“Let’s forget about being afraid. Just take the adventure.”
Just over ten years after the adorable and industrious one-inch-tall shell named Marcel stole the hearts of many with his hilarious and touching bite-sized shorts, A24 has brought the loveable little shell to the big screen with a message so wholesome that your heart fills with undeniable joy. With Jenny Slate reprising her role as the title character and Dean Fleischer-Camp returning to direct (both also have co-writing credits), Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is 2022’s feel-good movie of the year that endlessly surprises you with its humor, heart, and honesty.
Soon after moving into an Airbnb after separating from his wife, Dean (voiced by the director) finds little Marcel, along with Marcel’s grandmother Nana Connie (Isabella Rossellini) living in the house with him. While documenting Marcel and Nana Connie’s daily resourcefulness and unique perspective on the world, Marcel reveals that the rest of the community suddenly and disturbingly disappeared one night, leaving Marcel and Nana Connie as the only two remaining of what was once a rich community – a realization they had made when no one but the two showed up for their weekly 60 Minutes viewing on Sunday night. After a few days of filming, Dean uploads a short video to YouTube, and Marcel soon becomes an internet phenom. With his new found popularity, Marcel takes to the internet to see if he can garner help in finding his lost family.
Without ever trying too hard, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is hilarious. Not necessarily “rolling on the floor” or crying hilarious, but very much like in the shorts the preceded it, Marcel (and sometimes even Nana Connie) is never short of witty one-liners that will stick in your brain long after you finish viewing the film. Marcel is, of course, funny in a very cute and innocent way, but the film itself is also genuinely funny due to the simplistic, unique observations he has about our strange yet beautiful world. Those who are fans of the original YouTube videos will be happy to recognize a few familiar jokes being reused during the film’s exposition as a nice little wink. But the film does good in not trying to absolutely recreate or try to somehow fit the original videos into the film. This new Marcel story is a fully-fleshed out story anchored by the importance of family and community while also finding any available humor in such an unfortunate circumstance. 
Above all, this film is the definition of wholesome. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On has one of, if not the biggest heart out of any film you will ever see. The interactions between Marcel and his Nana Connie are sweet, sad, and sincere as Marcel does his best to try and take care of his rapidly aging grandmother. But her age does not limit Nana Connie from teaching Marcel a few lessons in the enjoying life and that changes that come, whether expected or unexpected. And I think that both Nana Connie and Marcel are two insightful beings that all of us can learn something from.
Watching this film, I had a smile on my face the whole short-and-sweet hour-and-half runtime, and I am sure that I was not the only one. This film is so heartfelt that it is ridiculous, and whether many people realize it or not, this is the kind of film that the world needs right now.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is now playing in theaters.
MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime: 90 mins
Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp
Writer: Dean Fleischer-Camp; Nick Paley
Cast: Jenny Slate (voice); Dean Fleischer-Camp (voice); Isabella Rossellini (voice)
Genre: Animation | Comedy
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "So it's actually only two of us now. Myself and my grandmother, Nana Connie. We like to watch "60 Minutes" because Lesley Stahl is fearless."
Theatrical Distributor: A24
Official Site: https://a24films.com/films/marcel-the-shell-with-shoes-on
Release Date: June 24, 2022
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Feature adaptation of the animated short film interviewing a mollusk named Marcel.
