I feel slightly guilty about reviewing Shellfish on what is essentially a horror blog. This coming of age comedy drama tangentially has some moments of horror (in a film played within the film) but to be honest that is me scraping the barrel. Written, directed and starring Hunter Hopewell (Intern of the Jedi), this zoomed along at a brisk speed and was mostly feel good.
Keller (Hopewell) is a film school graduate for isn't the most giving of people. Typically he ropes in his younger brother Bailey (Mackenzie Amar) and best friend Harper (Savanah Joeckel) to help him on his film projects, but when it comes to helping them out they are often left wanting. Faced with a week deadline to create a short film, he stretches his relationships to breaking point and is forced to confront his own flaws as a result.
One of the things that drew me to Shellfish was the stop motion and animated elements that blend into the film. Being an creative type, with equally creative friends, Keller has an active imagination that is reflected in these animated flourishes. So for instance, upon seeing the week deadline target with which to make his film, an animated eyeball on a stork juts out of his eye socket. The short films and stop motion parts both looked good, though the plasticine figures used weren't so amazing to see. It all works however as filmmaking is Keller's life and so using the same elements that he uses for the short films shown in his real life meld well.
There was actually a decent storyline involving Keller's older brother Kane (Michael Yosef) who died three years previously during a filmed prank that ended tragically. I loved how this was shown to the viewer, the culmination of a series of short films that opens Shellfish. This is a pivotal moment for many of the characters, Bailey has been mute ever since the incident, something which allows Keller to overshadow him, it is suggest that Harper was romantically involved with Kane, while Keller himself appears to feel some guilt for it, repeatedly watching and rewatching the tragic event on his brother's camera. This also feeds into the strained relationship between Keller and his mother (Shari Abdoulah). Keller is a self centered character, as the titular play on words suggests, so he gets a character arc typical of these types of films, in that by the end he has learned the error of his ways and become a more selfless person.
The majority of the film I enjoyed, there were a few scenes and characters that didn't work out some well. A scene where Harper's sister Angela (Serenity Garcia) and a fellow film student, the oddball Kruko (Perry Bruno) keep kissing didn't feel like it worked that well. Kruko was a bit hit and miss as a character, he gets a genuinely amusing moment when he is alone with Bailey and trying to scare him, but other than that I found him to be irritating and someone who didn't really add much to the film. Perhaps telling that he vanishes completely by the time the finale comes around, no character arc for him.
Should Shellfish have been reviewed on horror blog? Probably not, though isn't the first time I have reviewed something non-horror here. Personally, I enjoyed this, it wasn't without its flaws but I still found myself engaged throughout. Shellfish is out now on VOD across North America.
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