Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, based on Christine Leunens's book Caging Skies. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a Hitler Youth member who finds out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. He must then question his beliefs, while dealing with the intervention of his imaginary friend, a fanciful version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi). The film also stars Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, and Sam Rockwell.

The film had its world premiere at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019, where it won the top prize, the Grolsch People's Choice Award. Jojo Rabbit was released theatrically in the United States on October 18, 2019, and in New Zealand on October 24, 2019. It drew mostly praise – especially for the performances – but also some criticism for its comedic portrayal of Nazis. It was chosen by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of the year. At the 92nd Academy Awards, the film received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Johansson) and Best Adapted Screenplay. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Davis.

Plot
Johannes "Jojo" Betzler is a ten-year-old boy living in Nazi Germany during the later stages of World War II with his mother, Rosie. His absent father is supposedly serving on the Italian Front but has lost all contact and his older sister Inge has recently died of influenza. The jingoistic Jojo often talks with his imaginary friend, a supportive but childish version of Adolf Hitler. Jojo and his best friend Yorki attend a Deutsches Jungvolk Hitler Youth training camp, run by the one-eyed Wehrmacht Captain Klenzendorf. When Jojo is ordered to kill a rabbit by older Hitler Youth members, he tries to release it and runs off crying after the other boys taunt him with the name "Jojo Rabbit". After a pep talk from Adolf, Jojo returns and throws a Stielhandgranate without permission. It bounces off a tree and explodes at his feet, leaving him with facial scars and a slight limp. After Jojo recovers, Rosie asks Klenzendorf, demoted after the incident, to make her son feel included despite his injuries. Jojo is given small tasks such as spreading propaganda leaflets throughout town, and collecting scrap metal for the war effort. Alone at home one day, Jojo discovers Elsa Korr, a teenage Jewish girl and his late sister's former classmate, hiding upstairs. Jojo threatens to turn her over to the Gestapo, but Elsa warns that his mother would be killed for hiding her. He agrees to keep her safe, on the condition she reveals her "Jew secrets" so he can write a book for Klenzendorf, which amuses him. Elsa plays along by making up stories about Jewish powers, such as mind-reading. Angry with his mother for hiding a Jew but unable to reveal his knowledge of Elsa, Jojo accuses Rosie of being unpatriotic and laments that his father is away. Rosie dismisses his accusations and espouses her belief that positivity and optimism are the best ways to be free of oppression. Jojo continues to interrogate Elsa, learning she has a boyfriend called Nathan with whom she wants to reunite when the war is over. Jojo forges a letter from "Nathan" which claims that he has found someone else and wants to break up with Elsa. Hearing her crying, Jojo writes another letter retracting the first one. Jojo and Adolf argue, with Adolf insisting Elsa is a monster. Later, while on one of his metal collecting trips, Jojo spots his mother leaving a "free Germany" message in town. Jojo is home one day when the Gestapo, led by Captain Deertz, visit his house. Klenzendorf also happens to arrive at the house while it is being searched. Elsa reveals herself, pretending to be Inge, and produces Inge's papers and confirms her birthday from memory to quell the Gestapo's suspicions. Jojo is relieved, but Elsa later realizes she recited the wrong date and Klenzendorf covered for her, but is certain the Gestapo will eventually realize the deception. Later that day, Jojo finds his mother has been hanged in the town square. Devastated, he returns home and stabs Elsa in the shoulder, then breaks down; Elsa comforts him. Jojo runs into Yorki, now a soldier, who tells him Hitler has committed suicide and that the Allies are closing in. Jojo encounters Fraulein Rahm, arming and sacrificing children as the battle rages, and she gives him a soldier's coat, before being killed herself in an explosion. Facing the American and Soviet forces, the city's garrison surrenders. The Soviets force several captured Germans into a backyard and line them up against a wall, including Jojo. A wounded Klenzendorf tells Jojo his mother was a good woman, and saves him by removing his coat, calling him a Jew, and spitting on him, leading the Soviet guards to drag him away. The soldiers expel Jojo, who runs away as shots are heard. Jojo runs home and, to stop Elsa leaving, tells her Germany won the war. Recognizing her despair, he recites a new "letter" from her boyfriend claiming that he and Jojo have figured out a way to smuggle her to Paris. Elsa confesses that her boyfriend died the previous year. Jojo tells her he loves her, and she tells him she loves him in a "little brother" way. A disheveled Adolf with bullet holes in his head angrily confronts Jojo for siding with Elsa, and Jojo kicks him out the window. Jojo takes Elsa outside, where she realizes the Allies have won after seeing American soldiers. She slaps Jojo in the face for lying, and then they dance in the street.

Cast

 * Roman Griffin Davis as Johannes "Jojo Rabbit" Betzler: A young German boy, and member of Hitlerjugend.
 * Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa Korr, a Jewish girl whom Rosie hides in her home
 * Taika Waititi as Adolf Hitler, Jojo's imaginary friend version of Adolf Hitler
 * Rebel Wilson as Fräulein Rahm, a brutish instructor in the Hitler Youth camp
 * Stephen Merchant as Deertz, a Gestapo agent
 * Alfie Allen as Finkel, the second-in-command to Captain Klenzendorf
 * Sam Rockwell as Captain Klenzendorf, an Army officer who runs a Hitler Youth camp
 * Scarlett Johansson as Rosie Betzler, Jojo's single mother who is secretly anti-Nazi
 * Archie Yates as Yorki, Jojo's best friend

Production
In March 2018, it was revealed that Taika Waititi would not only direct but also co-star in the film as an imaginary Adolf Hitler. Speaking of the context of the role, Waititi said "It's my version of... a lonely boy's best version of his hero, which is really his dad", referencing the fact that in the film, the protagonist, a 10-year-old boy, is desperate to join Hitler's ranks during World War II. Later that month, Scarlett Johansson joined the cast to portray the lead child's mother, who is secretly anti-Nazi. In April 2018, Sam Rockwell joined the cast to portray "a Nazi captain who runs a Hitler Youth camp". In May 2018, Rebel Wilson joined the cast to portray "a brutish instructor in the Hitler Youth Camp the young man has just been recruited to attend". Filming was also set to begin in Prague shortly thereafter. Later that month, newcomer Roman Griffin Davis joined the cast to star as Johansson's son and New Zealander Thomasin McKenzie was cast as Elsa Korr, the Jewish girl whom Johansson hides in her home. In June 2018, Alfie Allen was cast as Finkel, the second in command to Captain Klenzendorf, and Stephen Merchant was cast as Captain Deertz, a Gestapo agent.

Principal production started on May 28, 2018. In February 2019, reshoots were completed.

Release
Jojo Rabbit had its world premiere at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019. It screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin on September 19, 2019. The film opened the San Diego International Film Festival on October 15, 2019. It will also screen at film festivals in Chicago, Philadelphia, Hawaii, New Orleans, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Middleburg, Virginia, and at the UK Jewish Film Festival. The film was released in New Zealand and the United States on October 18, 2019, beginning with a limited release before expanding to more theaters in the following weeks, to a full release on November 8, 2019.

Box office
, Jojo Rabbit has grossed $22 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $31.4 million.

In its limited opening weekend the film made $349,555 from five theaters, an average of $69,911 per venue (the fourth-best of 2019). The film expanded to 55 theaters in 10 cities the following week, making $1 million, and its third weekend grossed $2.3 million from 256 theaters. It went wide the following weekend, making $4 million from 802 theaters. The film's theater count peaked the following weekend, making $2.8 million from 995 theaters, before making $1.6 million in its sixth weekend.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 352 reviews, with an average rating of 7.53/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Jojo Rabbit's blend of irreverent humor and serious ideas definitely won't be to everyone's taste—but either way, this anti-hate satire is audacious to a fault." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 96%, with 87% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Brian Truitt, writing for USA Today, gave the film four out of four stars, calling it "brilliant Nazi-mocking satire", praising the performances and writing: "As much as it makes you laugh, Waititi's must-watch effort is a warm hug of a movie that just so happens to have a lot of important things to say." In a positive review, Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote that "there's real heart in Jojo Rabbit, too. This is a dark satire that finds a way to make a case for understanding. As circumstances slowly chip away at Jojo's hate-driven worldview, the black comedy finds room for some genuinely touching moments."

Variety's Owen Gleiberman said that the film "creates the illusion of danger while playing it safe" and wrote that "it lacks the courage of its own conventionality. It's a feel-good movie, all right, but one that uses the fake danger of defanged black comedy to leave us feeling good about the fact that we're above a feel-good movie." Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "C", writing that "Despite a few flashes of tragedy, Jojo Rabbit lingers in a charming muddle of good vibes without really confronting their implications. [Waititi] may be one of the few working directors capable of injecting quirky scenarios with real depth, but in this case, he reduces the underlying circumstances—you know, that Holocaust thing—to a superficial prop."

A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that "The particulars of the evil can seem curiously abstract, and the portrayal of goodness can feel a bit false, and forced" and that "Elsa's Jewishness has no real content. She exists mainly as a teaching moment for Johannes. Her plight is a chance for him to prove his bravery." Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine gave the film zero stars, criticizing the film's premise, lack of historical accuracy, and realism, as well as the use of antisemitic canards and stereotypes, and wrote that Waititi's performance as Hitler is "aiming for The Great Dictator but barely hitting Ace Ventura." Little White Lies' Hannah Woodhead criticized the film for its portrayal of Nazis, writing that it "feels oddly impartial, keen to note that actually, there were some Nice Nazis Too. That's not really something we need to hear in 2019, with white nationalism back in vogue and on the march across much of western civilisation."