Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #18. Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit

Published on February 8, 2019

Jojo Rabbit

Based on a 2012 Black List screenplay, Taika Waititi‘s sixth feature film went into production in May/June of 2018 in the Czech Republic with the likes of Thomasin McKenzie, Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Waititi himself. Jojo Rabbit showcases the comedic versatility of the filmmaker.

Gist: Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, Jojo “Rabbit” Betzler is a young boy living during World War II. His only escapism is through his imaginary friend, an ethnically inaccurate version of Adolf Hitler, who pushes the young boy’s naive patriotic beliefs. However, this all changes when a young girl challenges those views and causes Jojo to face his own issues.

Release Date/Prediction: Look for Fox Searchlight to launch this in the third quarter of the year.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).