Memoir of a Snail

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Memoir of a Snail
• a review of Memoir of a Snail completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 22 October 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Distraught after the death of Pinky (voice of Jackie Weaver), the only friend she has ever known, Grace (voice of Sarah Snook) sits in a garden recounting her life to a beloved snail named Sylvia. Grace shares about the loss of her mother who died giving birth to her and her twin brother Gilbert (voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee), she shares about the bullying she endured and how her brother was her champion and protector, and she shares about how her father Percy (voice of Dominique Pinon) became a paraplegic and later an alcoholic, and how, for all his faults, he gave them one perfect day before he died. She also tells Sylvia about how social services sent her to Canberra, and Gilbert to a family cult in Perth, and she recounts the hardships of growing up and the difficulties she endured as she faced life all alone. She shares about her failed marriage to Ken (voice of Tony Armstrong) the microwave repairman, and the betrayal she endured when she thought she had finally found love. She shares her devastation at the news of Gilbert’s tragic death in a fire, about feeling so hopeless she is ready to cast off all her dreams, and when Pinky develops dementia and rapidly goes downhill, Grace does all she can to be there for her friend. She is with her when Pinky gasps her last breath and is utterly broken by the loss and the weight of all she has endured. Seeing no reason to go on, Grace begins to eat snail poison but in a moment of clarity realises what Pinky had been trying to give her and, from her friend’s final words, she slowly begins to turn her life around and soon comes to realise that she is not alone after all.

Death; Separation from parents and siblings; Bullying; Cults and Religious fanaticism; Suicide; Betrayal; Loneliness; Hoarding.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Bullies terrorise Grace at school, taking her beloved snail hat and throwing it into a toilet filled with urine. They knock Grace to the ground and punch and beat up Gilbert who has come to her aid. Gilbert fights back, breaking a boy’s finger after having a tooth knocked out of his mouth. He jams the tooth back into his gums as the bullies run away.
• Gilbert is nearly hit by a truck while crossing a busy road.
• Gilbert liked fire and tried to eat a match. He would often light matches and would trigger explosions, often burning himself and occasionally Grace.
• Gilbert zaps his tongue with a battery.
• Grace is hit in the face with a ball.
• Gilbert’s foster parents mentally abuse him. They tape magnets to his body, make him pray in tongues, worship apples and try to cast out demons.
• Pinky explains how she got her finger cut off in Barcelona, dancing flamenco near a ceiling fan. The digit was chopped off and flew into a martini glass.
• Pinky is nearly hit by a car.
• Pinky’s first husband died just after they were married when he fell on the dishwasher and impaled himself on a butcher’s knife.
• Pinky’s second husband is eaten by a crocodile.
• While working as a bus driver, Pinky said that she wanted to die in her sleep, not screaming in terror like her passengers.
• Gilbert and another boy are electrocuted. Their eyes bulge, the electricity flickers, and they shake and scream as their blood vessels pop. Gilbert tries to attack his foster mum to get her to stop.
• Gilbert pours petrol on a church and sets it alight.
• Gilbert’s foster mother locks him inside the church so that he can’t escape. Gilbert begs to be let out, scratching and clawing at the door as the building burns around him.
• Grace kicks Ken out of the house and throws all of his things onto the street.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• In an early scene, Pinky is shown lying on her death bed, wrinkled, shrivelled, balding and gasping for air with rattling, wheezing breaths. She appears to die but then suddenly shouts out: “Potatoes!” before collapsing back on the bed with her mouth agape. As Grace comes to realise that Pinky is truly dead, she seems to shrink a little and become despondent.
• As Gilbert and Grace are being separated, not realising it may be the last time they ever see each other again, the bus driver watches the twins through a disturbing, gnarled face full of wrinkles.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Grace was born with a cleft palette and recounts how her mother died giving birth to her and Gilbert. She explains that mother snails also die giving birth and the point is illustrated by a mother snail dying after depositing a bunch of eggs on a tombstone.
• Grace tells how she underwent surgery to fix her floppy lip. How she was always in and out of the hospital for some reason or other and how she ‘flat-lined’ on the operating table and needed a blood transfusion. Gilbert agreed to give his blood, even though he thought that meant that he would die. A large, bloody knife is shown during the surgery.
• Gilbert and Grace watch their father die one night. He had sleep apnoea and normally the twins would clap for him and he would wake up. One night, no matter what they did, he wouldn’t wake up. They were scared, alone and soon separated, even from each other.
• After being severely mistreated by his foster mother, Gilbert decides to free their pigs. As punishment, his birth mother’s jewellery box (the only thing he has of hers) is taken and burned while he cries and begs them not to. An unhappy face is then burned onto Gilbert’s arm.
• Grace begins to eat snail poison when she can’t bear to live anymore. It seems to be a hard decision for her but she has become despondent and has given up on life. This may be distressing and confusing for some children.
• Pinky briefly describes her childhood and how she was raised in an orphanage where babies were kept in cages and no child was ever held or hugged. The visual images of a bunch of sad and lonely babies sitting behind bars in a dank and dirty room might be upsetting for some children.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Numerous books are shown being read throughout the film, such as: Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, Memoirs of a Geisha and The Diary of Anne Frank.
• Percy always ate black jellybeans. After being cremated, Percy’s ashes were placed in a jellybean jar.
• Cher, Pop-eye and Casanova are mentioned by name.
• An Arnott’s Biscuit tin is shown and used on multiple occasions.
• Grace is often seen eating Chiko rolls.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Grace’s foster parents are ‘swingers’ and Grace describes how they often go to “key parties”.
• References are made to penises and “tram sex”.
• There is a large depiction of a penis drawn in a library book.
• One of Pinky’s husbands said that he wanted to: “Shipwreck himself between her thighs”.
• Grace says that guinea pigs (alluding to the fact that they are reproducing rapidly and at “it” all the time) are mocking her virginity.
• Grace says that Ken’s presence gave her hot flushes and sweaty knickers.
• Ken ogles Grace’s butt crack as she sits in a swimsuit with her back to him.
• Ken is pronounced sterile as a doctor examines an x-ray of his penis.
• Grace mentions that when Ken moved in with her she lost her virginity.
• Gilbert’s foster mother tells Grace that she found Gilbert and her son fornicating and that she had to: “correct their homosexual sickness.” She declares that they could not: “Pray the gay away.”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Numerous depictions of various anatomically correct 3D breasts cookies.
• There is a picture of a man with a bare chest and 3D nipples in a frame.
• A judge is shown in a courtroom, masturbating behind his desk. Nothing explicit is shown, however, his movement is clearly seen and sound effects are clearly heard.
• Two snails are shown mating.
• Pinky is shown in a skimpy outfit with tassels on her boobs as she does exotic dancing at a place called, “Schnitz and Tits.”
• Pinky has sex with John Denver. Her bare chest and breasts are shown. They are clearly in mid act as they move together on the bed and sound effects are heard.
• Pinky is shown tap dancing in her underwear and panties.
• Two characters kiss passionately while having sex outside a self-help centre.
• Grace’s foster parents become nudists and put numerous photos on display with lots of butts and breasts exposed.
• Grace grabs some “Ansole Snail Condoms”, simply because they reference snails.
• There is a close-up of breasts as Grace’s parents sit in a hot tub with other nudists.
• A male character ogles a female character with big breasts. In the background, two Guinea pigs are mating.
• Two guinea pigs have intense sex. Moving so rapidly together that they knock a shelf off a wall and are crushed to death beneath it.
• There is a nude woman on display on a calendar photo.
• Gilbert and another boy kiss passionately.
• Grace discovers a bunch of creepy pictures that Ken has taken of her breasts, buttocks and fat deposits.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• There are numerous images of cigarettes, alcohol bottles and martini glasses in the opening scene.
• A character says that childhood is like being drunk.
• A drunk, apparently homeless, man is lying on the ground surrounded by empty whisky bottles.
• Numerous characters smoke cigarettes and Cuban cigars throughout the film.
• Percy often drank whisky and smoked.
• Percy was hit by a drunk driver and confined to a wheelchair.
• Characters drink ginger wine.
• Pinky serves anatomically correct “Ginger-Hash” people.
• Gilbert’s foster mother tried to drug him with pills in his sandwich.
• Gilbert’s foster father takes money from his children, and Jesus, to buy whisky at a Tequila Mart.
• Pinky begins to drink whisky as a medicine.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Numerous characters put their middle fingers up at each other.
• Shit
• Moron
• Get stuffed
• Oh poo!
• Bugger
• Dickhead
• Fat
• Idiot
• Stupid
• Damn it
• Bastard
• Pooftah
• Rabbit face
• God damn.

In a nutshell

Memoir of a Snail is an animated look at lives full of challenge and struggle. The film contains powerful messages about overcoming crippling adversity, and about the cages we create for ourselves and the fears that keep us trapped. Due to the mature content of this film, it is best suited for audiences over the age of 16.

The main messages from this movie are that life is a beautiful tapestry which needs to be experienced; and that life is something that can only be understood by looking back even though we have to live it going forwards, and that snails are a beautiful example of this as they never move in reverse but rather plod along, despite the hardships they face, leaving glittering trails in their wake.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Resilience
• Hope
• Kindness
• Determination
• Courage.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Making fun of or bullying those who are different.
• Hoarding, stealing, or excessive purchasing.
• Retreating into a shell instead of seeking help when presented with challenges.
• Giving up and the impacts of suicide.