History Film / JojoRabbit

->''"It's definitely not a good time to be a Nazi."''
-->-- '''Yorki'''

Jojo (first-time actor Roman Griffin Davis), a shy boy living in the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third Reich]], wants to become a Nazi so he can fit in with his peers. Accompanying him is his ImaginaryFriend Adolf, a caricature of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (Waititi).

* LogoJoke: The 20th Century Fox drumroll segues into a German children marching song rather than the usual fanfare.

** Waititi's Hitler dresses anachronistically and gets up to all kinds of antics that would be out of character for the historical Hitler. Examples include several instances of Hitler offering Jojo a cigarette, him eating unicorn for dinner, and wearing a brown shirt militant uniform. The real Hitler ditched his brown shirt uniform in 1933 for more formal government clothes and uniform after gaining control over Germany. He quit smoking in 1919, and during the war he followed a vegetarian diet. This is justified (A) because the Hitler in the movie is just Jojo's imaginary version of him, and (B) as a deliberate creative choice. Waititi didn't spend any time researching or preparing for the role of Hitler, explaining that, “I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a shitty little mustache. And a mediocre German accent. It would just be too weird to play the actual Hitler, and I don’t think people would enjoy the character as much.” Besides, he considers Hitler to have been such an evil wanker that he doesn’t deserve the effort of an accurate portrayal. While most of the inaccuracies would get a pass thanks to the movie's Hitler being Jojo's imaginary friend, Hitler being portrayed as a smoker still makes no sense, because Nazi Germany had no-smoking policies, so a child who buys into Nazi propaganda as wholeheartedly as Jojo does would have no reason to think SmokingIsCool.

* EasilyForgiven: From Elsa toward Jojo. Completely justified considering the circumstances. [[spoiler: After seeing his mother dead, Jojo tries to stab Elsa in the shoulder, only getting the knife in just past the point before Elsa grabs his hands and removes it. Elsa has lost her parents too, and she now knows Jojo well enough to guess that his misplaced, momentary hatred will give way to his better nature when she shows him sympathy. For his part, Jojo comes to realize that Elsa isn’t to blame for what his mother did freely and with a full understanding of the risks, and regrets having harmed Elsa while his emotions were corrupted by grief.]]

* MatureWorkChildProtagonists: The film is about a ten year old boy growing up in Nazi Germany - it is written from an adult perspective, and deliberately contrasts our protagonist's innocent acceptance of his world and his child-like view of Hitler with the harsh reality.

* RewatchBonus: The Gestapo scene initially seems to be a routine inspection. [[spoiler: But, on another viewing, it’s clear they’re checking up on Rosie’s house after she’s been caught and likely already executed.]]

''Jojo Rabbit'' is a 2019 American BlackComedy film written by, directed by and starring Creator/TaikaWaititi. It is loosely based on the book ''Literature/CagingSkies'' by Christine Leunens.

Jojo (first-time actor Roman Griffin Davis), a shy boy living in the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third Reich]], wants to become a Nazi so he can fit in. Accompanying him is his ImaginaryFriend Adolf, a caricature of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (Waititi).

While Jojo struggles to fit in, his mother (Creator/ScarlettJohansson) rescues a Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin [=McKenzie=]) and hides her in their home. When Jojo meets Elsa, he begins to have second thoughts about being a Nazi.

Also stars Creator/SamRockwell as Captain Klenzendorf, Creator/RebelWilson as Fräulein Raahm, Creator/StephenMerchant as Gestapo Captain Deertz and Creator/AlfieAllen as Freddie Finkel.

* AdaptationalHeroism: In contrast to Johannes in the original book, who is a manipulative VillainProtagonist with no sympathetic qualities, Jojo, while a Nazi, is largely depicted as a kind kid deep down who, although wrapped up in the Nazi propaganda, lacks the willpower to actually commit the acts that being a Nazi requires. By the end, [[spoiler:he makes a HeelFaceTurn and renounces his Nazism after seeing how bad they really are]].

* AdolfHitlarious: Hitler chews the scenery every time he appears and acts like a [[{{Manchild}} large child]], [[spoiler: except for when he shows up at the end, after the real Hitler has committed suicide; he's disheveled, has a bleeding gunshot wound in the head, and [[VillainousBreakdown frantically rants at Jojo, demanding that they turn Elsa in, and pleading with him to give him a "heil".]]]]
* AllGermansAreNazis: PlayedWith all over the place. Jojo himself is a member of the Hitler Youth and has been warped by the Nazi Party's propaganda, but lacks the will to actually commit the atrocities expected of him. As Elsa puts it, Jojo is really just "a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club." Captain Klenzendorf is a ranking member of the Heer, but it's clear he's become disillusioned by the leadership's racial politics and is more interested in preparing the town for the inevitable invasion by the Allies than persecuting minorities. He even [[spoiler:covers for Elsa for the Gestapo when he could have easily arrested her for being a Jew]]. And as it turns out, [[spoiler:both of Jojo's parents]] are active members of the German resistance. There's still Fräulein Rahm and Captain Deertz who play this straight, being wholly committed to the party cause [[spoiler:to their deaths]].
* AlmostKiss: Klenzendorf and Finkle have one of these moments re: German Shepards but are interrupted by the appearance of Jojo.

** Freddie Finkel is a dog, shown by his attachment to Captain Klenzendorf and his mix up with the German Shepherds.

** Most obviously of the animal motifs is Jojo, as a rabbit.
* AnyoneCanDie: By the end, the only confirmed named survivors are [[spoiler: Jojo, Elsa, and Yorki. Rosie and Klenzendorf are dead, Fräulein Rahm is almost certainly dead, Deertz being a member of the Gestapo and captured by the Soviets is likely going to be executed, while Finkel likely dies in the field defending Klenzendorf. And not only is the real Hitler dead, but Jojo also kicks his imaginary ex-friend version of him out the window.]]

** Waititi's Hitler dresses anachronistically and gets up to all kinds of antics that would be out of character for the historical Hitler. Examples include several instances of Hitler offering Jojo a cigarette, and one of him eating Unicorn for dinner, and wearing his brown shirt militant uniform. The real Hitler ditched his brown shirt uniform in 1933 for more formal government clothes and uniform after gaining control over Germany. He quit smoking in 1919, and during the war he followed a vegetarian diet. This is justified (A) because the Hitler in the movie is just Jojo's imaginary version of him, and (B) as a deliberate creative choice. Waititi didn't spend any time researching or preparing for the role of Hitler, explaining that, “I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a shitty little mustache. And a mediocre German accent. It would just be too weird to play the actual Hitler, and I don’t think people would enjoy the character as much.” Besides, he considers Hitler to have been such an evil wanker that he doesn’t deserve the effort of an accurate portrayal. While most of the inaccuracies would get a pass thanks to the movie's Hitler being Jojo's imaginary friend, Hitler portrayed as a smoker still makes no sense, because Nazi Germany had no-smoking policies, so a child growing up in this era would have no reason to think SmokingIsCool.
** Towards the end you see [[spoiler:both Soviet and American troops policing up Jojo's hometown shortly after Hitler's suicide. In reality, the Western Allies stopped at the Elbe River, and would not have jointly occupied any German territory at the time of Germany's surrender. (Allied troops would not have entered West Berlin until several months later.) However, there were cases where western Allied troops did end up further east than they were "supposed to" until they withdrew west to the pre-agreed occupation zone boundaries; it's possible Jojo's town was in the Sudetenland or Austria.]]
** There is also no concern over who will occupy them and the Allies are treated as a monolith. Rosie, as a resistance member would be less concerned with destabilizing the Nazi regime at point, and more focused on going to a place where the Soviets wouldn't capture her or Jojo, unless she had strong communist sympathies (and even that wouldn't necessarily help). In fact, there isn't much worry on the part of Rosie of being killed, even if by accident, by an American or British air raid. Easily justified though, as a more realistic depiction of the attitudes of German civilians at this time wouldn't really do anything for the narrative.

** Jojo's Hitler mentions "That pirate Von Stauffenberg" trying to assassinate him "last year". The Valkyrie plot took place on July 20, 1944, yet winter passes later in the film... which, taken literally, means the war ended in ''1946''.
** Jojo's father was said to have gone missing in action in Italy "two years ago." Since the war ends after a winter time skip, that means the bulk of the movie takes place in 1944, meaning Jojo's father disappeared in 1942... except Italy wasn't invaded until September 1943 (July if you count the invasion of Sicily).

* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: TranslationConvention aside, the "German Shepherds" VisualPun would never happen due to miscommunication among German speakers, because the German Shepherd dog breed is actually referred to as ''Schäferhunde'' – literally, "shepherd dogs" – in Germany.
* BabyFactory: The girls at Hitler Youth camp are told their duty to their country will be to make children. Fräulein Rahm states she's had ''eighteen kids.''
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The Nazi Youth leaders tell Jojo to kill a rabbit to prove he has the potential to be ruthless. Jojo can't do it and lets the rabbit run free, but an older boy catches it and snaps its neck. This makes the difference in morals between Jojo and the Nazi regime clear early on.
* BadassBoast: First Jojo claims that "Aryans" are the Master Race, and there's no way he'll be beaten by a Jew. Then Elsa totally overpowers him and says that the Jews are God's chosen people, who wrestled with angels and defeated giants.

** InUniverse for Jojo; after the grenade incident, he's left with very light scars on his limbs and left side of his face but otherwise doesn't look worse for wear. Despite this, he and several other people throughout the film describes him as "deformed" and monstrous-looking.
* {{BFG}}: Fräulein Rahm goes into battle with an MG-42 [[spoiler:and is promptly killed]].
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jojo loses his mother and is badly traumatized, but he has a HeelRealization and sees the Nazi party for the fascistic, genocidal, and hypocritical nutcases they were, and ultimately survives the war with Elsa.]]
* BlackComedy: The film runs on this throughout, presenting wacky antics and colorful characters without shying away from the horror of them participating in the indoctrination of children into bloodthirsty killers and living under a genocidal fascist rule. It crosses the line several times in the climax, when WarIsHell is played for all its tragedy without the jokes stopping and reaches its peak when Fräulein Rahm sticks a live grenade into a young Hitler Youth's belt and pushes him out from behind cover, telling him to go hug an Allied soldier.

** When Jojo insists Elsa tell him what Jews are like, she amuses herself by making up absurd claims, taking the piss out of the Nazi propaganda Jojo has already been fed.

** Jojo reads a letter purportedly from Elsa's fiance that childishly insults her, only to regret it afterwards and try to fix it by claiming that he's just remembered another letter that contradicts some of the meaner things the earlier letter said.
** Jojo telling Elsa that Germany won the war, after he developed feelings for her.
* BlingOfWar: Klentzendorf creates a flamboyant uniform for his last stand, which incorporates bright colors, feathers, and shiny bits.

** When Jojo and his mother prepare to leave their house for the first time after [[spoiler:Jojo blows himself up with a grenade at camp]] near the beginning, Jojo asks if it's dangerous outside, his mother jokingly answers that it's ''extremely'' dangerous. [[spoiler:At the end, when Jojo and Elsa leave (Elsa for the first time since she arrived at their house), she asks him if it's dangerous outside, he gives the same answer his mother did.]]
** The "Jojo Betzler, age 10" mirror monologue. Stated at the beginning and paired with Jojo trying to psych himself up going to the Hitler Youth camp, stated at the end with [[spoiler:Jojo about to lead Elsa outside and show her the American troops have freed the city from Nazi control]].

** During their initial confrontations, Elsa keeps taking away whatever knife Jojo brings with him to confront her. Later on, while trying to make dinner Rosie asks where all the knives went.

** People don't have much of a filter throughout the film and will often bluntly say things that are rude or downright insulting to or about others in their presence. This includes a RunningGag where people will blithely call Jojo a deformed freak right in front of him. Even his ImaginaryFriend Hitler gives him a BluntYes when asked if he's ugly. This is all presumably due to ridiculous Nazi propaganda lionizing the physical perfection of the "Master Race."

* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Jojo sees a blue butterfly on the town square and follows it. It leads him to [[spoiler:the gallows where he discovers his mother's dead body.]]

* CallingTheOldManOut: Jojo calls his mother to task at dinner. Since he's still a little Nazi at this point and his mother has clear resistance sympathies, its less than impressive.

** The Hitler Youth knife. It's the first weapon he uses after finding Elsa, which promptly gets taken from him. [[spoiler: When Captain Deertz shows up, Jojo is almost placed under interrogation when it's discovered to be still missing. Elsa also nearly blows her cover by disguising as his dead sister Inge to return it to him.]]
** Jojo can't tie his own shoes. His mother Rosie ties them for him once, then ties them together as a joke [[spoiler:in their last interaction. When Jojo next finds Rosie hanged in the square, he sees her shoe is untied. He finally manages to tie shoes at the end, after Elsa puts some on to leave when the city is liberated.]]

* CloneArmy: Part of the Hitlerjugend consists of several identical blond boys, who apparently need to be fed and walked like dogs. [[spoiler:Several of the clones die during the climax.]]

* CostumePorn: In fact the film ran into a bit of a pickle after it started getting best costuming nominations as people assumed the nom was for the Nazi uniforms and not the beautiful period clothes of the civilians in the film, AKA Rosie's great outfits after great outfits all the way through.
* CoverIdentityAnomaly: When the Gestapo arrive at Jojo's house, Elsa pretends to be Jojo's dead sister Inge. After demanding her ID papers, the officers have Klenzendorf quiz her biological information contained in Inge's ID papers, to which he pauses, and after a minute, accepts her answer. [[spoiler:Except that after Klenzendorf and the Gestapo leave, she tells Jojo that she accidentally gave Inge's birthday as May 1 when the right answer was May 7. Klenzendorf covered for her, figuring out that she was a Jew and protecting her from the Gestapo anyway, after having earlier told Jojo that he should report any Jews he finds and the Gestapo would take them away.]]
* CruelToBeKind: [[spoiler: Klenzendorf manages to spare Jojo from a Soviet firing squad by ripping off a military jacket the boy was wearing, yelling and [[SpitefulSpit spitting at him]] to make the Russian soldiers think Jojo's a Jew and send him away.]]

* DancePartyEnding: [[spoiler:The movie ends with Jojo and Elsa dancing together, as a CallBack to Rosie remarking that once they're free of the war she'll dance.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: At the start of the film [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Jojo]] is creepily teetering on [[TheFundamentalist being a real Nazi]] and being [[InnocentBigot swept up in Nazi propaganda.]]
* DefrostingIceQueen: Elsa and Jojo do this to each other. Jojo becomes gradually obsessed with Elsa, who proceeds to be nicer to Jojo in every one of his talks with her, causing ''him'' to become nicer as he sees she's not anything like what he's been taught, and ''she'' gradually comes to trust him more as he sheds his Nazi beliefs.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Jojo eventually accepts the fact that his romantic feelings for Elsa won't ever be requited (although she grows to love him as a little brother), but still affirms to Imaginary Hitler that he's in love with her. [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy He also lets her leave in the end]], even though he's now left with no one.

* DisappearedDad: Jojo's father is never present throughout the movie, as he is stationed in Italy. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that both he and Rosie are participants in anti-Nazi resistance]].
* DramaticIrony: Jojo getting a face full of grenade is probably the safest thing to happen to him, since the injuries kept him from fighting on the front line.

** The book burning also has one for Jojo. At first, he's enthusiastic and throwing books in with the rest of the Hitler Youth. There's actually a moment where he stops and looks at the fire with a confused expression on his face, then proceeds to look around. When he sees the other boys getting excited and throwing more books on, he gets excited again, but ''doesn't'' throw another book for the rest of the scene. He's impressionable, but there's a heart of gold in there somewhere and he just wants to fit in.
* ExplosiveStupidity: Jojo throws a grenade. It hits a tree, then comes back to him.
* FeetFirstIntroduction: Rosie enters several scenes foot first, identified by her distinctive shoes. [[spoiler: These are done to establish her trademark footwear for TheReveal of her hanged body, which is only seen from the feet and identified by her shoes]].

* FireForgedFriends: Jojo and Elsa are initially hostile towards each other.

** Several lingering shots focus intently on [[spoiler: Rosie's distinctive shoes, most glaringly the scene at the swimming pool where she cavorts on a ledge above Jojo, only her shoes and some of her ankles visible. Jojo discovers his mother's hanged body from the shoes up and the rest of her body not shown, making us only see her from Jojo's eye level.]]

** Captain Klenzendorf is introduced listing off how easily preventable the mistake that got him demoted was, expresses the belief Germany is fighting a losing battle, and generally appears to take his job with little to no seriousness. [[spoiler:The fact he's secretly a TokenGoodTeammate makes it pretty clear he was probably doing this on purpose as a means of protesting the party he doesn't support.]]

* {{Gesundheit}}: After forcing Jojo to call her "a Jew" (sounding like he is sneezing), Elsa replies with a condescending "Gesundheit".
* TheGhost: Jojo's father is never seen except in pictures (and Rosie's impression of him), but he's still a very important figure for his wife and son, and even a source of inspiration for them, for ''very'' different reasons [[spoiler:at first]].

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Jojo's facial scars from his grenade accident are quite minor and objectively have very little effect on his appearance. Jojo is nevertheless overly self-conscious about them, a fact that isn't helped by the RunningGag of insensitive people exaggerating how hideous his scars look.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted with the Germans who were hanged in the town square, we see their hanging bodies clearly. Later played straight [[spoiler:when Jojo finds his mother, Rosie, has been hanged exactly the same way. We only see her legs and then a shot of her from behind.]] Also played straight with [[spoiler:the Nazis who are executed by the Soviets.]]

* GroinAttack: Klenzendorf gets one in the nuts by Rosie.

** Although in general, this trope is deconstructed in the film. Blondness is one of the characteristics prized by the Nazis' white supremacist ideology, and Jojo himself was upset when he found out that his grandfather wasn't blond. By the end, however, Jojo has learned that physical appearance or race doesn't make someone inherently better. His mother was good -- not because she's blonde, or an Aryan (as people like Fräulein Rahm are this, yet utterly vile); but because of her kindness.
* HangingAround: How the traitors are dispatched [[spoiler:including Jojo's mother]].

** [[spoiler: Also near the end where the Hitler Youths are executed by the Soviets.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Jojo, over the course of the movie, goes from being a blind follower of Nazism to [[spoiler:telling Hitler to fuck off and kicking him out the window.]]

* HeroAntagonist: The Russians defeat the Nazis near the end of the film, briefly hold Jojo prisoner, and have [[spoiler:Klenzendorf executed. Not to mention executing Hitler Youths.]]
* HeyWait: When it looks like Elsa's DeadPersonImpersonation has succeeded, Captain Deertz shouts "Wait!" and the music turns suspenseful. However, he did not actually SpotTheThread, he just noticed Jojo's journal on the desk.

** Jojo tries to be the best Nazi he can be, but anytime he's faced with any opportunity to be cruel, he either fails to follow through or his sympathy gets the best of him.

** Klenzendorf at first appears to just be a JadedWashout, but he clearly cares deeply for Rosie and Jojo, and any time he needs to give token praise to Hitler/Nazism he barely hides his distaste. He eventually lies to save Elsa from the Gestapo and then lies again to save Jojo from the Soviets.

* HopelessWar: Some of the more objective-minded characters such as Rosie and Klenzendorf recognize that Germany is headed toward inevitable defeat. As the town collapses under the Allied assault, Yorki is telling Jojo that the whole world is against Germany, and their only remaining friends are the Japanese "and they don't look very Aryan."
* HospitalGurneyScene: After the grenade incident, we get a series of {{POV Shot}}s from Jojo's perspective, including his ride in a gurney across a hospital floor with Imaginary Hitler giving him a Thumbs Up.
* HypocriticalHumor: In spades. It's ''Nazis'' we're talking about, after all, in a satirical context. For instance, Fräulein Rahm teaches the Nazi Youths that Aryans are more advanced and civilized than any other race... right before she tells them they're going to burn some books, and the kids cheer on wildly.
* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: To prove to the Nazis that he's tough enough, Jojo is asked to snap the neck of a rabbit. He ultimately chooses to let the rabbit go, earning him the nickname "Jojo Rabbit," [[KickTheDog at which point one of the Nazis grabs the rabbit and snaps its neck anyways.]]
* ImaginaryLoveTriangle: Jojo is smitten with Elsa and even claims to Yorki that she's his girlfriend, but she doesn't reciprocate his crush [[PrecociousCrush for obvious reasons]]. He also wants Nathan, her actual boyfriend, dead, in hopes that that'll make her like him back. [[spoiler: Nathan's been dead all along. Elsa still doesn't requite his romantic love, of course, but loves him like a little brother.]]

* InNameOnly: The film doesn't share its title with the novel it's based on, ''Literature/CagingSkies'', but the overall plot outline and character names are carried over. Apart from that, almost nothing is the same. In the book, there's no imaginary Hitler antics and Johannes is ''much'' less sympathetic. The most glaring difference between the two is the tonal disparity; ''Jojo Rabbit'' is a BlackComedy, whereas ''Caging Skies'' is significantly bleaker (though not without some funny moments).

** [[spoiler:Klenzendorf accepts being beaten up by Rosie as he was responsible for Jojo being wounded]].
** [[spoiler:Jojo is slapped by Elsa for temporarily lying to her that the Nazis won the war so she wouldn't leave her hideout, and by extension, him. He admits that he deserved it]].

** The exact circumstances of [[spoiler:Rosie]]'s execution are not revealed. Jojo sees her out in town dropping off pamphlets that say "Free Germany" and the next time he sees her is when she's hanged in the square.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Easy to miss, but one of the older Hitler Youth recruits who calls Jojo a coward for not killing the rabbit is [[spoiler:briefly shown begging the Soviets for his life after the end of the battle, in stark contrast to the stoic Klenzendorf. It doesn't work]].

* LifesavingMisfortune: The grenade incident left Jojo with a bunch of not-so-bad scars and a temporary limp – just enough to not be a ChildSoldier candidate. Every other member of Hitlerjugend ends up drafted.
* LighterAndSofter: There is no BlackComedy in the novel. It's a sober look into Nazi ideology, exploring themes of obsession and toxic masculinity bolstered by nationalistic ideals.

* MexicanStandoff: Referenced incorrectly by Jojo when he explains to Elsa that both of them are stuck with each other. (If Jojo reports Elsa to the authorities, she'll kill him and his mother (or so she says to scare him) and vice versa.) He calls their situation "a Mexican stalemate." She quickly corrects him by pointing out that their situation is just a stalemate.
* MilhollandRelationshipMoment: When Jojo eventually brings himself to reveal to Yorki that he helped to hide a Jew in his house, the latter doesn't raise a brow. Justified because priorities have shifted at that moment.
* MonstrousHumanoid: The Jews are initially seen as this by Jojo. When he meets Elsa for the first time, the scene plays out like a horror film. And she is clearly toying with him.
* MoodWhiplash: The film is made of this, constantly segueing between farce and horror/tragedy.
** The story is a rather goofy farce right until [[spoiler:Jojo stumbles upon his mother's hanged corpse in the town square. Suddenly everything becomes a lot more serious.]]
** The swimming-pool scene becomes a lot less funny when you suddenly start noticing all the mutilated people in the background – presumably soldiers who were wounded in battle. And it's by far not the only scene that shows this.

** The dramatic and bloody battle sequence is spliced with Yorki's clumsiness and various comedic lines he delivers.
** Waititi's portrayal of Hitler starts out as [[AdolfHitlarious a harmless bozo]], but shifts to the menacing, angry Hitler of propaganda films, before finally coming out as the unhinged, defeated, suicidal Hitler akin to the historical figure's portrayal in ''{{Film/Downfall}}''.

* MyFistForgivesYou: [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Jojo, who is afraid Elsa will leave him all alone now that the war is over, lies to her and says that the Germans won. Shortly afterwards he decides to let her leave anyway, saying he'll help her escape. Moments after they leave the house, they see American soldiers drive by waving a big American flag and cheering. Elsa turns around and slaps Jojo but seems to let it go after that.]]

** Jojo fabricates a letter purportedly from Elsa's fiance that breaks up with her, which reduces her to tears (not because she believed it – Jojo does ''not'' do a good impression – but from its mean-spiritedness). Rather than take pleasure in his victory, he regrets his behavior and makes up a second letter that takes back some of the nastier things he wrote.
** Jojo gets a double-whammy towards the end. First, the normally AffablyEvil Hitler goes on a violent and unhinged rant after Jojo hides Elsa from the Gestapo, which causes Jojo to see Hitler for what he truly is. Secondly is the WarIsHell moment with the American-Russian invasion, where Jojo really takes in all the German child soldiers, including his friend Yorki, and sees the destruction they're taking in the face of inevitable defeat that the Nazis tried so fervently to deny, and which he fell for at first.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Though it's ultimately a relatively minor aspect of the movie, the trailers mostly feature the Hitler Youth camp scenes. For the parts that don't, they appear to have digitally toned down the scars on Jojo's face from when he blew himself up with a grenade.
* NoHuggingNoKissing: Jojo refers to Elsa as his "girlfriend" when talking to his friend Yorki. But when Jojo confesses his love for her, they both agree they're better off as [[LikeBrotherAndSister brother and sister]]. Although Elsa offers Jojo a kiss earlier, he doesn't think a "sympathy kiss" counts and declines.
* NowWhat: Where Jojo, Elsa, and Yorki go from here is anyone's guess
* OhNoNotAgain: Non-verbally, but Jojo's CharacterDevelopment is on-show when Yorki tells him about the Russian and Allied forces invading, claiming that Jews are no longer their biggest concern because the Ruskies and Allies 'eat babies and have sex with dogs'. Jojo's expression shows that he recognises this as completely ridiculous bullshit, just like the anti-Jew propaganda he had previously bought into.
* OnlySaneMan: Rosie and Captain Klenzendorf are the only adults who seem to truly understand that the war has taken a turn against the Axis powers and it's only a matter of time before it's all over. Klenzendorf, towards the end, is just preparing for the inevitable assault on the town and is past the point of caring about any sort of ideology he might have held at one point.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Thomasin's New Zealand accent is often pretty noticeable.

** Jojo lets off an "[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh, shit]]", near the beginning of the movie when he throws a grenade at training camp which bounces off a tree and lands right next to his feet.

* PropagandaMachine: Jojo and his peers receive indoctrination in the Hitler Youth, and after his grenade accident, he's put to work distributing propaganda posters.

* RecurringCameraShot: Most of the time Jojo's mother enters a scene, the first shot of her is a close up on her feet. In the very last scene she appears in, [[spoiler:the camera shows a close up of Jojo standing up from being bent over and seeing her feet as she hangs from the town square gallows.]]
* LaResistance: [[spoiler:Jojo learns that both his parents are involved in German resistance against the Nazis, with his father actively fighting while his mother harbors a Jew and distributes anti-Nazi leaflets]].
* RewatchBonus: The Gestapo scene initially seems to be a routine inspection. [[spoiler: But on another viewing, it’s clear they’re checking up on Rosie’s house after she’s been caught and likely already executed.]]

** Waititi's whole performance as Hitler, where he just improvised everything about the character after deciding that a realistic Hitler would not be entertaining or appropriate for the film.

* ShellShockSilence: After a bomb goes off in the street during the climax, the sound temporarily drowns out.
* ShoutOut: Elsa's fiancé Nathan proposed to her with a poem by Creator/RainerMariaRilke. Jojo then goes to the library, borrows a poem collection of Rilke, and uses lines from the poems to incorporate them into his faked letters from Nathan to Elsa. The movie also ends with a quote by Rilke.

* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: When Klenzendorf is introduced, he snacks on an apple before deciding to give his attention to the kids at the camp.

** Klenzendorf interrupts the Gestapo search of Jojo's house. It's only because of Klenzendorf that Jojo and Elsa escape the Gestapo search unharmed; Klenzendorf makes sure he's the one to inspect Elsa/"Inge"s papers and lets her get away with the wrong birthdate.
** When the Allies invade, [[spoiler: Jojo is rounded up when he's got a uniform jacket on. Klenzendorf, also captured, specifically picks out Jojo from the group, offers an apology for laughing at the book and condolences about his mother's death, then rips off the jacket and suddenly starts calling him a "dirty Jew". The Russians are about to start executing the Nazis by firing squad, only to now believe Jojo is a wrongly-rounded up Jew and let him go at the last minute]].
* SuicideAttack: Fraulein Rahm sends Hitler Youth boys out with grenades for the battle, telling them to "hug" American soldiers.

* ThoseWackyNazis: Every Nazi seen in the trailers is depicted in the [[LaughablyEvil most ridiculous way possible]], from a cowboy-wannabe to a youth-camp-leader who instructs her pupils to happily burn books around a giant bonfire. [[BewareTheSillyOnes Eventually in the film the Nazis become decidedly less funny]].
* TimeCompressionMontage: The time Jojo spends with Elsa during the winter of 1944/45 after [[spoiler:his mother died]] is captured in a number of key shots set to the song "Everybody's Gotta Live" by Love.

* TranslationConvention: German speech is translated into English [[JustAStupidAccent with a German accent]], apart from a few minor words that go untranslated, like "heil" and "tschüss." All text, however, is untranslated German, which is rendered into English when read aloud. [[spoiler:The American and Soviet soldiers speak English with American accents. Apart from a few critical lines, it's mostly shouts of "hey!" and a few barely comprehensible curses. Presumably, the soldier who removes Jojo from the firing squad area and clearly tells him to go home is a translator speaking German to him]].

** Captain Klenzendorf is blind in one eye. [[spoiler: He ''turns a blind eye'' to Elsa pretending to be Jojo's deceased sister Inge (he's reading Inge's papers with his head noticeably tilted, ''i.e.'' he's reading them with his glass eye), despite knowing she accidentally said her birthday was May 1st when it was actually May 7th. He implies at the end that he was aware of the resistance work Rosie was doing.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Rosie gives her son several small ones for his blind devotion to Hitler, though none seem to take. [[spoiler:Elsa gives a silent, but violent, one when she realises Jojo had lied to her about Germany's victory due to his fear she'd leave, which he quickly acknowledges he deserved.]]
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Rosie occasionally sounds like a mix of German and French.
* WouldHurtAChild: The Nazis have no compunctions at using the Hitler Youth in combat roles, knowing it will get them injured or killed. Similarly, the Soviet soldiers at the end want to shoot Jojo and other Hitler Youth boys (he's spared, the rest aren't).

* AdaptationalHeroism: In contrast to Johannes in the original book, who is a manipulative VillainProtagonist with no sympathetic qualities, Jojo, while a nazi, is largely depicted as a kind kid deep down who, although wrapped up in the Nazi propaganda, lacks the willpower to actually commit the acts that being a Nazi requires. By the end, [[spoiler:he makes a HeelFaceTurn and renounces his nazism after seeing how bad they really are]].

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The Soviet soldiers executing prisoners of war at the end of the movie.

** There is also no concern over who will occupy them and the Allies are treated as a monolith. Rosie, as a resistance member would be less concerned with destabilizing the Nazi regime at point, and more focused on going to a place where the Soviets wouldn't capture her or Jojo, unless she had strong communist sympathies (and even that wouldn't necessarily healp). In fact, there isn't much worry on the part of Rosie of being killed, even if by accident, by an American or British air raid. Easily justified though, as a more realistic depiction of the attitudes of German civilians at this time wouldn't really do anything for the narrative.

* ManChild: One of the key messages of both the book and the film is that the Nazis themselves were this. Their entire ideology was based on pseudoscientific ideas of racial supremacy, they were obsessed with a toxic and laughable concept of strength and masculinity, and the Third Reich valued style ''far'' more than it valued substance. This meshes perfectly with Jojo's own ComingOfAgeStory, as he slowly realizes just how ridiculous fascism really is.

Jojo (first-timer Roman Griffin Davis), a shy boy living in the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third Reich]], wants to become a Nazi so he can fit in. Accompanying him is his ImaginaryFriend Adolf, a caricature of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (Waititi).

* AllGermansAreNazis: PlayedWith all over the place. Jojo himself is a member of the Hitler Youth and has been warped by the Nazi Party's propaganda, but lacks the will to actually commit the atrocities expected of him. As Elsa puts it, Jojo is really just "a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club." Captain Klenzendorf is a ranking member of the Third Reich army, but it's clear he's become disillusioned by the leadership's racial politics and is more interested in preparing the town for the inevitable invasion by the Allies than persecuting minorities. He even [[spoiler:covers for Elsa for the Gestapo when he could have easily arrested her for being a Jew]]. And as it turns out, [[spoiler:both of Jojo's parents]] are active members of the German resistance. There's still Fräulein Rahm and Captain Deertz who play this straight, being wholly committed to the party cause [[spoiler:to their deaths]].

** During dinner, Rosie says that the Allies have liberated Italy and will soon liberate France, and then the war will be over. Italy changed sides in 1943, and the Germans held onto Northern Italy until the end of the war. France was fully liberated by September 1944.

* HarmfulToMinors: Naturally, as the Hitler Youths are being trained to become child soldiers or [[BabyFactory Baby Factories]], depending on gender. There are also the Nazis' countless Jewish victims, many of whom are undoubtedly as young or younger than teenage Elsa.[[spoiler: there's also the near the end where the Hitler Youths are executed by the Soviets.]]

* HarmfulToMinors: Naturally, as the Hitler Youths are being trained to become child soldiers or [[BabyFactory Baby Factories]], depending on gender. There are also the Nazis' countless Jewish victims, many of whom are undoubtedly as young or younger than teenage Elsa.

* HeroAntagonist: The Russians defeat the Nazis near the end of the film, briefly hold Jojo prisoner, and have [[spoiler:Klenzendorf executed]].

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: The trailer prominently features a German-language cover of [[Music/TheMonkees "I'm a Believer"]], and the film features German versions of [[Music/TheBeatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand"]] and [[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]] by Music/DavidBowie. In fact, the latter song is about two lovers divided by the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall!

* {{Gesundheit}}: After forcing Jojo to call her "a jew" (sounding like he is sneezing), Elsa replies with a condescending "Gesundheit".

** Waititi's Hitler dresses anachronistically and gets up to all kinds of antics that would be out of character for the historical Hitler. Examples include several instances of Hitler offering Jojo a cigarette, and one of him eating Unicorn for dinner, and wearing his brown shirt militant uniform he ditched in 1933 for more formal government clothes and uniforms after gaining control over Germany. The real Hitler quit smoking in 1919, and during the war he followed a vegetarian diet. This is justified (A) because the Hitler in the movie is just Jojo's imaginary version of him, and (B) as a deliberate creative choice. Waititi didn't spend any time researching or preparing for the role of Hitler, explaining that, “I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a shitty little mustache. And a mediocre German accent. It would just be too weird to play the actual Hitler, and I don’t think people would enjoy the character as much.” Besides, he considers Hitler to have been such an evil wanker that he doesn’t deserve the effort of an accurate portrayal. While most of the inaccuracies would get a pass thanks to the movie's Hitler being Jojo's imaginary friend, Hitler portrayed as a smoker still makes no sense, because Nazi Germany had no-smoking policies, so a child growing up in this era would have no reason to think SmokingIsCool.

** There is also no concern over who will occupy them and the Allies are treated as a monolith. Rosie, as a resistance member would be less concerned with destabilizing the Nazi regime at point, and more focused on going to a place where the Soviets wouldn't capture her or Jojo, unless she had strong communist sympathies. In fact, there isn't much worry on the part of Rosie of being killed, even if by accident, by an American or British air raid. Easily justified though, as a more realistic depiction of the attitudes of German civilians at this time wouldn't really do anything for the narrative.

** Jojo's Hitler mentions "That pirate Von Stauffenberg" trying to assassinate him "last year." The Valkyrie plot took place on July 20, 1944, yet winter passes later in the film...which, taken literally, means the war ended in ''1946.''
** Jojo's father was said to have gone missing in action in Italy "two years ago." Since the war ends after a winter time skip, that means the bulk of the movie takes place in 1944, meaning Jojo's father disappeared in 1942...except Italy wasn't invaded until September 1943 (July if you count the invasion of Sicily).

** Waititi's Hitler gets up to all kinds of antics that would be out of character for the historical Hitler. Examples include several instances of Hitler offering Jojo a cigarette, and one of him eating Unicorn for dinner. The real Hitler quit smoking in 1919, and during the war he followed a vegetarian diet. This is justified (A) because the Hitler in the movie is just Jojo's imaginary version of him, and (B) as a deliberate creative choice. Waititi didn't spend any time researching or preparing for the role of Hitler, explaining that, “I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a shitty little mustache. And a mediocre German accent. It would just be too weird to play the actual Hitler, and I don’t think people would enjoy the character as much.” Besides, he considers Hitler to have been such an evil wanker that he doesn’t deserve the effort of an accurate portrayal. While most of the inaccuracies would get a pass thanks to the movie's Hitler being Jojo's imaginary friend, Hitler portrayed as a smoker still makes no sense, because Nazi Germany had no-smoking policies, so a child growing up in this era would have no reason to think SmokingIsCool.

** The only effect that living in a cubbyhole for at least several months has on Elsa's appearance is that her hair is unkempt. In one scene, she calls herself a "dirty Jew" (both commenting on her physical state and sardonically referencing Nazi propaganda), which prompts Jojo to give her a bath, but she never really looked dirty to begin with. She remains attractive enough throughout the film for Jojo to develop quite a crush on her.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Jojo calls his mother to task at dinner.

* OhNoNotAgain: Non-verbally, but Jojo's CharacterDevelopment is on-show when Yorki tells him about the Russian and Allied forces invading, claiming that Jews are no longer their biggest concern because the Ruskies and Allies 'eat babies and have sex with dogs'. Jojo's expression makes it clecerar he recognises this as completely ridiculous bullshit, just like the anti-Jew propaganda he had previously bought into.