MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is the coziest and sweetest movie I’ve seen in a while. It retains all the cuteness of the original YouTube sketch but expands to fill the shoes of its feature-length runtime.
MARCEL is not a “movie for kids that adults may enjoy” – instead, it’s a movie for adults that kids may enjoy. It has a strolling pace, unlike the high-octane antics that characterize many modern children’s movies. You won’t find bangs, crashes, and booms; instead, Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate opt for quirks and blink-and-you-miss-it visual jokes.
Jenny Slate is Marcel, and I couldn’t imagine anyone but her taking on the role. Miniature worlds aren’t unique, but when combined with stop-motion, it gives a fairy-ethereal like to the movie, with Slate’s performance as a mild-mannered shell balancing and counteracting that quality. MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON made me want to live in the titular character’s world and question if I already am.
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is currently playing in limited theaters.
