Marcel the Shell With Shoes On is a family movie directed by Dean Fleischer Camp. It’s based on the video shorts of the character, created by Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate, who also voices Marcel. The movie centers around Marcel and his grandmother, Connie (Isabella Rossellini), who live alone after the rest of their family was accidentally taken away when the couple who lived in the house, split up. Filmmaker Dean moves into the house, which is now an Airbnb, and films documentary videos of Marcel. When Marcel’s popularity soars, he and Dean decide to track down his family.
It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2021 before a wide release in the summer of 2022. The movie has been well-received, and according to News Times, debuted with a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Those familiar with the video shorts will obviously find a lot to love in the movie, but Marcel successfully captures the hearts of any audience member with both his happy and sad moments. His story of loss, hope, and family can resonate with anyone, and is likely to make them shed some tears. Here’s why it’s a great movie for our present times.
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It Shows the Importance of Community and Connection
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Marcel and his family would hide in a drawer when Mark and Larissa, the couple in the house, would fight. When Mark leaves, he dumps the drawer into his suitcase, leaving just Marcel and Connie. The two are very close, bonding over 60 Minutes and sharing their lives together, but Marcel feels lonely and isolated without the connection of his family. For a while, he finds connection on the internet, sharing in videos that others watch and trying experiments that people online have done. This eventually turns against him, however, when he shares the house’s location and finds it swarmed by social media influencers. Though he found community online for a while, it can’t substitute for the true community and connection of his family, and he puts newspapers in the windows and spends more time with Dean and Connie instead. Dean also feels this lack of connection after splitting up with his wife, and begins to find happiness in his friendship with Marcel.
This feeling of isolation and desire for connection has always been part of humanity, but it has grown even more so over the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have felt lonely and isolated, and longed for human connection; we also began to realize how precious that connection was. Though Marcel’s family is gone, it is important to note that he is able to have a little community with Connie and Dean. The three of them find real fun and companionship with each other, and serve as a reminder that a family, or a community, can come from anywhere. With or without a pandemic, human connection is a central part of life, and it makes Marcel’s reunion with his family that much more heartwarming.
It Deals With Love and Loss
A lot of Marcel’s story revolves around the loss of his family and his love for them. He especially has deep love for Connie, who shows signs of dementia and has worsening health after cracking her shell in a fall off the washing machine. He grows so worried about her that when 60 Minutes reaches out to interview him, he refuses, because he’s afraid the excitement will make her health even worse – even though the interview is his best chance at finding his family. He is hesitant to risk what he has when his family’s return isn’t guaranteed. Connie also has love for Marcel, and wants him to live his own life to the fullest. She pretends to get better so that Marcel will do the interview, encouraging him to live even in the face of doubt and loss.
Connie dies while the interview happens, after reading “The Trees,” a poem by Richard Larkin, about renewal and rebirth in nature. In an interview with Variety, Slate says the dynamic between Marcel and Connie is meant to show that “your life is always going to be changing,” and that’s just how you live. Connie’s poem also addresses this, furthering her encouragement for Marcel to keep on living through all the changes of life. While she addresses this to Marcel, it’s an important message for everyone. The changes and ups and downs are all parts of life, and they’re what make our lives. Embracing life and love, especially in the face of loss, is how we truly live.
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It Shows You How to Appreciate the Little Things
Marcel is able to find joy in small things, and this grows more poignant when we consider the loss and fear he has experienced. Despite what has happened, he is still able to find things that make him happy, like popcorn, driving a tennis ball around like a car, and being with Connie. Even Dean finds joy in being around Marcel. This unique friendship shows how everything is important, and that even the smallest creatures can bring joy. Marcel even inspires Dean to participate in the 60 Minutes interview, instead of hiding behind the camera. Finding friendship and joy in unlikely places, and using that to appreciate life, is something for both kids and adults to share in.
This idea of joy in small things is used most emotionally at the end of the movie, when Marcel tells Dean that he likes to sit on the windowsill in the laundry room and listen to the wind blow through his shell. This helps him feel connected to his grandmother, and is also an example of him again finding happiness in small things. With the world as stressful as it is, Marcel taking the time to sit and listen to the wind is a reminder for all of us to take time and notice the tiny, beautiful things around us. It’s an important message for everyone, and it proves why Marcel and his movie are here at just the right time.
