How a satirical comedy about a Hitler Youth member became a critical darling

Cultures · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit uses a child’s perspective to navigate the horrors of Nazi Germany. By blending slapstick humor with the gravity of war, the film challenges traditional historical storytelling, proving that even the darkest subjects can be explored through a lens of innocence, vibrant color, and profound human empathy.

Adapted from Christine Leunens' 2008 novel Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit follows ten-year-old Johannes 'Jojo' Betzler, a fanatic member of the Hitler Youth. His world is upended when he discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Waititi, who wrote the screenplay in 2011, intentionally avoided a 'straight-out drama' approach, fearing it would become cliché. Instead, he utilized humor to build the narrative, only to introduce drama to shock the audience, drawing inspiration from the fantastical, child-centric lens of the cartoon Rugrats.

The film’s production was a long journey, spending years in development limbo after landing on the Black List in 2012. It was eventually greenlit by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which sought auteur-driven projects. Filmed in the Czech Republic in 2018, the production team chose locations like Žatec and Úštěk for their unbombed, baroque architecture. To maintain a vibrant, non-traditional aesthetic, cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. drew inspiration from colorized documentaries rather than the desaturated, grayscale palettes typical of World War II films.

Central to the film is the character of Adolf, an eccentric, imaginary version of Hitler who serves as a manifestation of Jojo's internal conflict. Waititi, who portrayed the character reluctantly, described him as a 'lonely boy's best version of his hero.' The film’s success was marked by its win for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 92nd Academy Awards, though critics remained divided on its comedic treatment of Nazism. Ultimately, Waititi viewed the project as a 'love letter to all mothers,' aiming to keep the memories of victims alive for a generation increasingly disconnected from the history of the Holocaust.

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