Movie · 2019 · Comedy, War, Drama · 1h 48m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 7.6/10 (2.6M ratings)
An anti-hate satire.
Overview
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.6/10
IMDb: 7.9/10
Letterboxd: 4.04/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 8.0/10
Director
Taika Waititi
Production
Fox Searchlight Pictures, Defender Films, Piki Films, TSG Entertainment
Cast
Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates, Luke Brandon Field, Sam Haygarth, Stanislav Callas, Joe Weintraub, Brian Caspe, Gabriel Andrews, Billy Rayner, Christian Howlings, Gilby Griffin Davis, Hardy Griffin Davis, Curtis Matthew
Where to watch
fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, risky anti-fascist satire that blends absurd comedy with sincere coming-of-age emotion. Its tonal whiplash is intentional and often effective, making it one of the more distinctive World War II films of the last decade.
Best for
Viewers who like dark comedy with emotional payoff
Fans of offbeat historical satire
People open to a film that mixes sweetness, grief, and provocation
Audiences interested in stories about indoctrination and moral awakening
Skip if
You want a straight historical drama
You dislike tonal shifts between comedy and tragedy
You prefer subtle satire over broad, stylized humor
The premise of a fictionalized Hitler figure is a dealbreaker
Overview
Jojo Rabbit is a film that should not work as well as it does. Taika Waititi turns a grotesque historical backdrop into a coming-of-age story about loneliness, propaganda, and the fragile beginnings of empathy, and he does it with a comic confidence that keeps the movie from collapsing under its own audacity.
Worth noting
What makes it land is the balance: the jokes are deliberately childish and often ridiculous, but the emotional turns are grounded in real fear, grief, and tenderness. The performances from Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie give the film its heart, while the visual style and music choices keep it buoyant even when the subject matter turns devastating.
Bottom line
It is not a sober war film, and that’s the point. The movie uses satire to expose how fascism seduces children, then quietly insists that humanity can still be learned. For viewers willing to accept the tonal gamble, it’s funny, moving, and unusually alive.
Top Letterboxd reviews
emily (4★) · 31537 likes
sorry tarantino, taika’s the only director that can give me chills by filming a woman’s feet
LetMeExplain (4★) · 15803 likes
Taika’s Inglourious Moonrise Kingdom
Karsten (4.5★) · 10871 likes
Unexpectedly phenomenal. An absurd amount of passion and heart put into a film that shouldn’t work at all but miraculously does. Something no filmmaker besdies Watiti could pull off in this way. I’d go from embarrassingly scream laughing at Hitler jumping out of a window to being on the verge of tears. A breath of fresh air for this subject matter. If there was a film that truly felt like it needed to happen in 2019, it was Jojo Rabbit.
kayla (4★) · 10070 likes
It never fails to blow me away when children are fuckin awesome at acting
James (Schaffrillas) (5★) · 8965 likes
"What did they do?"
"What they could."
I sobbed all the way through the credits. I couldn't even begin to compose myself. I was absolutely shaken to my core. And once I was able to find my footing and exit the theater, the first thing I did was buy a ticket to see it again.
Jojo Rabbit is a story of overcoming blind fanaticism and indoctrination, showcasing that monsters aren't born; they're made. They're manipulated. The transition Waititi's Adolf Hitler… more
2016 · Adventure, Comedy, Drama · 1h 41m · PG-13 · Curator 8.7/10 (508.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A similarly offbeat, heartfelt comedy about a troubled child and an unlikely emotional bond, with the same playful humanism.