Adam Elliot’s Memoir Of A Snail explores the loss of youth in a world that is hopelessly bleak. Told through stop-motion animation set against the backdrop of 1970s Australia, Memoir Of A Snail will change the way you look at snails throughout your ever-changing life.

Snails often leave behind a trace of themselves everywhere they go, even if it’s almost invisible. It’s believed that the average lifespan of a snail can last between up to a year in captivity, while various snails walk this Earth with the likelihood of living for up to 20 years. For an animal so minuscule, snails are often seen as an undervalued, or often an overlooked creature that seems to not do much with its existence. Chances are, most people who walk by a snail don’t entirely think much of it, rather choosing to think it’s a slimy bug and brush it off in their everyday life. However, there’s something quite peaceful in the way they seem to go about their lives, and how the world around them evolves as they glide by. It’s years that go by in the blink of an eye, and while there is growth, there is also loss. It’s no surprise that Adam Elliot, a director known for creating absurdly realistic characters in the world of stop motion, is compelled to talk about the idea of growing up in a large span of time and how like snails, we can be held back from realizing our full potential in Memoir Of A Snail.

Set in 1970s Australia, Memoir Of A Snail begins with an introduction to our protagonist, Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook) as she reflects on her journey to one of her pet snails. After losing both of her parents at a young age, Grace finds solace in snails throughout her youth. Within the opening sequence, we discover that Grace loses her mother during childbirth and loses her father throughout the early years of childhood, leaving her and her brother Gilbert (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) as orphans. Grace and Gilbert are forced to go their separate ways after the loss of their parents, leaving them in limbo across different houses in Australia. It’s the catalysis for both characters, and the separation makes the twins grow bitter towards their respective environments. 

As Grace finds herself stuck with foster parents who are absent in her life in Canberra, Gilbert is stuck with an abusive religious family who own an apple farm in a remote part of Australia. Grace and Gilbert communicate through letters, only to be growing up apart from one another. Through Grace’s narration, we learn that her heartbreak and grief follow her throughout her childhood, youth, and early stages of adulthood. Grace finds herself taking a job at the local Canberra library, entering a toxic relationship as a young woman, and the absence of her brother. As Grace feels like the world around her is falling apart, she turns to her love for snails as a comfort and the beacon of light to continue going. 

Grace’s dejection and reflection of her grief never feels like wallowing, but rather, fuels her need to find happiness in her life. We begin to see the parallels between Grace’s heartbreak in her life and her spiraling need to fill the void with snails, while Gilbert struggles in trying to keep living in an abusive household. Memoir Of A Snail’s script is cautiously hopeful, and small moments of hope throughout both Grace and Gilbert’s life. Grace befriends an older woman named Pinky (voiced by Jacki Weaver) whom she meets outside of the library, and Pinky’s life ultimately changes the way Grace views the world around her. 

Elliot carefully crafts each character in Memoir Of A Snail to reflect on their past grievances and the misfortunes that life has to offer, while also being heartbreakingly poignant. Grace gets the opportunity to be seen as a person by Pinky, who offers her insight on how to begin to stop living in the past and how to move forward. Our past holds us back from becoming the person we thought we could become, because we are so focused on trying to process our emotions, that we tend to forget moving forward takes courage and one step out the door. Elliott’s humor adds a breath of fresh air to Grace and Gilbert’s respective pain, while also allowing them to feel human in the way that they are processing life apart. 

As much as Memoir Of A Snail is told through Elliot’s screenplay, the world building and production design truly show us what it’s like living in both Grace and Gilbert’s world. As Grace begins to sink further into her depression and grief, her home begins to become cluttered and piled by products that resemble snails. From snail lamps, to snail paintings, to even snail-shaped pencil sharpeners, each item is carefully handcrafted by a team of hundreds to make Grace almost feel trapped in her own past. The character designs are made with the purest form of love and the dedication behind each individual animation still we see on screen. We are able to emphasize with Grace, Gilbert and Pinky because of the realistic expressions the team has been able to pull off. The environment is designed to feel lived in, and brings you into 1970s Australia. We are Grace’s eyes as she reflects in her memories that blur between the past and present, and it’s the work of hundreds who have put their hands into making the world of Memoir Of A Snail colorful, even if the world is in beige and greys.

Sarah Snook and Kodi Smit-McPhee’s voices add not only life to both Grace and Gilbert, but also, make us empathize with them as characters. The letters that Gilbert sends to Grace are told through monologues that are devastatingly painstaking to hear, while Grace’s reflection of her childhood feels like a knife to our hearts. As the characters grow and mature in their separate ways, the combination of the final days of adolescence and the budding stages of adulthood is told throughout the voice acting. It’s the performances that add extra layers to both characters, and provides warmth to discovering more about the twins. Even when we start learning about characters like Pinky, Jacki Weaver’s encouraging words to Grace resonate hard with us, because in a way, it almost feels like she is speaking to us on not giving up on our futures.

A line spoken in the film best describes Memoir Of A Snail: “Life can only be understood backwards, but we have to live it forwards,” leaving us hopeful for whatever lies ahead. The act of getting rid of your past grievances and the loss of people, ideas, and youth should not be the reason we hold ourselves back, but rather as a way to move forward. It’s the belief of standing strong in the face of adversity and realizing that our past doesn’t define us. Life is an endless loop of trying to figure out what direction we could be going down, and there’s so much to live for in living to see where one’s full potential could go. Memoir Of A Snail’s exploration of grief and self-discovery shows us that like snails, we can’t go back in time and walk down trails that we once passed, but we have to continue to move towards a brighter future for ourselves. 

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: Best Animated Feature
Should Be Considered: Best Production Design

Where To Watch: In Select Theaters