One Inch of Kindness Can Go a Long Way: A24 Film 'Marcel the Shell With Shoes On' Is The Most Perfectly Simple, Heartwarming, Tear-Jerking, Emotion Inducing Film of the Year
If you told me the most heartwarming, tear-jerking, captivating movie of the year was going to come from a one-inch shell, I would not have believed you.
For those who watched the original YouTube videos of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, you know that the quick clips of our favorite sneaker-clad mollusk were funny insights into the life of a hilariously spirited shell. The adorable creature squeaked his way around the screen, proudly showing us how he talked on the phone, sharing that his skis were made from, "toenails from a man," and warning us that mollusks, "don't fight unless we are provoked."
If you slid into your movie seat expecting a hilarious, Pixar-kind-of-heartfelt, movie about a shell going on a wacky but sweet adventure to find his family, we could not blame you.
This was not that movie.
If you have ever felt alone; if you have ever lost someone; if you have ever faced the fear of going after what you want; if you have ever felt responsible for another, this is the movie for you.
As we watch our favorite spunky shell face the challenges of a life he is made to face largely on his own, alongside his grandmother, Nana Connie, he doesn't dwell on sadness or hardship. He positively moves forward, finding solutions to his problems, making jokes along the way.
It is this movie's simplicity that makes it special. The script is brilliantly gentle. In doing what seems to be very little, the film immediately drives directly into the soul of anyone lucky enough to see it. If you think you can conquer this film without shedding a tear, you are absolutely incorrect.
Upon entering the theatre, the cashier told my friend and I that a couple went into see the film and left ugly crying. We foolishly believed we could escape the same fate.
We were quickly proven wrong.
How does this movie, that has the mundane simplicity of a mollusk going about their day to day life, bring everyone to tears?
The film does not try to do anything. It simply is.
Jenny Slate, Dean Fleischer-Camp, and Nick Paley, the original team that was behind the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On YouTube sensation, came together to write the screenplay for this A24 sensation. Together, along with Elisabeth Holm, who has a story by credit, the team wove a piece so delicately meaningful that it cannot help strike a chord with everyone.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On does not cry out to you. You have to listen, which is something, in the loud, fast paced social media driven world we live in today that we have largely forgotten how to do (something that the film very gently addresses.)
Jenny Slate has voiced the character of Marcel from the beginning. Slate has proven time and time again that her masterful understanding of human relationships and heart comes from her stunning honesty. We feel her open up to us. Much like the film itself, she is not trying to do anything. She simply is.
Her brilliant work gives life to director Dean Fleischer-Camp's largely off-screen performance as the doumentarian. The man spends very little time with his face on camera, but, due to Slates openness and connection, we understand him as a fully fledged character. We are interested by his problems. We care.
Can you win an Oscar for voicing a shell? If you can, they should hand it to Slate today.
This movie leads with love. We see Marcel care for his grandmother, joke with Dean, and carry on with his normal life.
Marcel remains positive. Even with this passivity, we see him forced to confront the real fear of wanting to go after what you want. When the cost of finding his family looks like it might be too great, Marcel shares the honest worry that anyone with goals tries their best to lock away. He says [paraphrased]:
"I don't want to go after what I want if it's going to cost me what I have."
However, when Marcel is at his lowest point, his grandmother, Nana Connie steps in. She does her best to, secretly, reinvigorate Marcel with the courage to try. These actions are entirely selfless. This movie leads with love.
We all have our dreams. We all have our low moments. We all have the things we hold so close to our heart that, if they were gone, we can't imagine that life could possibly go on. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On shows us that we are never alone, even when we think we might be. Keep listening. Keep hoping. Keep loving. One inch of kindness can go a long way.
Did I cry real, full tears as I wrote this review? Yes. Yes, I did. Go. Watch. This. Movie.
