Memoir of Snail is one of the hits of most festivals at which it appears. Adam Elliot with his production even reached an Oscar nomination, but the biggest success of this film should be its widespread recognition by the audiences of all the places where it was shown. Whether it’s animation film festivals or independent cinema festivals, Memoir of Snail is received more than favorably. 

The first thing that strikes you when you encounter the production is its cast. Of course, well-known actors quite often appear in animations as dubbing actors, nevertheless the presence of at least Nick Cave is impressive. The voice of the main character Grace Pudel is provided by Sarah Snook, whose role of Shiv in Succession is one of the best female roles in drama series in recent years. Her brother Gilbert is dubbed by Kodi Smith-McPhee, a rising star whose great role in Power of the Dog ended up with an Oscar nomination. Jacki Weaver underplays the voice of the excellent Grace, and in addition to those mentioned, Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski and Australian soccer player Tony Armstrong also caught on to the project. What do they all have in common? They are Australian.  

Australia beats out of this film in every possible way. Both the depiction of the animated scenery of Australian cities, homes, and places where the characters appear as well as their habits and what they do and how they talk is perfect. Well, just how the characters speak and that warm accent of theirs, slightly incomprehensible to European audiences, is a very charming and incredibly good aspect of the film’s reception. However, after an initially relatively soft phase, the film moves into increasingly darker corners of human behavior and abuse. 

Memoir of Snail is a film about snails, but it is primarily a film about isolation, loss and the very difficult challenges that come with experiencing such strong emotions early in life. When two siblings are separated both are assigned very difficult new environments. Very many difficult topics behind the “+18” genre are addressed by this animation. Whether it is mutilation, addiction, molestation or discrimination and prejudice based on gender, weight, appearance background and basically every possible aspect of humanity. Death is also portrayed in the film in a way that is quite peculiar to the entire narrative. The snails are not only Grace’s greatest friends, but they are also an allegory of her chronic loneliness, which is terrifying to observe from the level of the cinema room.  

Nevertheless, the filmmakers fill their work with irony, cynicism, and very black humor. Memoir of Snail is one of the more difficult films that came to Mastercard OFF CAMERA this year, but it is a very important position. It’s gratifying that the director didn’t rely on a purely educational approach and doesn’t present a one-size-fits-all method for dealing with the problems Grace faced. There are no such solutions because every single problem is an incredibly complex structure that Grace unfortunately experiences. This animation for adults is a very good film, the reception of which is difficult, but this in no way takes away from the quality of the production.

Marcin Telega