Jojo Rabbit
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 18, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 57 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
20
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinKaren GordonOct 24, 2019
A work of sublime sweetness and beauty. Read full review
100
USA TodayBrian TruittOct 17, 2019
Jojo Rabbit succeeds even with a high degree of difficulty, given the sensitivities of the subject matter, the emotional undercurrent of a mother’s devotion to her son and the breaking down of artificial walls to let love in. As much as it makes you laugh, Waititi’s must-watch effort is a warm hug of a movie that just so happens to have a lot of important things to say. Read full review
95
Paste MagazineJoelle MoniqueOct 10, 2019
Waititi infuses a level of humanity into WWII without blindly forgiving those responsible, nor hiding behind the guise of good guys in bad situations, or allowing even a 10-year-old boy to get away with hate without swift retribution and thorough self-examination. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 9, 2019
Waititi ... finds such strange, sweet humor in his storytelling that the movie somehow maintains its ballast, even when the tone inevitably (and it feels, necessarily) shifts. Read full review
90
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 15, 2020
Waititi’s World War II satire is both a magic trick and a high-wire act – the filmmaker keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat while balancing comedy, kindness, and often shocking darkness. The end result is a heartfelt, sweet, blackly comedic coming-of-age journey that tries to find hope in hopeless times. Read full review
90
We Got This CoveredLuke ParkerOct 31, 2019
Blazingly and brilliantly over the top, Jojo Rabbit’s total dismissal of subtlety is its most ferocious ally and, only occasionally, its most frustrating foe in the war against hate. Read full review
90
Film ThreatAlan NgOct 16, 2019
Waititi masterfully balances the film’s comedy with the seriousness of the subject. He plays with your emotions to heighten the impact of the story’s message. Nothing in this film feels gratuitous and the tonal shift in the film will hit you like a ton of bricks. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 24, 2019
Absurdist humor abounds throughout a story whose underlying themes echo Elvis Costello’s eternal question, “What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?” even as corpses dangle from a foregrounded gallows. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenNov 8, 2019
This is either the worst time for a movie like Jojo Rabbit or the best time. I lean toward the latter. I’m perfectly willing to concede that the film may come across as gauche in the coming years, but in November 2019—as an irreverently comic middle finger to idiotic, irrational tribalism—wow, does it feel good. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 24, 2019
In the uncomfortably funny, unapologetically insensitive, cheerfully outrageous Jojo Rabbit, writer-director Waititi (“Thor: Ragnorak”) delivers a timely, anti-hate fractured fairy tale AND turns in hilarious work as Adolf Hitler, imaginary friend to a 10-year-old German boy near the end of World War II. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 23, 2019
Set to an anachronistic pop soundtrack and an eye-poppingly attractive production design that would be right at home in a Wes Anderson movie, this is a film that dares you not to enjoy its material pleasures, even as you wonder if you should be laughing quite so hard at the jokes. Read full review
85
IGNChris TillySep 12, 2019
Strikes just the right balance between comedy, tragedy, and drama, the result being a very funny WWII film that nevertheless carries an incredibly important message about the here and now. Read full review
85
TheWrapSteve PondSep 8, 2019
A twisted piece of grandly entertaining provocation. ... This is a dark satire that finds a way to make a case for understanding. Read full review
83
ConsequenceJoe LipsettSep 12, 2019
Waititi’s witty script and colorful supporting role as Adolf Hitler are the obvious comedic highlights of Jojo Rabbit. But the film only works because it manages to nail its balance of tones. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJan 22, 2020
Jojo Rabbit works such tensions throughout: between laughter and groans, between emotion and sentimentality, between daring and bad taste. Such gambles are worth taking even if you believe the gambler is headed for the breadline. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 24, 2019
Yes, the tone is a tricky balance that sometimes almost gets away from Waititi — there are some laugh-out-loud moments alongside some scenes of harrowing sadness. But for the most part, Waititi and the cast, which is uniformly excellent, manage to make it work. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekOct 24, 2019
It’s Waititi’s ability to balance unassailably goofy moments with an acknowledgment of real-life horrors that makes the movie exceptional. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 11, 2019
Breathtakingly risky but valid under scrutiny ... Jojo Rabbit isn’t perfect; sometimes it strains to reconcile Waititi’s more relaxed beats (“Let everything happen to you,” is a line from poet Rainer Maria Rilke that gets big play) with his visual fussiness. But he’s legitimately breaking new ground. It will find an audience that gets it. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellSep 11, 2019
As both director and performer, Waititi is on top form. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 23, 2019
Waititi adopts a tone that’s wild enough to accommodate all possibilities, so that even while we’re laughing, we’re in a state of anxiety. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartOct 18, 2019
The reason Waititi’s films (yes, even “Thor: Ragnarok”) are so resonant is that they’ve always placed love and humanism at the heart of their humor. “Jojo,” despite going to some very dark places for its laughs, is no exception. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckOct 17, 2019
Waititi injects enough heart and wit into this enterprise to make a case that artists like him should at least be trying to find creative ways to educate new generations about the horrors of the past. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzSep 10, 2019
Jojo Rabbit excels with at least a sincerely attempted – if not exactly precise – balance of humour and horror, absurdity and tragedy. Read full review
75
The Film StageC.J. PrinceSep 10, 2019
Neither the masterpiece nor the atrocity it will be described as from here on out by fans and critics alike, Jojo Rabbit is pretty funny, mostly fine, and (perhaps worst of all) well-made. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 16, 2019
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry — sometimes at the same time. But love or hate Jojo Rabbit, it’s damn near impossible to shake. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonSep 10, 2019
The film is a little too sprightly to land any heavy punches — it’s more of a comedy with satirical elements than a true satirical tale. ... But hate can be both worthy of ridicule and deadly serious, and for the most part Jojo Rabbit manages to thread that needle. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 4, 2019
The problem with Waititi’s approach, not unlike those faced by Roberto Benigni 22 years ago when he made the divisive "Life Is Beautiful," is perfecting the tonal shifts. His difficulties in this area can create a whiplash effect that results in the overall production feeling a little “off.” Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 25, 2019
There’s no question this exuberantly directed coming-of-age tale — a peppy slapstick drama, if you can get your brain around that — is a sight to see. Whether you want to see it is something you may not be able to decide until halfway through. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 17, 2019
Johannson has never played a sweeter character on the screen, and she delivers an endearing performance. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 10, 2019
It’s far from the disaster it could have been given the tonal tightrope it walks, but it’s also closer to a misfire than we all hoped it would be. Believe it or not, the “Hitler Comedy” plays it too safe. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJan 7, 2020
I suspect the strangely good-natured feel of the film will win the hearts of many viewers, but my own head remained too muddled by its uneven and oddly indecisive approach to embrace whatever quirky virtues it may possess. Read full review
60
EmpireBen TravisJan 2, 2020
Taika Waititi’s most daring film isn’t his most successful. But among the tonal clashes there’s real hope, humanity, and no-bones-about-it Nazi-bashing at a time when that’s depressingly necessary. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneOct 21, 2019
It’s no surprise that the film should so often stumble and trip, yet I would sooner watch it again and sort through my mixed feelings about it than revisit, say, the nullity of “Joker.” There is genuine zest in the unease of Jojo Rabbit, and it’s weirdly convincing as a portrait of childhood under surreal strain. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 18, 2019
Let me add something in the movie’s favor. Although I don’t love Jojo Rabbit, I love that it exists. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottOct 17, 2019
The humor is so audacious and the psychological insight at times so startling that it’s hard not to be dismayed when an easy and familiar dose of comfort is supplied at the end. This “Rabbit” is maybe just a little too cute, and a little too friendly. Read full review
60
The AtlanticDavid SimsOct 17, 2019
Jojo Rabbit’s script isn’t emotionally complex enough to address the cruel realism of its world, and as the bleakness continues, the jokes fall flatter and flatter. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 15, 2019
Erratic but engaging, going in and out of daring, the film’s mixture of black humor and unashamed sentimentality is not always as good as its best parts. Read full review
60
Total FilmJane CrowtherSep 9, 2019
Though it dabbles with the horror of the Third Reich it never examines their worst atrocities ... And that perhaps, is too careless in today’s world of a rising far right and stealth dictatorships. But if you’re looking for giddy escapism, Bowie tunes and an unapologetic good time with a side order of remembrance for of WW2, then you’ll have as much fun as the cast clearly had making this. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 8, 2019
It’s like a Wes Anderson movie set during the Third Reich. ... And yet it’s not as if it’s a terrible movie; it’s actually a studiously conventional movie dressed up in the self-congratulatory “daring” of its look!-let’s-prank-the-Nazis cachet. Read full review
58
UproxxVince ManciniJan 2, 2020
Waititi spends so much energy trying to convince us that this story is universal that he often loses what made it novel in the first place. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 12, 2019
Jojo Rabbit, a very nice but thin crowd-pleaser about love conquering all, bills itself as an “anti-hate satire.” But true satire challenges and provokes. This one offers free hugs. Read full review
58
The VergeTasha RobinsonSep 11, 2019
In the early going, though, Waititi manages to keep the tone light and the humor surreal enough to avoid too much association with the real world. But as his story devolves into melodrama, the comedy curdles. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshOct 21, 2019
At the end of Jojo Rabbit, you’re just left wondering what the point of it all was. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedOct 18, 2019
It’s a well-meaning idea that never quite succeeds on the levels of either comedy or drama. Call it a noble failure. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryOct 18, 2019
An awkward, uneven film, with writer-director Taika Waititi conjuring some touching moments, but unable to pull off the magic act this "Rabbit" trick requires. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 9, 2019
The cartoonishness of it, while amusing at the outset, doesn’t wear well as matters deepen and progress. Read full review
50
IndieWireEric KohnSep 9, 2019
Yes, Waititi’s sugary fantasy unearths an endearing quality in the most unlikely places. But in the process, it buries the awful truth. Read full review
40
Vanity FairK. Austin CollinsSep 10, 2019
Jojo Rabbit has little to say about any of the things it dredges up, beyond the obvious. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 9, 2019
It’s oddly safe, given the subject matter, and the humour is similarly sanitised. What Waititi thinks is shockingly audacious is in fact frustratingly timid, he opts for a gentle prod when maybe a punch would do. Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 8, 2019
Jojo Rabbit doesn’t lack for ambition or sincerity of purpose — which only makes it more disappointing that the film proves to be so meagre. ... Rather than being bracing or dangerous, this comedy ends up feeling a little too safe, a little too scattered, and a little too inconsequential. Read full review
33
The PlaylistCharles BramescoSep 9, 2019
Taika Waititi’s self-proclaimed “anti-hate satire” “Jojo Rabbit” exists in service of a single idea, a notion so desperately idealistic that it lands somewhere between naïveté and disingenuousness. Read full review
30
The New YorkerRichard BrodyOct 24, 2019
Even though the target of satire in Jojo Rabbit is clearly the Nazis, the movie sharply but unintentionally satirizes itself, as well as its makers and the movie industry at large that saw fit to produce, release, and acclaim it. Read full review
20
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 21, 2019
There are no insights to be had – and no laughs. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinOct 7, 2019
As satire it’s a dismal dereliction of duty; as comedy, a one-note joke that wears out fast. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 10, 2019
Its so-called audacity smacks of calculation and emotional cowardice. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternOct 17, 2019
The film doesn’t lack for audacity, or ultimate purpose — it’s against hate and in favor of love. But the adaptation isn’t funny enough to sustain the style, which owes an overt debt to Mel Brooks and amounts to Springtime for Hitler Youth. Read full review
0
Slant MagazineKeith UhlichSep 9, 2019
Waititi is incapable of dealing with the twin horrors of oppression and indoctrination beyond cheap-seats sentimentality and joke-making. Read full review
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