A sad and poignant stop motion opus.

You know stop motion animation is maturing if we get snail semen, a judge being canned for masturbating, firecrackers exploding cotton, a sleazy magic shop owner, a blood transfusion, gingerbread men spiked with weed (“Ginger HashPeople”), and a broken middle finger. You know all these elements qualify “Memoir of a Snail” to be R-rated, and you’re absolutely right about that. Now, that I think about it, I was reminded on how Charlie Kaufman allowed his stop-motion characters to have sex in “Anomalisa.” So, these are examples on how this type of animation isn’t just for kids, who are delighted by “The Nightmare Before Christmas” or “Coraline.”

“Memoir of a Snail” is written and directed by Adam Elliot (“Mary and Max”), who bases the story on his own life, and creates characters worthy of his name. I bet even Tim Burton would admire them. It involves Australian twins Grace and Gilbert Prudal, who live with their widowed French juggler father (voiced by Dominique Pinon), who resorted to alcoholism and black jellybeans after an injury that ended his career. When he passes away, the twins are sent to separate foster homes.

The movie is told from the point of view of Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook), whose mouth deformity has the kids calling her “Rabbit Face,” whose meek self esteem resembles Celie’s in “The Color Purple,” and whose only hope for optimism resides in snail collecting (even wearing a snail hat) and the care of the eccentric Pinky (Jacki Weaver). She misses Gilbert (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee in his first stop-motion feature since “ParaNorman”), who deals with the struggles and homophobia of a religious family.

It’s very rare we get adult animated features in mainstream movie theaters, and I hope the posters would mention that “Memoir of a Snail” is rated R. I hope it doesn’t confuse parents and kids if they see the poster, that maybe they can read between the lines. Last week, I came across a woman who was appalled that a woman took her little girls to see the horror film “Terrifier 3,” which was not rated but is in the same analogy as if it were rated R. And even Salon mentioned that kids would be scarred for life if they saw “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Those two aren’t animated, but the adage still applies.

But if you are an adult and love animated films as much as I do, you’ll find “Memoir of a Snail” to be a gem about tragedy in a girl’s life, how she struggles to find kindness within and longs for the reunion of her brother. This is the part where you probably ask me: why would I see a a sad movie about a sad girl? Because it’s about the humanity within and the animation by Elliot merges quite well with it. Even I was asking myself the same question and then gave myself the same answer.

There’s a plot twist somewhere that I’m not really comfortable with (I don’t want to mention it here, so you’ll have to talk to me if you do see it), but it manages to thrive against it. In fact, I’m proud of the film for learning to overcome its cynicism, unlike “The Son” or “Joker: Folie a Deux.” And plus, it does like to liven things up a bit with the snails and the juggling.

In terms of stop motion animated films, this is the most poignant of the genre since “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” one that refuses to take the easy way out, and wants to break free from tradition. This movie is strange, sometimes funny, mostly sad, often attractive and uplifting. Kudos to Elliott.

Now Playing in Select Theaters

Expanding Soon