June 5

The June Swoon entry today is the final of the 2025 Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature, Memoir of a Snail. It is an Australian stop motion film.

According to IMDB, “A bittersweet memoir of a melancholic woman called Grace Pudel – a hoarder of snails, romance novels, and guinea pigs.”

The voice cast featured some of the top level Australian actors including Emmy and Tony Award winner Sarah Snook, Academy Award nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee, Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver and actor Eric Bana.

This animated film is not one for kids. It is a distinctly adult story told in the stop action format. It is a funny film, with a very tragic feel.

The film was written, directed and produced by Adam Elliot and it was loosely based on his own life.

Even though the movie was dark, it had a remarkable flair for life and the eccentricities of the human condition. The film is chocked full of adult themes mixed in with the humor. It is powerful and deeply affecting. It is a wonderful example of what is possible in the animation style.