Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)

"I don't want to end up with less than what I have."

What an absolutely beautiful film that made me sob my fucking eyeballs out. I genuinely don't think I've cried this hard during a movie since Bing Bong died or since BayMax had to say goodbye to Hiro. I chose this movie because I'm a huge A24 fan and needed something to watch, thinking that this was just a silly little stupid indie stop-motion film. Boy, was I wrong. 

This film explores the topics of loneliness, abandonment, loss, grief, growth, and perserverance in such great detail for such a low-budget, simple-looking film. I wish I would've known that this film surrounded topics of dementia, but then again if I had known, I'm not sure that I would've watched it. My Nana struggles with early onset dementia, so Marcel and his relationship with his Nana Connie is extremely special to me. The whole pretending to be better so that Marcel isn't missing out on life absolutely hit a soft spot for me. The entire sequence and monologue of Nana Connie before she passes had tears streaming down my face. A beautiful poem, told in an artistically beautiful way, in which it's hard not to get emotional.

I'm not sure I'm strong enough to rewatch this film, but maybe I will if I ever feel like I need to be reminded that "smiling a lot is worth it," as Marcel would say. Perhaps in the future when my Nana is no longer here, I'll have to seek comfort in Marcel and his loss and the way he copes. 

I think that we all have a lot to learn from Marcel, from the way that we see the world to the way that we process and handle things that may be hard for us. It's crazy that a little one-eyed shell with shoes on would have such an impact on me, but he definitely did. 

I'm glad I watched, as much as I was sobbing and felt like an absolute baby for crying over a little stop-motion shell with one, giant googly eye and his shell Nana. It was a great movie that covered a lot of hard topics in a beautiful way. I don't know if I'll be able to watch this movie again for a while, but may definitely bring it back out for my friends and family to watch when the time is right. I hope that Marcel is out there still smiling.