When explaining that my favorite film of the year is a comedy about a young Nazi whose imaginary best friend is Adolf Hitler, I sound crazy. On paper, Jojo Rabbit sounds like an absolutely horrible idea for a film. Writer, director, and star Taika Waititi is able to bring the audience on a journey unlike anything in contemporary film. Jojo Rabbit takes risks and brings the audience into uncomfortable territory. Waititi’s ability to construct beautiful stories and strong characters allows him to bring viewers on a journey that was designed to unsettle. 

The protagonist being a ten-year-old boy exaggerates the comedic tone of the film and keeps the drama and heart intact and impactful. Jojo Rabbit is ridiculous and joyful in its humor, yet still tells a moving story about a young boy’s relationship with the Jewish girl he finds hiding in his home in Nazi Germany.

What makes this film so special is that it takes the intensity of World War II and Nazi Germany and reduces it down through the eyes of adolescent boyhood. Much like Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, Jojo Rabbit is told through the lens of childlike excitement. The version we see of Hitler only exists in Jojo’s mind and is exactly the kind of person a ten-year-old would dream up. Had this film been from the perspective of any other character in the film, it would not have worked. 

Waititi’s ability to satirize the Nazi party and Hitler is rooted in the film being told from the perspective of a child who blindlyidolizes authority figures. In the eyes of Jojo, Hitler eats unicorns, has bomb-proof legs, and possesses mind control powers. Audiences are encouraged to laugh at this character, and Waititi never makes the audience feel guilty for laughing. There is one tense scene towards the middle of the film where the Gestapo arrive at Jojo’s house, and the first minute of interaction in the scene is Jojo and the Gestapo heiling Hitler thirty-one times.  

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Waititi spoke about this scene specifically, saying “...The point of having all of those ‘Heil Hitlers,’ apart from being quite a funny moment, is also to point out just how ridiculous Nazis were. They were so obsessed with these rules that they had created for themselves... (these) were rules that, I think, quite soon after they created them, they were like ‘Oh no, why did we invent this stupid thing.’” 

Jojo Rabbit combats the hatred that Nazis and Hitler carried by depicting them and their ideals as absolutely senseless. The humor in this film is used to subvert expectations, and it is both unsettling and funny to see Nazis participate in general dumbness, such as Hitler swimming by an underwater army training test with a gun in hand.

The performances in this film are stellar. The child actors in this film are great, and Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo is a standout. Davis is only twelve years old, and this is the first film he has been in, which is surprising given how charming and funny he is in the film. Archie Yates, who plays Jojo’s best friend Yorki, carries a majority of the film’s funniest moments. Like Davis, this is also the first and only film he has been in. Although each actor brings something special to the film, Sam Rockwell as Captain Klenzendorf is the sleeper star of the movie. 

By that, I mean that though he is a supporting cast member and does not get as much screen time as Jojo or Hitler, he steals every scene he is in. Klenzendorf is an extremely complex character, and Sam Rockwell fully embodies all of his quirkiness and personality.

I love Jojo Rabbit. To me, it is exceptional. For all of its complexities and tonal shifts, the film feels cohesive. This is a rare occasion in film where I feel as though it is a positive that this film does not target  any specific audience. My ninety-one year-old grandmother would get something entirely different out of this film in comparison to a sixteen year old viewer, and both of those perspectives are equally valid.