JOJO RABBIT is shaping up to be yet another quirky, hilarious, odd, yet incredibly sweet movie from director Taika Waititi, with emphasis on “quirky.” The story centers on a young boy (Roman Griffin Davis) whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler (Waititi), and the first still from the movie shows the boy having dinner with his mom (Scarlett Johansson), and his German, imaginary buddy is giving her quite the stare down. Do you put out a plate for an imaginary friend if a child asks? Do you still do it if said friend is Hitler? These are the big questions this movie will answer.
The image (taken by Kimberly French) comes courtesy of the movie’s Twitter page, which Waititi retweeted with the caption “One of the weirder dinners I’ve attended.” I’m sure the political discussions became very heated.
This movie comes after Waititi’s massively successful THOR: RAGNAROK, which made over $800 million worldwide. Going back to his indie roots, JOJO RABBIT is much, much, much smaller in scale and is all about a boy learning to deal with his own personal issues. As for playing Hitler, Waititi said, “It’s my version of… a lonely boy’s best version of his hero, which is really his dad.”
The movie also stars Rebel Wilson, Sam Rockwell and Thomasin McKenzie and is gearing for a 2019 release. Here is the official synopsis:
In JOJO RABBIT, writer director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to a World War II satire. The story follows an awkward young German boy (Roman Griffin) raised by a single mother (Scarlett Johansson), and whose only ally is his imaginary friend Hitler (Waititi). His naïve patriotism is tested when he meets a young girl (Thomasin McKenzie) who upends his world views, forcing him to face his biggest fears.
Waititi is one of my favorite working diretors, and he always finds the most hilarious and fascinating ways of exlporing poignant material, whether it be in movies like BOY or HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE. JOJO RABBIT will follow a similar path as those films, but Waititi will explore the subject matter in an even bolder, more ingenious way. If the above picture can’t prove my point, I don’t know what could. Okay, maybe the trailer will.