Shell Trailer Turns the Wellness Gaze Into a Glossy Nightmare
Paramount’s Republic Pictures has unveiled the first trailer for Shell, a satirical body-horror thriller led by Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson. In the film, Moss plays Samantha Lake, a once-beloved actress sidelined by Hollywood’s youth obsession; Hudson is Zoe Shannon, the effortlessly magnetic CEO of a buzzy wellness empire whose promises of beauty and longevity curdle into something far more sinister. The cut teases immaculate labs, velvet-glove menace, and a creeping sense that “perfection” is the point—and the trap.
Shell (2025), Republic Pictures and Paramount Pictures
The trailer frames Shell less as dour dystopia and more as razor-smiled satire: promise, procedure, transformation—and the bill that comes due. It also positions Hudson’s Zoe as the film’s charismatic sun, drawing Samantha—and the audience—into her potentially chaotic orbit.
On paper, the logline nods to an of-the-moment subgenre (call it “beauty horror”), but the package looks distinctly pop: neon sheen, camp-tinted swagger, and a premise that’s equal parts Black Mirror and Beverly Hills snake oil. Early festival reactions sketched that balance—sleek, funny, and willing to poke at image-making while still delivering genre pleasures—which the new trailer sharpens into a sell: Shell wants to entertain first, then leave a sting.
Whether audiences arrive for Moss’s unraveling, Hudson’s boardroom bite, or the promise of chic, surgical chills, Shell now has a date and a glossy calling card. If the movie matches the trailer’s lacquered unease, expect a conversation starter timed perfectly for spooky-season viewing.
Written by Jack Stanley and directed by Max Minghella (Teen Spirit), Shell hits theaters and on digital October 3, 2025.
