Jojo Rabbit

*Takes a deep breath* I came into this movie somewhat guarded. Not because the movie takes place in and is centered around Nazi Germany (there's your content warning), but because of Taika Watiti. I quite enjoyed What We Do In The Shadows, and Thor: Ragnarok is S-tier MCU for me ... but Thor: Love & Thunder is decidedly not, and the other acting roles I've seen him in (Free Guy comes to mind), he's more extra than I can fully deal with. I wanted to believe I'd get the measured Watiti, especially with the subject matter. I was afraid I'd get the unrestrained idiocy of Love & Thunder. I'm happy to report I got neither of them. Jojo Rabbit is a movie that uses satire like a surgeon's scalpel, using silliness and buffoonery to pop very specific balloons while also giving his characters real depth. The movie is about a 10 year old boy, Jojo, in the final months of WW2. His dad is fighting in the war. His older sister is dead because of it. His mom thinks the war is stupid. Jojo, however, has decided to embrace Nazi ideology, to the point where he has conjured up an imaginary friend of Hitler (a rather silly version, played by Watiti). His dream is to join the Hitler Youth, but an accident with a grenade leaves him doing menial jobs and spending time at home during recovery, where he discovers his mother is hiding a young Jewish girl behind the wall panels in his sister's bedroom. Through this, the movie explores several themes: the susceptibility of youth to terrible ideas when looking for guidance, prejudices, propaganda, love, and how people view and treat each other. If you're hesitant on watching, either because it dares to place a comedy in Nazi Germany, or because Nazis in general, let me reassure you, friend, that this movie gives Nazis every bit of scathing criticism and disrespect they deserve. That's not to say they're turned into the recruits from Police Academy; the threat of Nazi Germany and its terrible ideologies are given the appropriate gravitas. But Watiti's script and direction also make sure to lampoon it at every expense. They're betrayed for their clownishness in all sorts of ways; Sam Rockwell's military officer is a constant screw-up, getting demoted to worse and sillier responsibilities (teaching recruits "water combat" by having soldiers jump into a swimming pool fully outfitted, for instance). And when it the satire isn't embodied by a single person, it's targeted at their beliefs; preposterous myths about Jewish people are spread that are so farcical, they'd be out of place in Greek mythology. Kids swallow claptrap like Jewish people sleeping upside down from the ceiling like bats, being able to read minds, and having scales because they mate with fish, and the higher-ups encourage it. The idea is that whatever dehumanizes the enemy is good, but Watiti takes it to its most logical, or illogical, extreme, making it so ridiculous that no one in their right mind should believe it. The punchline is obvious. Perhaps nobody gets more skewered though than the Fuhrer. Watiti's portrayal of Jojo's imaginary Hitler friend recontextualizes the madman a childish, insecure dolt. Even better, as he is a projection of Jojo's fears and insecurities and wanting to belong in a world he can't really process and longing for a male role model, it gives the character multiple levels of depth. Watiti's Hitler is a child's idealized version, but it's childish because of the prism we're seeing it through. It isn't all hijinks, though. Jojo Rabbit, the character, is confronted by his own misconceptions and beliefs through two people, his mother Rosie (played by Scarlett Johansson) and Elsa, the young Jewish girl his mother is sheltering (played by Thomasin McKenzie). As much as this movie is about Jojo, it wouldn't work without Rosie and Elsa. Jojo and Rosie have a very fun, loving relationship, but there is an unspoken tension that finally rears its ugly head in a dinner scene, where it becomes clear Rosie doesn't like the war or approve of the Nazis' policies, and isn't fond of her son trying to find himself through the party. Meanwhile, Jojo and Elsa start off very antagonistic, with Elsa feeding into Jojo's prejudices by giving him even more outlandish "facts" about Jews that he swallows without hesitation. It is only through time and exposure that he sees she is no less human than he is, and has thoughts and feelings and fears and hopes just like he does. ScarJo and McKenzie are the anchors and the beating hearts of this movie. I cannot remember the last time I saw ScarJo be so effortlessly charming and funny, and that's not an insult on other performances, because I think she's fantastic. She just hits a different gear here, one I don't recall seeing often, and I'd love to see it more. As for McKenzie, I'd only seen her before in the mesmerizing Last Night In Soho, and I'm convinced this young lady will be accepting a gold statue at some point. If the movie were wall-to-wall satire, it would get tiring, and more importantly, the satire would eventually ring hollow. That's why the third act shifts. For the first two acts, the war is out there somewhere and the Nazis are working to save Germany from the world (the English and Russians are equally dehumanized in ludicrous fashion, as cannibals that have sex with dogs), but everything changes in the third act. The war comes to Jojo's front door and challenges everything he's believed about it. The horrors of war, and the truth about this group he so desperately wants to identify with so that his life makes sense, hits him and he has to confront how that clashes with his growing feelings for Elsa, and by god, does it hit hard. Everything, the acting, the script, the direction, there isn't an element out of place when this thing needs to change lanes. And even when it injects a little humor in the last act, it does so without stripping away or invalidating the emotional impact of what's going on. I would also be remiss if I didn't say something about Roman Griffin Davis, who plays the titular character. It would be so easy for Jojo to come off cartoonish or precocious or obnoxious, but Davis acts way beyond his years to make Jojo a fleshed-out character. I was never angry at Jojo for identifying with the Nazis; I was sad for him. I could see he was lost and struggling to understand something that was too far above his young head. He makes Jojo sympathetic, even as he wants to dive head-first into the monstrous beliefs of the party, because it's obvious he's confused and struggling. That kid has a bright future. I'm confident in saying this is Watiti's crowning achievement. What We Do In The Shadows is more outright funny, Thor: Ragnarok is more fun, but I found more intelligence and directorial grace in this than anything else he's done. I can't say there's a single element out of place. It has a wonderful heart, a savage satirical edge, and a beautiful character arc. And the most cathartic dance number you'll ever see. It by far exceeded expectations,