The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival is about to bear witness to the starry team-up of Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson. Director Max Minghella‘s dark comedy Shell is one of many special presentations lined up for the annual event and, with the opening gala set for September 5, it’s time to pull back the curtain just a tad. On Tuesday, the first image was shared showing Hudson‘s health and wellness magnate welcoming Moss into the ultra-glamorous world of the titular company. Yet, not all is as it seems at Shell, as its dark secrets are slowly unraveled from within.
Shell is Minghella‘s second feature behind the camera following his 2018 offering Teen Spirit starring Elle Fanning. With his latest, he gets to direct his old The Handmaid’s Tale co-star Moss as the down-on-her-luck starlet Samantha Lake, who finds herself pulled into the orbit of Shell CEO Zoe Shannon (Hudson). If the image is any indication, Shannon is eager to get struggling actresses in the door and promise the world to them. However, major red flags about the operation become apparent to Lake when Shell’s patients begin going missing, including a prominent star named Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber). The company and Shannon are hiding something ghastly, but it’s up to Lake to find out what.
Picking up the pen for Minghella‘s film is Jack Stanley, whose last credits included 2022’s Lou starring Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett, and the 2023 MGM+ film The Passenger starring Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold. He’s also one of many executive producers attached to the starry project, alongside Jamie Bell, Peter Micelli, Daryl Katz, Chloe Katz, Paul Marcaccio, Teddy Schwarzman, John Friedberg, Jill Silfen, Jared D. Underwood, Andrew C. Robinson, Danny Mandel, Logan Bailey, Victor Moyers, Michael Bohlmann, and Rene W. Bastian. Moss and Minghella, meanwhile, lead a group of producers that also includes Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Lindsey McManus, Hal Sadoff, Norman Golightly, and Alicia Van Couvering.
What Else Is Bound for TIFF 2024?
As one of the most prestigious film festivals in North America, TIFF will play host to many of the biggest titles both in and out of competition like Shell. The festivities kick off on September 5 when David Gordon Green‘s new dramedy Nutcrackers starring Ben Stiller will serve as the opening film. Throughout the ten-day run, viewers can expect several high-profile world premieres like Gia Coppola‘s The Last Showgirl starring Pamela Anderson, Edward Burns‘s Millers in Marriage featuring Julianna Margulies, and Sydney Freeland‘s Rez Ball with a screenplay co-written by Reservation Dogs scribe Sterlin Harjo. Closing out the festival on September 15 will be Rebel Wilson‘s directorial debut The Deb. The full selection of films can be found on the festival’s official website.
Check out the first image from Shell in the gallery above and stay tuned here at Collider for more coverage of all the biggest titles from TIFF.
via Collider