It’s hard to know if you should be laughing or crying at writer director Taika Waititi’s – he also plays Adolph Hitler – “JoJo Rabbit” as the story, about a young boy’s upbringing during World War 2, moves between outright farce and emotional heartache.

Young Griffin Davis is outstanding as the young JoJo Betzler – he’s given the nickname JoJo Rabbit by some Nazi thugs after he refuses, at a Hitler youth camp, to snap the neck of a rabbit.

The story follows young JoJo, who lives with his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), through the rise of the Nazis to their ultimate demise. Along the way the fervent young Nazi takes part in a Nazi training camps for kids and helps the local Nazis spread their hate propaganda regarding the Jews. However things change for him when he finds young Jewish refuge called Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding in a bedroom of his house.

Waititi’s script is littered with moments of brilliant satire, Stephen Merchant turns up as a Heil Hitler saluting gestapo officer whilst Sam Rockwell play’s a “nice” Nazi who tells it the way it is.

“JoJo Rabbit”, given the topic, might not be an easy watch for many, should we be laughing at a Jewish hating Nazi youth? Fortunately Waititi manages to strike just about the right balance between comedy and drama and manages to make “JoJo Rabbit” a highly enjoyable watch.

3/5