Jojo Rabbit

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⭐9/10

Whew, what a movie. I thought I'd be settling in for another one of Taika Waititi's signature comfort watches with nice indie vibes and cute humour. That's mostly what this movie was! It had some pretty outrageous moments as it is a movie about a young German boy thinking he's best friends with imaginary Hitler, but yeah, this was a Waititi movie for the first 90 minutes.

I thought that for the most part, it was equally parts smart and funny. I think it did a nice job of showing the realities of indoctrination and what that probably looked like for a lot of German kids. He's confronted with his own beliefs when he learns that his mom is hiding a Jewish girl in his home, and again, I think this is expertly done. How do we think when our worldviews are challenged? Especially poignant coming from the POV from a sweet but misguided child. 

The real talking point is the final 30 minutes. This is a vague spoiler so beware. Absolutely gutting. My initial reaction was to be angry that this movie would be so mean-spirited with an emotional sucker punch, but I also think this was the theme of the movie. Our lives, our beliefs, our worldviews are all business-as-usual until they are not, until things come crashing down and our lives are ripped apart. It was such an effective anti-war message that made me feel things in a strong way, made me badly want to reach into the screen and give him a hug. 

The final scene was equally powerful to me. It's not a tidy resolution, and while everything is mostly bad, the scene offers glimmers of hope. Both performances by the two young actors were totally inspired and I loved that moment between them. Awesome movie, though not one I could recommend to just anyone. 

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