Kiwi director Taika Waititi has dropped the much-anticipated teaser trailer for his "anti-hate satire" JoJo Rabbit, and it looks like he's about to rip Hitler a new one.
The minute-long clip gives audiences their first glimpse of Waititi as a self-described "weird version" of Adolf Hitler. Jojo Rabbit follows the story of a young boy named JoJo (Roman Griffin Davis) living in WWII Nazi Germany, who dreams up an unusual imaginary friend in the form of Hitler. Check out the trailer below.
In the trailer, Waititi's goofy dictactor character consoles the young man being raised in a Hitler Youth camp after he becomes the victim of bullies.
"Hey JoJo my old friend, what's wrong little man?" Hitler asks.
"Let them say what they want. People used to say a lot of nasty things about me: 'Oooh this guy's a lunatic, oh look at that psycho, he's going to get us all killed'."
JoJo's mother, played by Scarlett Johansson, takes it upon herself to hide a young Jewish girl, played by rising Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie. The film also stars Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson.
Speaking about his unique take on a dark period of history, Waititi said he was very happy at the prospect of "pissing off a lot of racists".
"I couldn't be more excited to finally ridicule Nazis and their beliefs," he said.
Waititi maintained his portrayal of Hitler was purposely inauthentic, acting as a kind of cinematic middle finger.
"What better way to insult Hitler than having him portrayed by a Polynesian Jew?" he asked on Instagram earlier this year.
JoJo Rabbit is set to hit New Zealand cinemas on October 24.
