“Memoir of a Snail”: An Animated Film as Dark as Endearing

A tragicomic story that reminds us that even though life can always get worse, it can also get better. Here are all the reasons why you should watch Memoir of a Snail.

Summary

Trapped in an existence full of misfortunes, Grace, a misfit obsessed with snails, tries to find her way in the world the best she can. But to find happiness, she must learn that confidence and self-esteem are the main differences between living and just surviving.

A Little Gem

If you are following the award season, I dare say you have heard about this movie. After all, it has been nominated for most of the biggest awards, even though Flow has been the clear favorite.

Memoir of a Snail follows Grace Pudel as she walks us through her childhood and adult life. Our protagonist knows pain and loss at a very young age: her mother dies giving birth to Grace and her twin brother Gilbert. Their dad, a former street performer that was left paraplegic after an accident, also dies while the kids are still young, and they get separated and sent to live on opposite sides of the country. To deal with her sadness and loneliness, Grace develops an obsession with snails and begins to compulsively purchase any snail-related article in the market.

The film explores mature themes, not shying away from sex and violence. In fact, its very dark sense of humor relies largely on those subjects, which really surprised me. For example, one of the recurring jokes is that Grace’s adoptive parents are swingers, even though she does not understand what that means. There are mentions of masturbation, fetish, physical abuse, and death, and there are plenty of scenes where the characters are naked or having sex. So, despite being an animated movie, this is not for kids.

Let us give a special mention to Pinky, Grace’s only friend (aside from the snails) and, at times, her mother figure. She is one of the funniest characters in the film and the one that makes the biggest impact in the protagonist’s story.

Stop-Motion for a Change

I’ve personally never been a huge fan of stop-motion animation, maybe because I grew up watching mainly Disney films, but Memoir of a Snail has made me change my mind. In some strange way, it suits the rawness of the story being told, and I found it quite aesthetically pleasing as well. Equally beautiful and sad. The characters are clay figures, but they manage to transmit more emotions than many human actors I’ve seen last year. And I am not ashamed to say that I spent part of the film crying.

Grace and Gilbert’s lives are a series of unfortunate events that happen one after the other, and it is easy to connect with them. After all, who has not had a period when everything seems to go wrong? Who has not dealt with that asphyxiating feeling of loneliness at some point? It is touching because it is human, and the film approaches these subjects with sincerity.

We Need More Meaningful Stories

Above all, I love the final message: sometimes the worst prisons are the ones we build for ourselves. Being free means letting go of the things that hold you back. In Grace’s case, the snail collection. Not just the objects, but what it represents: the means to avoid reality for a bit, cope, because the future seems too impossible and the past hurts too much. We each have our own “snail collection” we cannot seem to get rid of.

Later on, Grace realizes that with all the money and the energy she spent on that, she could have searched for Gilbert. Or she could have started the career she always wanted. So she decides not to stall anymore and go get the life of her dreams.

After watching so many nonsensical and empty films these past months, this felt like a caress to the soul. No matter how bad 2024 was for entertainment, we can agree on one thing: animation has not been negatively affected. It is better than ever. And Memoir of a Snail is, without a doubt, a must-watch.