Memoir of a Snail

Grace isn’t a snail but she feels like one of her beloved pets: overlooked and overtaken in life, curled up in a protective shell. Orphaned at an early age, and separated from her beloved brother Gilbert (who is fostered by religious fanatics on the far side of the continent), Grace grows up lonely and prone to mini-transgressions, petty thefts, and hoarding. But redemption comes in the form of a friend, an eccentric elderly lady named Pinky, who sees something in Grace that no one else has: potential.

A stellar Australian cast (Succession star Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana, Nick Cave and Kodi Smit-McPhee) voice this charming and emotional animated feature by Adam Elliot. The material is anything but cute and this is not a family film in the conventional sense, but the stop-motion form allows the director room for comic touches and rich design details which offsets the serious themes. Above all there is a compassionate sensibility at work here.

Sex, birth, death, cruelty and the remorseless exploitation of the vulnerable — the fact Elliott manages to extract such joy from this carnage makes his work remarkable.

Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald

A towering achievement.

Manuel Betancourt, LA Times

A weirdly affecting tragicomedy, full of Dickensian turns and eccentric figures… Memoir of a Snail feels heartfelt and personal, like an exhortation to the downtrodden drawn from hard-won life experience. Animation is the right medium for the tale. The film becomes funny, even if you’re wincing through the chuckle.

Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times