Grace (Sarah Snook) and Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are an odd pair of twins.  Their mother died tragically during childbirth leaving her entertainer husband, Percy (Dominique Pinon), to look after the kids.  When he suffers a career-ending injury, he retires to the home where the years pass by until eventually he too passes away.  The children are separated, Gilbert joins the strictly religious Appleby family, and Grace finds a regretful home with Ian and Narelle (Paul Capsis), a paid of disengaged swingers.  Despite a life of hardship, Grace clings to her mother’s humble snail collection, growing it to an immeasurable hoard until finally realizing that the only way forward in life is to move forward from the past. 

Adam Elliot writes and directs Memoir of a Snail, a darkly comic and deeply poignant rumination on life that debuted at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival before its release from IFC Films.  Running a full and heartfelt 95 minutes, the singular work was recognized with the Cristal Award in the feature category at its debut festival.  Elliot’s script reads more or less like a monologue, a stream of consciousness that is not quite a eulogy, but is fully reflective of Grace’s well-lived life, all shot here by Gerald Thompson and assembled in the edit by Bill Murphy.  While the artificiality of the world could have been used as a shield from the real pains and joys of life, Elliot and his team use it instead to lift the fear of confronting these themes in their own bodies and can instead dig deeper resulting in a paradoxical introspection that can only be had through a perched observation of moving these models around fabricated landscapes. 

Memoir of a Snail is a sneaky film, opening with a voiceover by Grace, and soon after, audiences will realize that the entire film will be delivered in this way.  It is a strange format to watch, and its success lives and dies then on so many little things working in perfect harmony lest the entire experience becomes discordant.  Thankfully, Snook imbues her vocal performance with such poignancy that we can not help but to endear ourselves to Grace, even though Grace herself struggles to do the same.  Her character is not an easy one, oftentimes making the wrong choices in service of someone other than herself or skirting around a full commitment to her own best interests making her a frustrating character at times to watch, but that is where the goodwill which Snook has built up as well as the unique quality of Elliot’s vision brought to screen under Bob Shea’s art direction comes in to play.  Beyond just what we see in the immediate, the script is always laying tracks towards a new goal so like a chain reaction of dominos, we always know something is going to happen – often time, a tragedy building upon itself – but we may not always know which way the narrative will turn. 

While undeniably Grace’s story, Memoir of a Snail also has a few memorable supporting characters that help fill out the world of the film.  Most notable of this bunch is Pinky (Jacki Weaver) an eccentric, free spirit who takes Grace under her wing, teaching her slowly but surely to embrace the unpredictability of life to always forge ahead.  Weaver is having a blast with the role, reveling in the absurdity of her character’s backstory, leaning into the subtle grunts and groans that shape much of her character’s humor, and excelling at both to help lighten the mood of the film while never betraying the overall tone and nature.  Her presence also helps frame the narrative and move the story forward in a strangely more direct way through her tangents because of her direct interaction with Grace.  Pinky, despite grabbing life by the horns and never letting go, reminisces with the knowledge of a life well lived, yet not one without regret. As he emotional ward, Pinky makes it her mission to get Grace out of her shell.

The other major story that takes place within Memoir is also one of woe, following Gilbert as he struggles to assimilate into the Appleby family.  Early on, Grace makes a very specific comment about her brother who was eager to follow the family tradition of showmanship, saying something along the lines that he always seemed as if he was keeping a secret.  It is a single line that can get lost in the rest of Grace’s monologue, almost forgotten about until late in the story when we are spending more and more time on the Appleby farm; knowledge gleaned from a letter Gilbert had slipped into the mail and is being read by Grace, a brilliant turn in the screenwriting that helps tell a third story while not breaking the rules which have been softly established.  After being a thorn in the side of Ruth Appleby (Magda Szubanski) for not conforming, she catches Gilbert with the youngest of the Appleby boys, Ben (Davey Thompson), kissing behind the barn.  It topples into a brutal and tragic sequence that fits well in the rest of the tale, but there is still that glimmer of a silver lining; the promise of something better. 

Memoir of a Snail is a really beautiful film on an artistic level highlighting a really wonderful style that feels informed by the history of the medium while still being true to itself.  The script is sharp, and at times down downright mean, especially as it chronicles Grace’s marriage to Ken (Tony Armstrong), but it never feels like it is piling on the poor woman.  Elliot is always focused on that next step ahead, utilizing Grace’s unwavering perseverance as a guiding star throughout the narrative, and in the same way that the cast is able to unlock something real through the artificiality of the claymation, so too is Elliot able to focus in completely on this fable.  Life is a series of confusing and unstopping events, moments, and decisions that we oftentimes do not understand fully as they are happening, but we have no other choice except to move forward.  It is only in the future that we can understand the past, and since can not change our future without first acting in the present.