An endearing viral video hit starring comedian Jenny Slate is now a mockumentary feature that will warm the cockles of your heart.

Dean has just split with his wife and moved into an Airbnb. There, he finds Marcel, a talking one-inch shell with a pasted-on googly eye and a pair of shoes, and decides to make a documentary about him. In interviews, the witty, optimistic Marcel introduces his grandma Connie and his pet lint, Alan. The rest of their family is gone, scattered when the couple who once lived there broke up. But with help from Dean – and Marcel’s favourite TV personality, 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl – this lonely creature becomes a YouTube star, then sets out to find his folk.

A runaway hit across the US festival circuit, this mockumentary feature expands a beloved series of internet shorts created by Slate (who voices Marcel) and Dean Fleischer-Camp (who essentially plays himself). The seamless blend of stop-motion and live action, plus improvised dialogue, gives this charming film an air of magic realism, while Isabella Rossellini’s voice adds daffiness to a delightful cast that includes Rosa Salazar (Brand New Cherry Flavor) and Thomas Mann (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, MIFF 2015). While the metatextual undercurrent of COVID isolation and relationship breakdown lends Marcel a melancholy tang, it’s ultimately a sweet, uplifting fable of reunion.

“As tender as it is insightful … Seamlessly marries big ideas with charm and humor (and inventive stop-motion work to boot).” – IndieWire