---
title: "Memoir of a Snail: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/memoir-of-a-snail/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/memoir-of-a-snail"
critics_score: 73
critics_reviews: 19
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Memoir of a Snail (2024): what the critics said

Critics' score 73 from 19 reviews: 13 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative.

Most critics like Memoir of a Snail, and nearly all of them, including the ones who do not, admire the way it is made. The praise gathers around Elliot’s handcrafted clay animation: tactile, imperfect and dense with detail. Reviewers also credit the writing for holding comedy and tragedy in the same frame, and for its compassion towards downtrodden characters. Among the voice cast, Sarah Snook’s Grace and Jacki Weaver’s Pinky are the performances most often singled out.

The reservations are about misery. Several critics find the run of tragedy visited on Grace relentless; Film Stories and Sight and Sound think the bleakness excessive, and The AV Club says it overwhelms the humour. Little White Lies calls the cruelty tiresome and the ending too convenient, and a few reviewers, Slant among them, find the heavy narration overexplains and flattens the emotional contrasts. The spread is wide, from outright raves to one negative notice, but the dissent is about tone, not craft.

## Los Angeles Times — Manuel Betancourt

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 2024. 

Betancourt calls the film a triumph and one of the year’s best, praising its humanist blend of comedy and tragedy. He singles out the tactile stop-motion animation and its lovingly handcrafted characters.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-25/memoir-of-a-snail-review-animation-sarah-snook-adam-elliot)

## Empire — Beth Webb

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 14 February 2025. 

The review finds the film haunting, eccentric, and full of heart, with its joys feeling earned. It especially praises the expressive, entirely handcrafted stop-motion animation and the care given to the characters.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/memoir-of-a-snail/)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Rating Critics Pick. 11 June 2024. Festival review. 

Debruge finds the film a droll, darkly moving heart-tugger that celebrates people’s differences. He praises Elliot’s thoughtful, emotionally rewarding writing and its vivid stop-motion details.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/memoir-of-a-snail-review-1236033503/)

## IndieWire — David Ehrlich

Rating B+. 25 September 2024. Festival review. 

Ehrlich calls the film a droll, poignant delight and one of the year’s best animated movies. He especially praises its hand-crafted clay animation and Pinky’s irrepressible joie de vivre.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/memoir-of-a-snail-review-1235050944/)

## Evening Standard — Nick Howells

Rating 4/5. 11 February 2025. 

Howells calls the film an almost-as-good, darkly funny delight, though he finds its storytelling unsophisticated. He praises its heart and inventive oddness, especially the charmingly eccentric characters and situations.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/memoir-of-a-snail-review-sarah-snook-oscars-b1210287.html)

## Time Out — Kambole Campbell

Rating 4/5. 9 February 2025. 

Campbell gives the film a positive verdict, describing it as a bittersweet story about coming out of one’s shell. The review highlights its handcrafted stop-motion animation as a gem.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/memoir-of-a-snail-review-2025)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 78/100 (inferred from the text). 10 June 2024. Festival review. 

Bradshaw finds the film charming, beguiling and thoroughly enjoyable, with poignant emotional depth. He singles out its personal, autobiographical touches and the way its animation blends comedy with pathos.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/jun/10/memoir-of-a-snail-review-sarah-snook-kodi-smit-mcphee-adam-elliott)

## Slant Magazine — Steven Scaife

Rating 3/4. 21 October 2024. 

Scaife finds the film’s bleak story buoyed by small triumphs and perseverance. He praises its meticulous, evocative stop-motion world, while criticizing the narration-heavy structure for flattening emotional contrasts.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/memoir-of-a-snail-review-sarah-snook-adam-elliot/)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 June 2024. Festival review. 

Rooney finds the film an acquired taste, but ultimately an undeniably creative and charming curio. He praises its vivid handcrafted world and abundant artisanal detail, while noting that it takes too long to uncover the pathos beneath its eccentricities.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/memoir-of-a-snail-review-sarah-snook-kodi-smit-mcphee-jacki-weaver-australian-animation-1235917931/)

## Screen Daily — Wendy Ide

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 10 June 2024. Festival review. 

The visible text does not reveal the critic’s verdict. It describes the film as tragi-comic claymation and highlights its Australian voice cast, including Sarah Snook.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/memoir-of-a-snail-annecy-review/5194378.article)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 24 October 2024. 

The URL identifies this as a review of the film, but the article text is inaccessible. The critic’s verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/movies/memoir-of-a-snail-review.html)

## Little White Lies — David Jenkins

Rating 4/3/3. 11 February 2025. 

Jenkins finds the film original and memorable, but says its relentless cruelty toward Grace grows tiresome. He praises its distinctive stop-motion style and eccentric tone, while criticizing the emotional manipulation and overly convenient ending.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/memoir-of-a-snail)

## The AV Club — Jacob Oller

Rating C. 23 October 2024. 

Oller finds the film’s relentless misery overwhelms its attempts at humor and sentiment. He praises its painstaking, evocative clay animation and singles out Jacki Weaver’s lively performance as Pinky.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/memoir-of-a-snail-review)

## Sight and Sound — Ivie Uzebu

Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 4 November 2024. Festival review. 

Uzebu finds the film lovingly crafted but weighed down by relentless tragedy, with its bleakness sometimes feeling excessive. The final act’s release and Elena Kats Chernin’s soaring score bring welcome warmth to Grace’s bonds with Pinky and her twin.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/memoir-snail-life-bittersweet-adam-elliots-stop-motion-tragicomedy)

## Collider — Nate Richard

Rating 9/10. 23 October 2024. 

Richard gives the film a strongly positive verdict, calling it one of the year’s most human and beautiful films. He particularly praises Sarah Snook’s emotionally rich voice performance and Elliot’s stop-motion animation, while noting that the bleakness can sometimes feel overwhelming.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/memoir-of-a-snail-review/)

## Deadline — Stephanie Bunbury

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 14 June 2024. Festival review. 

Bunbury finds the film a life-affirming pleasure despite its bleak subject matter, praising its quirky, handmade stop-motion style and generous treatment of flawed characters. She notes that repeated dialogue and narration sometimes overexplain the story, but says those imperfections ultimately fit the film.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/06/memoir-of-a-snail-review-australian-claymation-master-adam-elliot-sarah-snook-kodi-smit-mcphee-annecy-1235973390/)

## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 June 2024. 

The critic finds the film a satisfying blend of darkness and light, laughter and tears. She praises Elliot’s intricate world-building and his ability to make the characters’ tragicomic stories both poignant and absurd.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/memoir-of-a-snail-2024-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)

## The Skinny — Ben Nicholson

Rating ★★★★. 6 February 2025. 

Nicholson finds the film charming, poignant and playful despite its tragic subject matter. He particularly praises the tactile, imperfect claymation and its compassion for downtrodden characters.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/memoir-of-a-snail)

## Film Stories — James Harvey

Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 14 February 2025. 

The review finds the film authentic but relentlessly bleak, and says its misery may be difficult for some viewers to bear. It praises the specificity of Grace’s portrait of depression and the film’s distinctive rough-edged stop-motion style.

[Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/memoir-of-a-snail-review-the-most-depressing-stop-motion-youll-ever-see/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/memoir-of-a-snail.md