Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

The way director Dean Fleischer Camp mixes stop-motion animation and live action filmmaking is matched by the storytelling’s fusion -- everything gels delightfully.

A joyous juxtaposition of quotidian, vérité-style dialogue and fancifully inventive visuals that hits a tragicomic sweet spot.

No emotion is forced, but, as we move towards a touching denouement, even Teflon psyches will find themselves opening up to the oddest of outsiders.

The film is deftly done, unexpectedly moving and with a dash of Tony-Hart-and-Morph energy balanced by Zen ruminations on the interconnectedness of all things.

The animation, by the New York-based Chiodo brothers, is both witty in its make-do-and-mend aesthetic (the sentient Shreddies are a hoot) and sometimes dazzlingly intuitive. You don’t question the truth of it for a moment...

How Marcel copes with this shell-cracking stress forms a beautiful final act that’s tender but never twee thanks to adept comic timing and playful use of scale.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On has a simple plot but a character that overcomes the fear of loneliness. It’s a universal feeling that will surely resonate with viewers.

A simple but beautiful film about appreciating the little things in life. + Hilarious along the way! A24 has its first family feature & it’s a HIT!

There’s a lot for a one-inch shell to be afraid of. It’s easy to make excuses and turn down opportunities that scare us, and it’s easy to stay in the world that we know, but humanity is at its best when we are brave.

The movie captures how instantaneously something can catch fire on the internet, but "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" is deeper than a profile in viral fame.