Memoir of a Snail review – Adam Elliot's stop-motion animation is brilliantly bleak
Elliot's latest, the multi-award-winning, Oscar-nominated Memoir of a Snail, is archetypal Elliot. The sorry tale of a melancholic woman named Grace Pudel (voiced with world-weary resignation by Succession's Sarah Snook), the film is a catalogue of misfortune. Grace's mother dies in childbirth; she and her twin brother, Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee), are orphaned when their depressive, alcoholic father succumbs to his sleep apnoea. And then things get really bad. Grace, like the pet snails she counts among her closest friends, just wants to crawl into her shell and hide from the world.
It's bleak, certainly. But what makes this a distinctively Elliot film is not the relentless misfortune but the flashes of mordant humour to be found alongside Grace's hoarded knick-knacks, and the care with which the director handles his damaged, cherished social outcasts.
In UK and Irish cinemas
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out
an hour ago
- Time Out
A Michelin-starred Texan BBQ is coming to London
Meat lovers, this one's for you. One of most-acclaimed BBQ joints in Austin, Texas is coming to London for four weeks of flesh-based joy. Michelin starred smokehouse InterStellar BBQ is decamping from Texas for a kitchen takeover at Electric Bar & Diner at The Ned from September 5 until October 5. It'll be a collaboration with Hackney-based barbecue gang From The Ashes and there will just be one menu item on offer; a hearty sharing platter that includes peach tea glazed pork belly, pulled lamb shoulder, confit duck leg, beef short rib, and chilli & cheese sausage. There's also the option to add on Australian wagyu brisket, and a dessert of banana pudding with Jack Daniel's caramel sauce is also included. Sides include Texas toast, slaw, beans and beef fat potatoes. The whole thing comes in at £140 per platter for two, so it'll be £70 a head if you're sharing - and you probably should unless you want to go home in an ambulance. Speaking about the collab, John Bates of InterStellar says: 'It is the first time ever that I will be bringing my BBQ style, smoke and flavour to the UK. This is a great opportunity for BBQ enthusiasts to try authentic Texan BBQ right in the heart of the City of London.' 'We have been admirers of John's approach to BBQ and smoking for some time so are looking forward to teaming up with one of the best,' says From The Ashes, who you can find at the Five Points Courtyard in Hackney every Friday to Sunday. InterStellar scored its first Michelin star in last year's inaugural Texas Michelin Guide, and is one of only four Texan smokehouses to receive the honour.
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Historic stately home in West Lothian provides splendid backdrop for Boiler Room session
Armand van Helden and Ewan McVicar delighted thousands of revellers at Hopetoun House Thousands of dance music fans descended on a stately home in West Lothian at the weekend for a two-day event. The grand looking 325-year-old Hopetoun House near the village of Newton provided an incredible stage backdrop for the occasion. Looking in the opposite direction, beyond the greenery the Queensferry Crossing dominated the skyline. Hopetoun House is owned by a charity trust but the south wing remains the family home of the 4th Marquess of Linlithgow. The Hopetoun House Sessions is a new series of outdoor summer shows by the Scottish events company, EE Live, who also organise the Terminal V festival. On Saturday, the headline act was Australian house and techno producer Fisher who thrilled the crowds. Comments on social media during the day confirmed that the music wasn't confined to the site, with many over the water in Fife being able to hear the party in full swing quite clearly. The weather remained fair for the crowds who attended over the two days with showers contained to Sunday morning, and the sun was out ensuring the site was dry again before the gates opened for the afternoon. There was an even bigger crowd on the Sunday with broadcaster and promoter Boiler Room taking over the stage for the day. It was a prevalently youngish crowd who queued patiently at the gates to access the site where the usual, quite pricey, festival-type bars and eateries. The Boiler Room stage set-up allows the crowd to get up really close and rub shoulders with the DJs as they perform. Top of the bill was legendary house music veteran and speed garage pioneer Armand van Helden, the former Grammy Award nominee from Boston rolled out a set laden with classics including his own remixed versions of Sneaker Pimps' Spin Spin Sugar and Tori Amos's Professional Widow, which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. He also delivered Bonkers, his collaboration with Dizzee Rascal from 2009, and the following year's Barbra Streisand track which he released as half of duo Duck Sauce with Canadian DJ/producer A-Trak, it hit number 3 in the UK. His set delighted the euphoric dancing crowd further as lasers and searing flames lit up the West Lothian sky. Prior to Armand van Helden's appearance, Scotland's own Ewan McVicar had upped the tempo a bit in preparation for the Bostonian's arrival and there was a maturity about the set he delivered, which didn't include his 2021 debut single, Tell me Something Good. Earlier in the day an international line-up featuring; Swatt Team, Messie, Saint Ludo, Notion, and a back-to-back set featuring Oppidan and Todd Edwards had kept the receptive crowd moving. The event rounded off at 10.30pm but with no on-site parking facility at the venue and revellers relying on being picked up, taking a taxi, or hopping on the Happy Bus, it would be a few hours before the majority made it home, with many departing on foot for lengthy walks to pre-determined pick-up points elsewhere. However, they happily wandered off into the relative darkness following a great day dancing in surroundings of splendour.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Keeley Hawes gives an insight into romantic getaway with Succession star husband Matthew Mcfadyen to The Dolomites
Keeley Hawes gave an insight into her romantic getaway to The Dolomites with her husband Matthew Mcfadyen on Monday. The actress, 49, and the Succession star, 50, enjoyed a trip to the Lefay Resorts and Residences for some relaxation. Sharing a series of photos to Instagram, Keeley wrapped herself in a dressing gown and soaked up the stunning scenery. Other photos showed the couple posing for a photo in the mirror before heading for a massage. Keeley also snapped a picture of the pool and a plate of pancakes and fruit that she had tucked into for breakfast. She captioned the update: 'Didn't want to leave… Thank you.' Keeley recently revealed how they both 'get shouted at in the street' due to their respective acting careers and what life is like at home. Joining Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett on season seven of Dish from Waitrose on Wednesday she joked they'd both spent a lot of time in people's living rooms. She explained: 'People immediately think they know you, yeah-when you're in their living rooms. People call me Mrs. Durrell a lot, which I always find very flattering.' The actress continued: 'Matthew had it more recently with Succession, but something like Bodyguard or like Line of Duty, where literally people are shouting things from vans and people and, you know, it becomes part of the culture for that week or whatever. It's really exciting. It's really flattering, and really lovely.' Elsewhere discussing life at home, Keeley admitted that she hates cooking while Matthew really 'invests time' into making their meals. She added: 'Being married to someone like Matthew who really enjoys it, Matthew wakes up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth will be 'What should we have for dinner tonight?' At like seven o'clock in the morning. I'm like, 'I don't know. I don't care. 'You know, but he will really invest and invest time and really enjoy the process. And after twenty years of somebody else doing it and, preparing things, and it happening for you, I think there's probably an element of that. So, there is a lot of toast in my diet. 'Matthew grew up in Indonesia a lot of the time and surrounded by this amazing cooking and these tastes and trying different things,' she explained. The couple rang in her 20th wedding anniversary back in October and looked as loved up as ever in a social media update. The couple recently revealed they are looking forward to their 'third act' as a couple when their children fly the nest. They are proud parents to daughter Maggie, 19, and son Ralph, 17, while Matthew is also a step-dad to Keeley's son Myles, 24, from her first marriage. Matthew said he is looking forward to spending quality time with Keeley and heading off on numerous mini-breaks when they have more time to themselves. He told CBS: 'It's like a third act. It's exciting. We're like, "OK, mini-breaks!" In the trenches when they're little, it's like, 'This is it for ever', but of course it's not.' The actor added: 'Then you realise, luckily, ours are really lovely, funny humans who are making you laugh and telling you off.' The star went on to admit this is the first time his children have been interested in his work. Matthew said: 'We don't always watch each other's stuff and our children certainly don't watch our things. That's sort of galling – no interest. That keeps you humble. 'But they will watch Deadpool for sure. They suddenly perked up when they heard I was doing that. They finally showed a modicum of interest. My daughter was like, 'Will you meet Blake?' Keeley and Matthew have been married since 2004 and Matthew is also step-father to Myles McCallum, Keeley's son with first husband Spencer McCallum, a cartoonist.
