A masterpiece of pathos and comedy

Adam Elliot's second animated feature after 2009's brilliant Mary and Max, 2024's Memoir of a Snail further confirms the filmmaker's impeccable talents, showing that his debut was not a fluke. Retaining the superb aesthetic and storytelling qualities of his previous feature, Memoir of a Snail is another almost unbearably poignant and honest examination of loneliness, loss and humanity, yet it is also consistently hilarious through a combination of tender and dark humour. Elliot treads similar thematic ground to Mary and Max, and the story is ostensibly quite ordinary, but the director enlivens the material with profound emotional resonance and top-notch character work, making this another serious awards contender for the Australian animator. Although animated, Memoir of a Snail is another film demonstrating that the art form is not purely for children. Indeed, this is a movie for adults and is not suitable for younger kids, particularly due to its intense thematic content and subject matter.


Born in Australia during the 1970s, Grace (Sarah Snook) and her twin brother, Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee), endure intense loss during their formative years. Following their parents' deaths, the government separates Grace and Gilbert by sending them to separate foster homes, with Grace ending up in Canberra while Gilbert lives with a religious fundamentalist family in Western Australia. Memoir of a Snail traces the bittersweet story of the twins who stay in touch through heartache and tragedy while hoping to reunite and yearning for greater things, with Grace aspiring to follow in her father's footsteps by pursuing a career in stop-motion animation. Through the years, Grace maintains an affinity for snails, as she began collecting and breeding them after her mother's death. Grace also develops a bond with an elderly woman named Pinky (Jacki Weaver), who helps her deal with the challenges of adulthood, including a short-lived marriage to a sleazy mechanic (Tony Armstrong).

Whereas Mary and Max built to an emotional climax, Elliot goes straight for the jugular in Memoir of a Snail, with the first act involving the deaths of several people who are close to Grace. Anybody who has lost a parent or a grandparent might find some of these moments extraordinarily affecting, with characters suffering from ailments like sleep apnea and Alzheimer's. Elliot does not shy away from life's brutal realities, but the story is not relentless doom and gloom, as humour consistently livens the proceedings, and the picture closes on an optimistic note that feels wholly earned. With Elliot developing Memoir of a Snail over an eight-year period, the screenplay perfectly balances drama and humour, to the point that some scenes will make you both laugh and cry. Elliot maintains a robust sense of pacing, never dwelling on anything for too long, while Sarah Snook confidently drives the movie with her nuanced, almost omnipresent narration. Like Mary and Max, narration drives the story of Memoir of a Snail, as the low budget makes it difficult to execute dialogue-driven stories due to the challenges of synchronising dialogue with lip movements.


Elliot brought back several collaborators for Memoir of a Snail, including editor Bill Murphy and cinematographer Gerald Thompson, whose contributions to the production are superb. Like Elliot's previous animated endeavours, including his Oscar-winning short film Harvie Krumpet, there is a handmade quality to the stop-motion animation, with animators primarily using clay, wire, paint and paper for the puppets. The production design is immaculate, with each set featuring astonishing detail, making the world feel wholly believable. The 90-minute feature consists of over 135,000 still photographs, and while the character models are deliberately imperfect instead of photorealistic, the sense of visual style is engrossing, and the motion is impossibly smooth. The animation possesses a distinct personality, with subtle movements that make the characters seem genuinely alive. Additionally, the movie features no digital effects, as the animators created all of the special effects by hand, including flames. The Melbourne-based claymation team worked patiently for several months to bring Memoir of a Snail to life, creating only 10 seconds of footage each day throughout the painstaking and intricate process, and the result feels incredibly special in an era dominated by computer animation. Furthermore, composer Elena Kats-Chernin provides a gentle and moving original score, complementing the visuals without overwhelming them.

With a terrific voice cast consisting of recognisable Aussie acting veterans like Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver (musician Nick Cave even plays a role), who bring the material and characters to life with palpable nuance, it is easy to become invested in Memoir of a Snail, which stands as one of 2024's best movies, animated or otherwise. In short, it is a masterpiece of intense pathos and uproarious comedy, and it is impossible to imagine the year begetting another animated movie that tops it. With Mary and Max receiving no attention at the Academy Awards, one can only hope that Memoir of a Snail is not similarly ignored.

10/10