Memoir of a Snail
A bittersweet memoir of a melancholic woman called Grace Pudel - a hoarder of snails, romance novels, and guinea pigs.
The film financial setback against its tight budget of $4.3M, earning $7 globally (-100% loss). While initial box office returns were modest, the film has gained appreciation for its unique voice within the animation genre.
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 17 wins & 71 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Memoir of a Snail (2024) exemplifies carefully calibrated narrative architecture, characteristic of Adam Elliot's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 12-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 34 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.8, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Grace Pudel sits alone in her cluttered home surrounded by her snail collection, withdrawn from the world, introducing herself and her obsessive relationship with collecting as a coping mechanism for loneliness.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Their father dies suddenly from a stroke while performing his fire-eating act. The eight-year-old twins are orphaned and face separation by child services, shattering their world and setting Grace on a trajectory of isolation.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 23 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This illustrates the protagonist's commitment to Grace actively chooses to retreat into herself and her snail collection as her primary coping mechanism, fully withdrawing from human connection after years of abuse and disappointment, crossing into a life of hoarding and isolation., moving from reaction to action.
At 47 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Grace's marriage to Ken collapses when she discovers his infidelity and criminal activities. She realizes her pattern of seeking love in the wrong places has failed, marking a false defeat where her isolation seems permanent and self-imposed., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 70 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Grace receives news that Gilbert has died by suicide, unable to reconcile his sexuality with his oppressive religious environment. The death of her twin—her last true connection to love and family—represents the ultimate loss and "whiff of death."., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 75 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Grace begins the painful process of clearing out her hoard, keeping only what truly matters. She opens herself to Pinky's friendship, starts to engage with the world, and begins to live with intention rather than fear, integrating her past without being consumed by it., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Memoir of a Snail's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 12 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Memoir of a Snail against these established plot points, we can identify how Adam Elliot utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Memoir of a Snail within the animation genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional animation films include The Bad Guys, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. Presage Flower.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Grace Pudel sits alone in her cluttered home surrounded by her snail collection, withdrawn from the world, introducing herself and her obsessive relationship with collecting as a coping mechanism for loneliness.
Theme
Grace's father tells the twins that "life is what happens when you're making other plans" and encourages them to find beauty in small things, establishing the film's meditation on finding meaning amid chaos and loss.
Worldbuilding
Grace and her twin brother Gilbert grow up with their eccentric father in Melbourne. We see their close bond, their mother's death during childbirth, their father's alcoholism and fire-eating hobby, and the twins' shared love of oddities and each other.
Disruption
Their father dies suddenly from a stroke while performing his fire-eating act. The eight-year-old twins are orphaned and face separation by child services, shattering their world and setting Grace on a trajectory of isolation.
Resistance
Grace and Gilbert are separated: he's sent to rural Western Australia to religious foster parents, while she remains in Melbourne with an elderly, abusive couple. They maintain contact through letters, with Gilbert's optimistic accounts contrasting Grace's grim reality.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Grace actively chooses to retreat into herself and her snail collection as her primary coping mechanism, fully withdrawing from human connection after years of abuse and disappointment, crossing into a life of hoarding and isolation.
Premise
Grace navigates adult life through failed relationships, a marriage to a con artist, increasing isolation, and deepening hoarding behavior. Meanwhile, Gilbert's letters reveal his own struggles with his sexuality and religious oppression. Grace's world becomes smaller as her collection grows.
Midpoint
Grace's marriage to Ken collapses when she discovers his infidelity and criminal activities. She realizes her pattern of seeking love in the wrong places has failed, marking a false defeat where her isolation seems permanent and self-imposed.
Opposition
Grace spirals deeper into hoarding and isolation. Pinky tries to reach her, but Grace resists connection. The correspondence with Gilbert becomes her only link to hope, but even that becomes strained as both siblings struggle with their respective prisons—Grace's physical clutter, Gilbert's religious suppression.
Collapse
Grace receives news that Gilbert has died by suicide, unable to reconcile his sexuality with his oppressive religious environment. The death of her twin—her last true connection to love and family—represents the ultimate loss and "whiff of death."
Crisis
Grace falls into profound grief and guilt, questioning whether her own isolation and inability to save Gilbert makes her complicit in his death. She contemplates her own existence amid the suffocating clutter of her hoard.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
Grace begins the painful process of clearing out her hoard, keeping only what truly matters. She opens herself to Pinky's friendship, starts to engage with the world, and begins to live with intention rather than fear, integrating her past without being consumed by it.