This year’s Toronto International Film Festival has officially come to a close, with all sorts of movies winning praise and a bevy of Oscar buzz. But at the end of the festival, only one can win the coveted People’s Choice Award, and in a bit of an upset, this year’s award was given to Taika Waititi’s anti-hate satire set in Nazi Germany – JOJO RABBIT. The film starring Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Rockwell, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson and Waititi as Hitler beat out several other raved-about movies at the festival, with Noah Baumbach’s A MARRIAGE STORY taking first runner-up and Bong Joon-ho’s PARASITE nabbing second runner-up
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"Jojo Rabbit is a story of tolerance and understanding set in a time that lacked both, and I hope in making this film we can remind ourselves that it’s still possible to connect with each other even under the most chaotic of circumstances — no matter what age, religion, race or gender,” Waititi said to THR. “It was an incredible experience making this film and I’m happy the world had the opportunity to see it for the first time at TIFF."
The anti-hate satire from Waititi now finds itself in a special position with the festival’s top award under its belt, as it’s often seen as a major indicator for a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Only one film since 2008 has not earned a BP nomination after winning the prize (the 2011 Lebanese movie, WHERE DO WE GO NOW?), with other People's Choice winners including THE KING’S SPEECH, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, LA LA LAND and this year’s BP winner, GREEN BOOK.
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This is all sure to be a bit perplexing to those paying attention to the films coming out of TIFF, as the reception to JOJO RABBIT has been solid, but not as great as movies like PARASITE, A MARRIAGE STORY or Rian Johnson’s KNIVES OUT. On Rotten Tomatoes RABBIT has a 73%, along with a so-so 52 on Metacritic, with critics either loving Waititi’s satire or finding it missed the mark. Our own Chris Bumbray gave the movie a great 8/10, writing, “Certainly, JOJO RABBIT won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s a thoughtful, well-intentioned piece of work that often works brilliantly. Some will love it, some will despise it, but hopefully, none will dismiss it.”
More winners were announced at TIFF on Sunday, with the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award going to Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s THE PLATFORM. The first runner-up there was Andrew Patterson’s THE VAST OF NIGHT, and the second runner-up was Jeff Barnaby’s BLOOD QUANTUM. Then there’s the People’s Choice Documentary Award, which went to Feras Fayyad’s THE CAVE. The first runner-up is Garin Hovannisian’s I AM NOT ALONE, and the second runner-up is Bryce Dallas Howard’s DADS.
As a whole, the critics who saw RABBIT may not be as over the moon about Waititi's movie as they were his past efforts — like WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE and THOR: RAGNAROK — but people still seem to be enjoying it nonetheless. While none of his movies outside of THOR have gained a lot of traction at the box office, a lot of eyes are already on Waititi's latest, so between the buzz and the awards it could be kicking off a solid awards season run.
JOJO RABBIT is in theaters October 18.