Australia 2024
Opening July 24, 2025

Directed by: Adam Elliot
Writing credits: Adam Elliot
Principal actors: Animation: Voices: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, Dominique Pinon, Tony Armstrong, Nick Cave

With the knowledge of hindsight, the older half of the Pudel twins decides to write a memoir. In honor of Pinky (Jacki Weaver), Grace (Sarah Snook) explains while setting the snail free in her dear friend’s garden and expostulating about life’s unfairnesses. Emphasizing what is meaningful about being a twin and being loved for oneself, yet with a pensive demeanor, Grace’s storytelling traces her and Gilbert’s (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives from past to the present.

Raised by their lively, full-hearted French father (Dominique Pinon) in Melbourne, Australia, after his wife’s untimely death, an accident’s result is his paraplegy that he self-medicates with alcohol. The twins are devoted to him, each other, and reading. Grace lauds Gilbert constantly protecting her from school bullies, admitting her weaknesses. Grace’s hobby is collecting snails; Gilbert’s is playing with matches. Then this idyllic chapter of their lives ends. Sent to foster homes in Canberra and Perth, they are separated by the expansive country. Grace’s new “parents,” Ian and Narelle (Paul Capsis), are swingers. Whereas Gilbert ends up on a fundamentalist family farm where daily prayers and mindless toil suck dry any color or liveliness from the Appleby’s daily routine. There is the dour Owen, the hypocritical preaching father (Bernie Clifford), and wife Ruth (Magda Szubanski), Gilbert’s nemesis, and their boneheaded bullying sons, except for youngster Ben (Davey Thompson). Gilbert and Ben become friends. Grace collects snails obsessively, meets Ken (Tony Armstrong), and is kind to others, e.g. the neighborhood bum, James (Eric Bana), and the eccentric, exciting older Pinky. Pinky mutually befriends Grace, breathing sparkle and fun, plus outlandish stories into Grace’s drab, dismal life. Consequently, following Pinky’s good guidance makes all the difference.

Australian writer-director Adam Elliott’s exquisitely executed, deliciously detailed, lovingly assembled, and richly realized animation, Memoir of a Snail, is a poignant, awe-inspiring tragicomedy. Claymation, a meticulous animation technique, uses movable clay figures and stop-motion recording that required Elliott spending eight years assembling Memoir. The semi-autobiographical parable-like film has layer upon layers of meaning woven into its fabric: sometimes metaphoric, e.g., snails live safe, snug in protective shells; sometimes allegorical, e.g., the politically/religiously dictatorial Appleby farm, also dark and funny. Loosely based associations are depicted between characters and real people, e.g., Pinky and fashion icon Iris Apfel; plus, notice the book titles the twins read throughout the film. Elena Kats-Chernin’s embracing music is delightful, containing leitmotivs marking a number of characters. Gerald Thompson’s fluid cinematography, Bill Murphy’s precise editing, Bob Shea’s art direction, set decorators Lucy Davidson, Ruby Davis, and Kerry Drumm, and production manager Braiden Asciak’s work ensure the film’s beauty will captivate its audiences. Strikingly, Memoir of a Snail’s nomination for the 2025 Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards marks the second R-rated animation (Anomalisa, 2015) to scale that high bar. 95 minutes (Marinell H.)

Another Opinion by Becky T.

Grace and Gilbert are twins living in Australia. Their mother has died. Their father Percy is difficult, as he is dependent on his wheelchair as well as being addicted to whiskey. Sadly, he also dies due to having sleep apnea. The illness sleep apnea causes breathing to stop and restart—until it doesn’t. The children, now up for adoption, are separated and sent to different families. Grace goes to Ian and Narelle near Canberra. Gilbert goes to Owen and Ruth, who demand his participation in a strict religion, which makes him both depressed and angry. The twins’ relationship is communicated through letters, written over the years. Now, it’s the 1970s and we see Grace Pudel as an adult, living in a messy house full of books, guinea pigs, and snails. She befriends an elderly woman named Pinky. There is also a “boyfriend” Ken, who is attracted to her rather overweight figure. Gilbert loves fire; eventually the church burns. Grace is called to court for stealing a snail. And so the story continues.

The childhood of Grace and Gilbert is shown through flashbacks. The film begins with an adult Grace sitting at Pinky’s bedside. Pinky is suffering through her final hours; her last word is “potatoes.” We learn that she had two husbands; she drove the post office truck of one, loved to tap dance, and went to the hairdresser with Grace. Pinky says, “Life can only be understood backwards, but we have to live it forwards.” In comparison, snails always move forward and never go back. There is an interest in distributing ashes of loved ones while riding on a roller coaster. Memorien einer Schnecke is presented in stop-motion animation, in the form of claymation. While one perhaps connects animation to children’s films, this one is definitely a film for adults, seventeen years and older. It premiered in 2024 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France where it won the Cristal Award for Best Feature Film. It continued being featured in over ten more festivals, winning several awards including best director for Adam Elliot at the São Paulo International Film Festival and was named Best Film at the London Film Festival.