The Big Picture

  • Marcel finds beauty in overlooked details, showcasing unique perspectives.
  • Cinematography highlights mundane objects' intricacies, urging reverence.
  • Marcel's view of the world amplifies the power of paying attention to simplicity.

A24’s comedy from the mind of Dean Fleischer Camp, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, is a stop-motion mockumentary about a one-inch-tall shell named Marcel. Voiced by Jenny Slate, Marcel sees the world with a hilarious and wholly unique perspective. For him, the simple house he lives in is a vast and interesting landscape, one he once shared with a boisterous shell community. After the other shells were accidentally taken from the home, Marcel is left alone with Nana Connie (Isabella Rossellini), an elderly shell who is fond of gardening, 60 Minutes, and insects. Dean, the current guest at the home, played by Fleischer Camp himself, decides to make a documentary about Marcel, turning him into an internet sensation and igniting a search to find his family. Fleischer Camp’s screenplay, co-written with Slate and Nick Paley, is packed to the brim with comedy gold, but it also reminds us to stop and take notice of the world around us.

Marcel's View of the World Shows Beauty in Things That Are Often Overlooked

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Image via A24

The film’s mockumentary style allows for Marcel’s quirks to take center stage. In his first on-camera interview with Dean, he asks completely randomly and with utmost sincerity: “Have you ever eaten a raspberry? What was it like?” His unfiltered curiosity about typically insignificant things is endearing, but it also highlights the attention he pays to details we so often ignore. When Dean takes Marcel on a drive, Marcel sees a lake for the first time in his life. He is overcome by its beauty, marveling at the body of water with sheer exhilaration and wonder. Slate’s masterful vocal performance brings both humor and sincerity to Marcel, grounding his funny quips with earnestness. Much of the comedy also comes from the hilarious ways Marcel utilizes tiny objects – a tennis ball is his mode of quick transportation and a ball of lint has become his pet – but it also packs an emotional punch, as we begin to see the magic in things we typically disregard.

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The house Marcel and Connie inhabit is filmed with careful attention to detail by cinematographer Bianca Cline. The camera lingers on small nuances, highlighting the intricacy in its simplicity. Connie sleeps in a jewelry box, and Marcel’s bedroom is the soil of a plant pot, his bed consisting of two slices of bread. Mundane objects, like an old jewelry box or a rusty plant pot, are cozy places of refuge for them. Through close-up shots of the minute details like the shiny, weathered knob on a drawer or a tiny, glistening marble in Marcel’s "breadroom," the film urges us to view these things with newfound reverence. Connie takes Dean on a tour of her garden, which is a wheelbarrow full of dirt, but up close, it’s Connie’s vibrant and well-maintained oasis. She proudly shows Dean a strawberry she grew, and the fruit takes up as much of the frame as she does. With its shiny red skin glistening in the sun, the berry is a magnificent sight, and we see why it is so spectacular in Connie's eyes. As we watch Connie tend her garden wearing a miniature sun hat, carefully raking the soil with a broken fork, it serves as an awe-inspiring and adorable reminder of nature's beauty.

As the documentarian, Dean often serves as a witty foil to Marcel, his more serious and uptight demeanor amplifying Marcel’s earnest view of the world. In their 60 Minutes interview about Marcel’s newfound internet fame, the host Lesley Stahl, played by Stahl herself, asks them how long it has been since Marcel has seen his family. Marcel begins a moving monologue about how he tells the time by paying close attention to nature. He tells us how he watches the changing colors of the leaves and the cycle of flowers blooming and dying, his words creating a vivid, entrancing picture. Immediately after, Dean dryly quips that it has been about 2 years since Marcel saw his family. It’s an amusing juxtaposition, showcasing the stark difference in how Marcel sees the world. While Marcel has a much more complicated way of telling time, his way of doing things highlights the power of paying closer attention to the simplicities around us.

'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On' Lets Us Focus on the Small Things

From rustling leaves in the front yard to sunlight streaming in through the window, the film often pauses to focus on beauty in stillness and the peace found in nature. Marcel tells Dean about his special “skating rink,” which is a dust-covered tabletop. As Dean films Marcel and Connie spinning around and laughing together on their makeshift rink, the camera lingers on dust particles floating through the air, cascading down like snow. It’s seemingly absurd that a dust-covered table could be something magical, but Cline’s camerawork turns tiny details into things of magnificent beauty. Towards the end of the film, Marcel sits atop the windowsill in the laundry room, telling Dean why this room has become a sanctuary of sorts for him. As the camera slowly pans through the room, Marcel notes the pleasant smell of the dryer sheets and the gentle breeze that blows in through the crack in the window. The cinematography paints an angelic and peaceful glow over the room, and a melancholy orchestral score from Disasterpeace heightens the ambiance. It paints a visceral image of the space through Marcel's eyes, and a laundry room has never looked so enchanting. It is a moving and captivating sequence, bringing Marcel's unique perspective of the room to life.

For Marcel, peak joy comes in the form of 60 Minutes and dusty countertops. It's in the way dryer sheets smell and the sound of the wind when it rumbles through his shell. Fleischer-Camp's film writes a moving and attentive love letter to the things we take for granted. Through every out-of-the-ordinary way Marcel and Connie navigate the world, we come to understand the extraordinary value in life's mundanity. While much of the comedy comes from the small nature of Marcel’s existence, it serves as a profound metaphor for appreciating the smaller things in life, urging us to take notice of the wondrous, tiny details that make up our vast existence.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix