Slug Life

Sophie began contemplating the storyline of Slug Life in 2016 wile living in Berlin, and watching a lot of nature documentaries. Drawn to the efficiency of slug-relations the storyline of a woman who crafts a slug-man-hybrid for her pleasure was born.

An abstract narrative that encourages you to relax and enjoy, if you can, Sophie weaves layers of dark humour, airbrushed textures and visceral sound, as well as nods to past characters and previous short films to create an animation that is artfully unsettling.

Masterful at creating instantly memorable characters, Tanya the protagonist represents the confidence of knowing yourself and your wants, with her roommate Marcy representing the contrasting needy person ‘we all pretend not to be’. With the dynamic dancing duo of Cat and Jane representing female friendship, Sophie often imbues her characters with deeply personal and real connections, alongside characters that offer up pure comedy value, like the bird who is described as “nothing much to him; just another horny neighbour.”

Funded with a grant given by the BFI and the BBC’s joint animation scheme in 2018, Sophie was tasked with bringing Slug Life into reality in just four months. Working with illustrator Bridget Meyne on the storyboards alongside Sophie and Anne-Lou Erambert for the animation, the film is a mix of bold graphic illustration style, and soft dreamy textures, adding to the fever-dream feel.

Slug life screened at the Sundance Film Festival and won awards at SXSW, Glas Animation Festival and Ottawa.