Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie Review

Life sucks, wear a snail hat.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 6, 2025

Available on its own or as part of a double feature Blu-ray* with Mary and Max (a like-minded 2009 film by the same writer/director), Memoir of a Snail is another downbeat stop-motion tragicomedy by Australia's Adam Elliot. Although both share similar narrative tones and atmospheres, Casey Broadwater's 2010 review of the then-new Mary and Max stands on its own, so I'll dispense with comparisons between the two films even though they clearly exist.

Memoir of a Snail is a dreary coming-of-age tale that makes Roald Dahl seem cheerful by comparison. A nonetheless lovingly assembled production that wears its damaged heart on its sleeve, this deceptively dark drama has undoubtedly earned more than a few one-star reviews from horrified parents who didn't bother to watch it beforehand. (It's rated "R", which is overkill in my opinion, but obviously isn't for kids.) It tells the sad, sad story of one Grace Pudel (voiced by Sarah Snook), a young girl growing up in 1970s Melbourne along with her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and their dad Percy (Dominique Pinon), and is told in flashbacks as adult Grace sits at the bedside of a withered old woman near death. Grace's lifelong habit of collecting snails seems to be passed down from her mother, who didn't make it through childbirth, and it's one of many things Grace was teased about as a child. Gilbert always stood up for her though, which makes it even harder when they're separated after the unexpected death of their dad.

Reduced to pen pals, Grace and Gilbert are now on very different paths in life: she's raised (but mostly ignored) by a couple of swingers and later befriends an eccentric senior named Pinky, while poor Gilbert is taken in by a family of religious cult members who punish him for bad behavior including his "satanic" homosexual tendencies. Nonetheless, Gilbert writes Grace often and promises they'll be together again someday, which -- along with her childhood dream of becoming a stop-motion animator -- seems more and more unlikely with each passing year and belated milestone in her life, including her unlikely marriage to Ken (Tony Armstrong), a doting salesman who waits on her hand and foot as Grace grows more isolated and overweight, a near shut-in surrounded by her growing snail collection.

Memoir of a Snail ain't exactly lightweight weekend entertainment, and that goes for all viewers who are old enough to handle stories involving death, tragedy, attempted suicide, and other fun stuff. It's nonetheless a very capably rendered effort that stands in sharp contrast to say, Vengeance Most Fowl (a decently enjoyable movie that I completely forgot I watched a few weeks later) in the same way that the bold work of someone like Ralph Bakshi or especially Martin Rosen (Watership Down, The Plague Dogs ) likely felt to unsuspecting audiences raised on 1970s Disney films, clearly playing like a genuine effort to explore format boundaries rather than just churn out audience-friendly hits. I'll still admit that decent-sized portions of Memoir of a Snail are a bit too punishing and the film as a whole doesn't quite earn its ending, but this is still very solid work for a writer-director who seems to be pouring his life into every frame. Much like Mary and Max, the Blu-ray offers support for the film via great A/V specs and a nice little handful of extras.

* -Die-hard fans of the director (who aren't scared to import Blu-rays) will perhaps be even more interested in Madman Entertainment's recent Adam Elliot Collection, which contains all of his stop-motion work thus far.

Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Memoir of a Snail's handcrafted world is rendered nicely on IFC films' new Blu-ray, a BD-50 that sports similar visual merits to their 2010 release of Mary and Max. Fine detail is quite impressive top to bottom, with visible fingerprints and other small touches easily spotted in close-ups with bold uses of light and shadow that creates quite a bit of striking visual contrast despite the limited color palette. Slight banding issues can be spotted here and there, although they're nothing outside of expected boundaries for the format, with the bulk of this Blu-ray running at a very supportive bit rate from start to finish on this dual-layered disc. Plain and simple, if you loved how Mary and Max looked in 1080p, I can't see anyone being disappointed with the inarguable visual merits of this like-minded release.

Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, Memoir of a Snail's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is a similarly well-crafted one with as much attention to detail as Mary and Max, offering a largely front-loaded mix that's dotted with creative and occasionally enveloping use of the left/right and surround channels with occasional use of discrete LFE to boot. This is intensely emotional material at times and the surround mix is almost always up to the challenge, rarely pushing the sonic envelope into unexplored territory but still impressing as a workmanlike effort that gets the job done and then some.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and a few decent extras.

• Audio Commentary - This feature-length track with writer-director Adam Elliot is similar to his one for Mary and Max in that it's generally laid-back but enjoyable. Elliot seems to be in good spirits as he discusses the film's personal themes and the massive contributions of his creative team including the voice cast, composer Elena Kats-Chernin, production designers and other artists (including some rather interesting tricks of the trade), editor Bill Murphy, several producers, cinematographer Gerald Thompson, and a few others.

• Q&A with Adam Elliot and Jacki Weaver (28:17) - Variety's Peter Debruge hosts this live Q&A session with Adam Elliot and producer Jacki Weaver (an accomplished voice actor since the 1960s who also brought Pinky to life), with both participants sharing details about their lives, careers, and contributions to the film.

• Magic of Stop Motion (1:08) - A bite-sized look at the in-camera animation process.

• Interview with Sarah Snook (3:49) - Another promotional featurette with the lead voice actor.

• Making of Memoir of a Snail (6:30) - This slightly longer (but still woefully short) piece, which again plays more like an extended trailer for the film, features short interview clips with Adam Elliot as well as a brief look at the storyboards and several finished props, backgrounds, and characters.

• Behind the Scenes of Memoir of a Snail (2:38) - A shorter but like-minded featurette with more short interview clips and peeks behind the curtain of this CGI-free production.

Memoir of a Snail Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Australian writer-director Adam Elliot's Memoir of a Snail is almost punishingly downbeat and cruel to its main character and, though all hope isn't lost by the main credits, it's certainly not a film for all tastes. That said, anyone familiar with his previous work -- including 2009's Mary and Max, which also shares a recent double feature Blu-ray with this film -- will find much to admire here, and Elliot's commitment to keep traditional stop-motion animation alive and for grown-ups is a valiant effort indeed. Memoir of a Snail is thus more for established fans than newcomers but, if it looks at all interesting to you, the current sale price can't be beat. Recommended.