Nimona (2023)

When a knight named Ballister is framed for the killing of a queen, he is forced to team up with a shapeshifting young woman named Nimona to clear his name and bring the villain to justice.

After bouncing around several studios due to closings and purchases by other companies, NIMONA, based on a web comic, finally arrives on Netflix. A complex film, it's easy to see why studios like Disney, who held the rights for a while, passed on it. Even allowing that the film has a gay romance at it's center which no doubt freaked studios out, there is a darkness to the tale that you can only get from telling a tale that comes from real life.

While the film is often witty and funny, this is story of wounded people. Ballister is not a knight of noble birth. He was an urchin who was lifted up to the position. The most of other knights loath him and are more then happy to hunt him when he falls. Nimona is the ultimate outsider. She is the one that everyone fears, the literal monster her city was built to keep out. The pair bond because they have no one else since everyone else isn't an outsider.

There is a darkness to what happen. People are mean. People die. This isn't shiny happy bunny farts, but pain and suffering. You will feel all of the times you were the outsider reflected in this film. As I said this is a film that reflects the pain of life as lived. There is cost to everything. There is weight. Again people die and sacrifices are made. I can not imagine a studio like Disney  ever putting this film out for that reason.

And then there is the romance in the film.  This film is going to change the landscape. This animated tale where two guys are in love and it's no big deal, is going to change hearts and minds. Perhaps not right now, but give it a few years as the kids who see this internalize it and make it part of their lives. I can only imagine what this is going to do for the kids who don't know where to turn only to see themselves on screen. Watching the film play out I could feel the universe changing.

While the narrative can be a little bumpy, you really won't mind because the characters and set pieces are so damn good. There is a lot of fun stuff here.

Currently playing on Netflix NIMONA is highly recommended