Any time Taika Waititi releases a new movie, I am lined up the first day. With movies like What We Do in the Shadows being one of my favorite comedies of all time and recently his success with Thor: Ragnarok in mainstream audiences (and it being one of the best MCU movies to date), he is gaining more and more popularity. But, he has returned to his roots with his latest movie Jojo Rabbit.

 It is a story about a boy growing up in Nazi Germany at the end of World War Two; he is surrounded by Nazi culture and is constantly patronized for not being a good enough Nazi. As a coping method, he develops a friendship with his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler.

My favorite thing about Taika is that he takes these serious and sad themes in his movies and makes comedy out of it. It’s what makes him unique. But what he does best is the way he is able to balance that comedy with the serious notes: the movie is sad when it needs to be, but still funny the whole time.

He usually only dip your toes in the water when it comes to the heavy stuff, but in this one there are some things that I was not expecting to happen that totally submerge you under. This movie really hit me hard in some scenes.

The relationship between Scarlett Johansson’s character and young actor Roman Griffin Davis’s character is the heart of this movie. It is such a unique mother-son dynamic that Johansson is perfect for. It is nice to see her in a more grounded role and it is a change of pace from her usual action superhero characters.

Although it is only the beginning of the Oscar season, I would be really disappointed if Johansson was not nominated for this performance.

Also in this stacked cast are some favorites of mine, like Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, and Stephen Merchant. It is such a unique cast and they all get their fair share of great moments. Some of the most nuanced ideas that this movie provokes come from these characters.

This movie’s goal was to make an anti-hate satire that promotes acceptance. The main plot point that pushes that idea is the relationship that Jojo has with the young Jewish girl he meets, and I think it was executed perfectly.

While I don’t think this is my favorite movie by Waititi, it is definitely the most sad and most important of his movies. It manages to maintain that tone that makes his movies unique, while still making something fresh and new that stands strong with the rest of his previous works.

The movie will come to Sacramento October 30th and I recommend seeing it as soon as possible.