Memoir of a Snail - Film Review

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From Oscar-winning Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot comes Memoir of a Snail, a grown-up claymation film which offers a melancholic yet enchanting story exploring grief, family, friendship and addiction. As well as exquisitely rendered stop-motion animation, the movie boasts big-name voice talent, notably Succession star Sarah Snook, who voices the film's heroine, the snail-obsessed Grace Pudel.



As Memoir of a Snail begins, Grace is middle-aged and struggling, a lonely woman living in suburban Canberra with her extensive collection of snail memorabilia. Grace is soon recounting her childhood years spent in inner-city Melbourne in the 1970s. The bad times began early: her mother died during childbirth, meaning her father Percy (Dominique Pinon) was forced to raise Grace and her brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) by himself. This was difficult, as Percy was a paraplegic and an alcoholic, a former stop-motion animator turned street performer from Paris.

But father and kids (kind of) get by and there are some touching scenes showing the three of them bonding over their love of The Two Ronnies. That is until Percy dies and the child welfare system splits Grace and Gilbert up, sending him to a remote farm in Western Australia run by an evangelical family who worship the baby Jesus. Grace meanwhile is put on a bus to Canberra (cue amusing jibes about the weirdness of our capital city) where she will live with an enthusiastic couple who are supportive, though perhaps not the best foster parents, given they are swingers. Grace, understandably, despairs at being separated from Gilbert, occasional letters now their only contact.

Grace eventually meets a charismatic old lady named Pinky (superbly voiced by Jacqi Weaver). Pinky has a glamorous life story, which she relates in pieces to Grace over the course of their growing friendship. It's Pinky who ultimately becomes Grace's guide in life, the mother she never had.

If that sounds strange, don't worry, it's even stranger when acted out by clay figurines. The story is original, vibrant and raw, and at times very depressing. Especially in the Gilbert sections, where he is routinely treated horribly by his psychotic foster family. But Grace's life is no picnic either, and the disasters she is exposed to are many. It's a lot to take in for an audience, but it's made palatable by a satisfying climax which offers major twists, some predictable and some anything but.

The stop-motion animation here is remarkable. Painstakingly produced by hand, with thumbprints sometimes visible, the attention to detail is total, leaving visuals that are hard to look away from. The script acts in fine service, and is often bleakly funny, a highlight the many kitschy Australiana references, from Chiko Rolls to car hoons to daggy suburban houses. Despite its intensity and darkness, by the time the credits of Memoir of a Snail roll, you realise that what you just saw was all a bit beautiful.

Memoir of a Snail is in cinemas October 17.

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