Jojo Rabbit

Written and Directed by Taika Waititi

Based on the book by Christine Leunens

Rating: 🏆 most excellent

Young Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is a good little Nazi navigating the complicated world of growing up in war torn Germany. Luckily, he has his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), to help guide him along this path. But his propagandized mind becomes challenged when he discovers Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) the young Jewish woman that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding in their home. Jojo decides to turn lemons into lemonade by interviewing Elsa to help him write a book on how to identify a Jew. Throughout this journey his relationship with his imaginary bestie becomes more and more estranged.

This movie blew my f*cking mind. I will just say it up top, not only was this one of my favorite movies of 2019, it’s one of my favorite movies that I’ve ever seen. Taika Waititi used his signature humor and wit to create a comedic satire that challenges blind nationalism and tyrannical power. If you’re a fan of To Kill a Mockingbird, Life is Beautiful, or another movie that uses a young protagonist to grapple with intense subject matter from an innocent perspective then you are in for a real treat with Jojo Rabbit. All of the performances are stellar. Taika Waititi is part Maori, Irish, and Russian Jew and he plays an outrageously hysterical Adolf Hitler. That is a role that is very challenging to play without being offensive. But choices like not dying his hair blonde and then talking about the superiority of the Aryan race as a mixed person of color was genius in a way that few people like Waititi can pull off. Jojo is the sweetest little boy. Even as he spouts off Nazi propaganda the audience is still able to empathize with and root for Jojo. You see how naïve his thinking is and how at the core of his soul he is compassionate and loving. McKenzie shines as Elsa. She plays her with the perfect combination of strength, vulnerability, and sass. As she grows closer to Jojo you catch glimpses into the horrors that she has experienced, yet she’s still able to smile and make you laugh. My favorite performance of the whole film comes from Scarlett Johannson as the mother. She is fiercely protective, disarmingly honest, unapologetically brave, and lovable to the core.

Everything about this film works; from the performances, to the soundtrack, to the production design, to the costume design. The script is perfectly crafted. Each character is developed and even in their humorous lines they are still throwing out subversive information. The story arc starts out Comedically with a capital “c”. As the story progresses, the humor remains but we get more and more serious as Jojo is increasingly in touch with reality. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough and I think everyone should go out and see it while it’s still playing in theaters!

Review written by Zianna Weston