Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2023)

Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate’s delightful mockumentary about a shell trying to find his missing family combines stop motion animation with real human heart to form a wonderfully whimsical and heartfelt comedy.

Marcel is a shell who lives in an air bnb house with his Nan, and the current occupier Dean (played by director Dean) decides to film his every day life in an effort to help Marcel find his family by putting short clips online in the hope that others will have some clue as to their whereabouts.

The film is perfectly pitched and should appeal to all ages; Marcel’s confusion over human actions over the internet is not only understandable, but also makes you think, if you didn’t already, about how people just don’t interact face to face anymore.

After Dean begins a YouTube channel about Marcel, and how Marcel needs help to find his family, Marcel is upset when, surprise surprise, people simply start turning up to take selfies of themselves in front of the famous Marcel’s house-simply so they can gain some self gratification.

Poor Marcel is baffled; he can’t fathom why people are so desperate for the validation of strangers over pictures they’ve taken of themselves to satisfy their own navel gazing, potentially at the expense of information that someone who is not themselves might need.

The film is careful to point out the wonders of the internet as well of course, Marcel wouldn’t have the tools to get his message out into the world if it wasn’t for social media, and within the realms of Marcel’s world, we technically wouldn’t have the means to watch this wonderful film either. Marcel and Dean help each other out and their relationship is the films’ centerpiece. Dean has recently broken up with his long time girlfriend and is reluctant to talk about it, something that doesn’t escape Marcel.

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On explores the importance of family, loyalty, and commitment especially in the face of adversity and hopelessness, and how vital friendship is; the most vital types of which come in the form of people who disagree with you when needed, and don’t simply tell you you’re great and correct all the time. We could all do with a friend like Marcel, and when someone as warm hearted as him needs our help, we should turn to them and not turn around and take a picture of ourselves in the mirror and wait for people to tell us how great we look. 8.1/10