The first teaser for visionistical director (his term, to eschew the overused “visionary”) Taika Waititi’s anti-hate satire (his term, to eschew the rise of Nazi hatred) Jojo Rabbit is here. Young newcomer Roman Griffin Davis stars alongside a stacked cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Alfie Allen (turns out, Reek really should have danced in Game of Thrones), Stephen Merchant (almost too aptly cast as a Nazi/Dark City goon), Rebel Wilson, and Waititi himself as Adolph Hitler.
It looks very much a Moonrise Kingdom by way of Waititi’s slightly more in-your-face comedy (with a Ben Best/Jody Hill/Danny McBride/David Gordon Green-style music cut) but damned if that isn’t a solid combo. And how nice that, after the lackluster Gentlemen Broncos, Rockwell gets another shot at goofing off in a field for a highly affected Fox Searchlight comedy with a What We Do in the Shadows guy as the clear villain.
Jojo Rabbit hits TIFF this September before arriving in theaters October 18.
