Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Movie: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature

How I watched: Prime

When I fell asleep: I wish

When it had me: No!

When it lost me: Before it began

What systems does it challenge: Social Media, ?

Content Warning: I don't know

When I saw the trailer for this film last year I felt a sinking feeling. It looked like it was an animated movie that was different enough to garner a nomination and I was right. In my mind, it was going to be some kind of experimental, imaginative French film and I wasn't particularly interested. I would have preferred the experimental French version in my head to the movie I watched yesterday. I think I have trouble connecting to animation, so part of this is my fault. Let me just own up to that right from the start.

This movie was absolute torture for me. I found the voice of the titular character really annoying. I struggled with any kind of logic to what the Shell actually was and what it was capable of. He understands jail, but not cities. Bread never molds in his world. He is sometimes capable of extraordinary feats of engineering and yet incapable of simple tasks.

At first I thought he was a hermit crab but he's more of a sentient craft project with a googly eye that has functional tear ducts. In his family there are also Chex mix cereal squares (and an unused tampon!) so are they just inanimate objects possessed by spirits or demons? The movie made me feel dark thoughts, so I naturally I tried to find dark answers.

The overall theme seems to be one of community vs. isolation, which is a very worthy topic for our time. But I really got nothing out of it. I would love to hear from people who liked this movie so I can get a clearer picture of how to view it.