Memoir of a Snail

Story

Distraught after the death of Pinky (voice of Jackie Weaver), the only friend she has ever known, Grace (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 (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the bullying she endured and how her brother was her champion and protector. She shares how her father Percy (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.

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 (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 and tells Grace that when Pinky developed dementia and went rapidly downhill, she did all she could to be there for her friend.

When Pinky finally dies, Grace is seen to be utterly broken by the loss and the weight of all she has endured. Seeing no reason to go on, she begins to eat snail poison but in a moment of clarity she realises what Pinky had been trying to give her and she slowly begins to turn her life around and soon comes to realise that she is not alone after all.

Themes

Death; separation from parents and siblings; bullying; cults and religious fanaticism; suicide; betrayal; loneliness; hoarding

Violence

Memoir of a Snail has some violence. For example:

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 likes fire and tries to eat a match. He often lights matches and triggers 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.

Sexual references

Memoir of a Snail has some sexual references. For example:

Grace’s foster parents are ‘swingers’ and Grace describes how they often go to ‘key parties’. Key parties are parties where people swap sexual partners.
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 mate often and reproduce rapidly) are mocking her virginity.
Grace says that Ken’s presence gave her hot flushes and sweaty knickers.
Ken ogles the crack between Grace’s bottom cheeks 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 couldn’t ‘Pray the gay away.’

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Memoir of a Snail has some substance use. For example:

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 movie.
Percy often drinks whisky and smokes.
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 tries 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.

Nudity and sexual activity

Memoir of a Snail has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

There are numerous depictions of various anatomically correct 3D breasts cookies.
There’s 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 shown in mid act as they move together on the bed and sound effects are heard.
Pinky is shown tap dancing in her underwear.
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 bottocks and breasts.
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 stares at a female character with big breasts. In the background, 2 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’s 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.

Product placement

Memoir of a Snail has some product placement. For example:

Numerous books are shown being read including Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, Memoirs of a Geisha and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Percy always eats black jellybeans. After he dies, his ashes are 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.

Coarse language

Memoir of a Snail has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Memoir of a Snail is an animated movie that looks at lives full of challenges and struggles. The movie contains powerful messages about overcoming crippling adversity, and about the cages we create for ourselves and the fears that keep us trapped. Due to its mature content, the movie is best suited to viewers over 16 years.

These are the main messages from Memoir of a Snail:

Life is a beautiful tapestry that needs to be experienced.
Life is something that can only be understood by looking back even though we have to live it going forwards – just like snails, who never move in reverse but rather plod along, despite the hardships they face, leaving glittering trails in their wake.

Values in Memoir of a Snail that you could reinforce with your children are resilience, hope, kindness, determination and courage.

Memoir of a Snail could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of issues like these:

Making fun of or bullying people.
Hoarding, stealing, or excessive purchasing.
Not seeking help when faced with challenges.
Giving up on life and the impacts of suicide.