diff --git a/backend/src/services/__tests__/videoProcessor.test.js b/backend/src/services/__tests__/videoProcessor.test.js
index 2b34eaa8..cf650a2b 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/__tests__/videoProcessor.test.js
+++ b/backend/src/services/__tests__/videoProcessor.test.js
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@ jest.mock('fluent-ffmpeg');
 jest.mock('../storage', () => ({
   getStorage: jest.fn()
 }));
+jest.mock('../imageProcessor', () => ({
+  generateVideoPlaceholder: jest.fn()
+}));
 
 const ffmpeg = require('fluent-ffmpeg');
 const { getStorage } = require('../storage');
+const { generateVideoPlaceholder } = require('../imageProcessor');
 const {
   extractVideoMetadata,
   processUploadedVideo
@@ -46,6 +50,7 @@ describe('processUploadedVideo degrades gracefully instead of rejecting the whol
   beforeEach(() => {
     storage = { putFromFile: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined), exists: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(true) };
     getStorage.mockReturnValue(storage);
+    generateVideoPlaceholder.mockResolvedValue('thumbnails/thumb_placeholder.jpg');
   });
 
   afterEach(() => jest.clearAllMocks());
@@ -68,9 +73,11 @@ describe('processUploadedVideo degrades gracefully instead of rejecting the whol
     expect(result.success).toBe(true);
     expect(result.metadata).toBeNull();
     expect(result.thumbnailKey).toBe('thumbnails/thumb_video.jpg');
+    // A real thumbnail already succeeded — never touch the placeholder path.
+    expect(generateVideoPlaceholder).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it('keeps the metadata when only thumbnail generation fails', async () => {
+  it('falls back to the SVG placeholder when thumbnail generation fails, so the gallery never falls back to rendering the raw video as an <img> (codex review)', async () => {
     ffmpeg.ffprobe = jest.fn((videoPath, cb) => {
       cb(null, {
         streams: [{ codec_type: 'video', width: 1080, height: 1920, codec_name: 'h264' }],
@@ -85,15 +92,18 @@ describe('processUploadedVideo degrades gracefully instead of rejecting the whol
       }
     }));
 
-    const result = await processUploadedVideo('/tmp/video.mp4', 'thumbnails/thumb_video.jpg');
+    const result = await processUploadedVideo('/tmp/video.mp4', 'thumbnails/thumb_wedding_001.jpg');
 
     expect(result.success).toBe(true);
     expect(result.metadata).toEqual(expect.objectContaining({ duration: 5, videoCodec: 'h264' }));
-    expect(result.thumbnailKey).toBeNull();
+    // thumbnailKey is always thumbnails/thumb_<name>.jpg — strip the prefix
+    // back to a filename so generateVideoPlaceholder recomputes the same key.
+    expect(generateVideoPlaceholder).toHaveBeenCalledWith('wedding_001.jpg');
+    expect(result.thumbnailKey).toBe('thumbnails/thumb_placeholder.jpg');
     expect(storage.putFromFile).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it('still succeeds with both null when metadata AND thumbnail fail — never throws, never blocks the upload', async () => {
+  it('still resolves with a null thumbnail when metadata, thumbnail generation, AND the placeholder all fail — never throws, never blocks the upload', async () => {
     ffmpeg.ffprobe = jest.fn((videoPath, cb) => cb(new Error('Invalid data found when processing input')));
     ffmpeg.mockImplementation(() => ({
       screenshots() { return this; },
@@ -102,6 +112,7 @@ describe('processUploadedVideo degrades gracefully instead of rejecting the whol
         return this;
       }
     }));
+    generateVideoPlaceholder.mockRejectedValue(new Error('sharp render failed'));
 
     const result = await processUploadedVideo('/tmp/corrupt.mp4', 'thumbnails/thumb_corrupt.jpg');
 
diff --git a/backend/src/services/videoProcessor.js b/backend/src/services/videoProcessor.js
index b94268d5..803e351f 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/videoProcessor.js
+++ b/backend/src/services/videoProcessor.js
@@ -177,6 +177,30 @@ async function processUploadedVideo(videoPath, thumbnailKey, options = {}) {
     });
   }
 
+  // Never return "success" with no thumbnail at all: the gallery grid
+  // (GridGalleryLayout/JustifiedGalleryLayout) falls back to
+  // `photo.thumbnail_url || photo.url` when there's no thumbnail, which
+  // makes AuthenticatedImage download the full ORIGINAL VIDEO and try to
+  // render it as an <img> — a broken tile and a multi-GB fetch just from
+  // opening the gallery (codex review, #1371/#1372). Fall back to the same
+  // ffmpeg-free SVG placeholder the callers already generate for a total
+  // processing failure, so a bare thumbnail-generation failure degrades to
+  // that placeholder too, not to "no thumbnail". thumbnailKey is always
+  // `thumbnails/thumb_<name>.jpg` (see callers) — strip the prefix back to
+  // a filename so generateVideoPlaceholder recomputes this exact same key.
+  if (!generatedThumbnailKey) {
+    try {
+      const { generateVideoPlaceholder } = require('./imageProcessor');
+      const placeholderFilename = path.basename(thumbnailKey).replace(/^thumb_/, '');
+      const placeholderKey = await generateVideoPlaceholder(placeholderFilename);
+      if (placeholderKey) {
+        generatedThumbnailKey = placeholderKey;
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      logger.error('Video placeholder generation also failed', { error: error.message, videoPath });
+    }
+  }
+
   return {
     success: true,
     metadata,