Jojo Rabbit Review: 7 Ups & 2 Downs

5. The Timely Subject Matter

Jojo Rabbit Taika Waititi
Fox Searchlight

Though Jojo Rabbit is of course a period film set in the 1940s, Taika Waititi has clearly designed it with modern concerns in mind.

It's not a coincidence that Waititi has made a film about sticking it to the Nazis while the world suffers through the most troubling rise in extremist right-wing ideology in recent times.

The analogies between the Hitler Youth and the contemporary alt-right recruitment of lonely, troubled youngsters speaks for itself, and as is one of the film's more controversial elements, it asks us to stop and consider the youths being courted into this world of hate and racism.

And while Waititi stops short of explicitly advocating direct, violent action against Nazis, there's a clear rallying cry here for anti-hate supporters everywhere to loudly rise up and tell them to, in the film's own words, "f**k off."

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.