MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

Her life may be a mess, but Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook of SUCCESSION fame) does derive pleasure from three things: her snail collection, romance novels and her guinea pigs. As children, she and twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG, HIFF 2021) eked out a modest existence with their paraplegic father, a has-been performer gripped by alcoholism and grief after their mother’s death. When he, too, passes away, the siblings are split up by child services: Grace is sent to Canberra, and Gilbert, to Perth. Isolated and depressed, Grace retreats behind a carapace – much like her snails – and fills her emotional void through compulsive hoarding. That is, until she finds a fourth source of joy: a friendship with outrageous octogenarian Pinky (Jacki Weaver, ANIMAL KINGDOM; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK). This exquisitely hand-crafted stop-motion wonder from the auteur behind the multi-awarded feature MARY AND MAX and Oscar-winning short HARVIE KRUMPET is an affecting coming-of-age tale like no other. As it traces one downtrodden young woman’s journey to overcome loss and embrace herself, this bittersweet yet uplifting film also unfolds as a family saga across 1970s Australia on an intimate scale.