Shell

After the “youth‑preserving” injection, Samantha begins to sprout black, oozing lesions that spread across her skin. The symptoms worsen just as she learns that a former babysitting charge, Chloe Benson, has vanished after a visit to the same clinic. Detectives Abramson and Flores knock on her door, hinting that the case may involve the company that marketed the treatment.

When the lesions flare on set, Zoe Shannon—CEO of Shell and Samantha’s new patron—rescues her and insists on treating her at home. Zoe’s hospitality quickly turns hostile: she offers Samantha tea instead of an ambulance and demands to see Samantha’s phone records. Furious, Samantha douses Zoe with the tea and flees, only to be intercepted by Zoe’s bodyguard. Her friend Lydia, who has been tailing her, helps Samantha slip away and head toward the detectives’ rendez‑vous, but the officers warn her that the NDA she signed could land her in legal trouble if she speaks out. They suggest she comply with Shell’s “protection” program.

Desperate for a cure, Samantha turns to Dr. Hubert. He submerges her in a bathtub filled with a strange liquid that burns away the growths, leaving her looking normal again—but she also discovers a vial stamped with Chloe’s name. Hubert admits that Chloe suffered the same reaction, that they fell in love while trying to help her, and that his attempts to reverse the process only turned her into something monstrous. When Samantha peers through a keyhole, she sees a hulking, crustacean‑like creature in a locked room; a stab wound lies beside the unconscious doctor, and a cloth is pressed over Samantha’s mouth as she loses consciousness.

Samantha awakens to the cold, clinical presence of Shell’s lawyer Randolph Chan and the company’s founder, Dr. Thaddeus Brand. They frame Hubert as the villain, cite the NDA’s fine print, and offer Samantha “lifetime free treatment” and a share of the company if she stays silent. Zoe steps forward, arguing that scientific breakthroughs always carry risks and that a few deaths shouldn’t halt the procedure, because the market for eternal youth is relentless. Samantha rejects the bargain, refusing to become the company’s mute spokesperson.

In a final, grotesque demonstration, Zoe shows Samantha the transformed Chloe: a gigantic, shell‑covered creature that has broken out of its glass cage. The monster smashes through the chamber, killing Randolph, Brand, and Zoe’s guard. Zoe, panicked, locks herself inside the treatment pod; the machine’s heat and pressure fry her instantly, leaving only a bag of her charred tissue. Chloe, though clearly a monster, pauses at Samantha’s feet, suggesting a lingering fragment of humanity, then flees the clinic. Her ultimate fate is left ambiguous.

The film concludes with a defiant Samantha publishing a memoir that chronicles her ordeal and exposing Shell’s dark practices. Despite the scandal, the corporation is implied to continue operating—likely with tighter NDAs and more covert control—while Samantha’s personal future remains uncertain, hinting that she may still be tempted by the very treatment she once denounced.

Last Updated: October 08, 2025 at 10:03