Jojo Rabbit

image source

Jojo Beltzer (played by Roman Griffin Davis) is a young boy who lives during World War II. He idolizes the Nazis, so much so that his imaginary best friend is Adolf Hitler (played by the film’s writer and director, Taika Waititi). One day, he discovers that his mother (played by Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young jewish girl named Elsa (played by Thomasin McKenzie). This movie is…something. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way either. This is a movie that almost feels like it shouldn’t be able to exist today, but it somehow does. The film is genuinely funny, but has a surprising amount of heart to it. There is sort of this underlying drama to the film as a whole, which makes sense given the film’s setting. Taika Waititi’s film is legitimately well-written and well-directed. Of the two skills, I really have to praise his writing. These are legitimately good characters. The characters are mostly funny, weird, and quirky. However, many of them also feel like they have something deeper going on, whether or not they understand. This can lead to some tonal shifts that don’t always gel quite right, but those moments are few and far between. The performers are all pretty solid. By far, I have to give major props to Scarlett Johansson as Jojo’s mother. You can tell she’s a woman doing what she can as a single mom who loves her son, but kind of hates what he’s becoming. She also has some great moments with Thomasin McKenzie. I also really have to compliment Davis and McKenzie. Both give performances that seem to fit their young ages, but also play parts well beyond their ages. Overall, Jojo Rabbit is a little bit weird, a little bit funny, a little bit sad, and a little bit heartfelt. I don’t think there are many movies quite like Jojo Rabbit. 

9 / 10