Settling down to watch Jojo Rabbit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d read mixed reviews – a one-star opinion from the Guardian and a five-star from the Telegraph.

But this is a Taika Waititi movie and he hasn’t let me down yet.

And I think the Ragnarok-director has hit another home run with this funny and heartfelt look at what Nazi Germany could have been like for a 10-year-old.

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It’s a topic that many people might find uncomfortable to talk about, but Waititi takes it in his stride, not only in directing but also in portraying Adolf Hitler himself.

This isn’t the real Hitler, it’s only an imaginary friend for the film’s main protagonist Jojo (played by Roman Griffin Davies in his film debut).

Jojo adores Hitler and the Nazi party and gobbles up every slice of propaganda he can. We start the film with him attending a camp weekend where he will learn a variety of activities such as how to throw a grenade and the art of war.

The main crux of the film is when, after coming home before his mother, Jojo finds Elsa – a girl hiding in the walls of a bedroom.

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This is where the majority of the comedy and action comes from. Jojo trying to figure out who this girl exactly is whilst everyone in the house pretends that they don’t know there is a girl living in the walls.

The stand-out performance in this film is, by far, that of Roman. For his first feature film – his first acting job at all in fact – he is a true professional. As a matter of fact, all of the child actors in this film give very good performances.

Thomasin McKenzie, who plays Elsa, and Archie Yates (Jojo’s chubby friend Yorki) are all scene stealers. Even when they are up against accomplished actors such as Sam Rockwell and Stephen Merchant.

Speaking of the adult actors, Scarlett Johansson playing Rosie (Jojo’s mum) gives a performance that is filled with depth and emotion that only becomes clear when the end credits start to roll.

Sam Rockwell also delivers a career highlight as the obviously fed-up Nazi commander in charge of running a kid’s group who seemingly can’t wait for the war to end.

However, one of the sole reasons this film works so well is because of how brilliantly Taika Waititi crafts the narrative and the characters.

He knows exactly when to tug on audience heartstrings and when to throw in a joke to lighten the mood.

His use of colour in this film expertly tells the audience the emotion of the scene and his portrayal of Hitler hits both notes of comedy and sinister.

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It’s hard to come up with a criticism for this movie because all of the parts come together and work perfectly.

But, if you twist my arm and force me to have a criticism, it would have to be the accents.

Once you settle into it, you get used to it and it passes you by. But for the first 15 minutes of this 108-minute film it can be very distracting.

Admittedly, the actors don’t try very hard with the accents. Stephen Merchant especially when he lapses and you can hear his Bristol accent come through when he’s trying to be a menacing Gestapo officer – that can take you out of the film, but only slightly.

The whole premise of a Nazi-comedy movie might make people anxious. Will there be tasteless jokes? Am I laughing at the Nazi’s or with them?

And those are all fair concerns, plenty of movies have tried to turn Nazis into satire but have failed (look at Iron Sky for example). But Jojo Rabbit provides a refreshing look at life under Nazi rule towards the end of the Second World War as well as what it could have been like for a child during this horrible time.

Overall, this is a surprisingly emotional movie with a lot of humour and a lot of heart.

Taika Waititi doesn’t hit a bad note, most of the jokes land and you’re left with a feeling of hope as you walk out of the cinema doors.

Connor Mountford