marcel and his quest. 

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On 

Starring: Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, Lesley Stahl 

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Writers: Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Dean Fleischer Camp