Jojo Rabbit

The concept of a feel-good movie about Nazis sounds more like a mad lib than a legitimate premise for a film, but damn if Taika Waititi didn’t do the impossible with his latest feature, Jojo Rabbit.

The story takes place in an unnamed town in Germany during the final months of World War II. There is an aura of desperation in the air as the Allied forces begin to take back major cities from the German army, causing the government to double down on their war effort. Food is rationed, metal is collected, and children are being trained in combat in the hopes that they will be a crucial aid in Germany’s final stand against the encroaching Allied forces. It is here we meet JoJo Betzler, a bright-eyed Hitler youth eager to serve the crumbling Nazi party, whose loyalty is questioned when he finds a young Jewish girl taking refuge in their attic at the insistence of his mother. Oh, and Taika Waiti plays his imaginary friend, a fantasized version of Hitler. Can’t forget that. 

Waititi has always been a director that has managed to pull off blending dark subject matter with a childlike visual sensibility, but none of his previous films do so to the extent that JoJo Rabbit does. This is clear from the opening scene, which features a playful stroll through a crumbling Germany, set to a German-language rendition of the Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” setting the stage for this to be a wide-eyed look at one of the evilest periods in human history. For some, this balancing act of the ultra-dark and the ultra-light might result in a case of tonal whiplash, but for me, this is exactly what I look for in a Taika Waiti film. 

JoJo Rabbit offers a more simplistic look at the kind of hate that can corrupt a person, but that simplicity never undermines the central message. Waititi understands that this hate is often learned, not born, and he explores this sentiment through a child-centered story that isn’t afraid to shy away from the darkness of this time period. The playful camera work and pastel color palette do their best to hide the horrors of war, making those dark moments that manage to break through the visual design all the darker. The performances all fall in line with Waititi’s quirky world view, and all manage to use that quirkiness to unearth something bigger in their respective characters, with the standouts being Sam Rockwell playing a sexually repressed Nazi, and Scarlet Johannson playing the refugee taking mother. The child actors are especially great here, with newcomer Roman Griffin Davis perfectly capturing the comedic timing of Waititi’s style, and Archie Yates channeling Nick Frost energy to be the funniest character in the film (that I frankly wish we saw more of).

Ironically enough, Waititi himself seems to be the weakest link here, whose portrayal of an imaginary Hitler feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the story. He only ever appears on screen to reinstate JoJo’s mental state, a state that is often perfectly captured before he ever shows up. He doesn’t really have enough screen time to justify his existence, and I can’t help but feel that this aspect was added as a gimmick to help sell the movie. That aside, this is still one of the more charming movies of the year about a less than charming era of human history, and Waititi’s blend of the quirky and the dark make this another great entry in his filmography that continues to be unpredictable.