‘Nimona’ Review – A Magical & Emotionally Complex Film About Embracing Our Differences

Nimona is the story of Ballister Boldheart, played by Riz Ahmed, a former knight framed for a tragic crime who teams up with a scrappy, shape-shifting teen, Nimona, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, to prove his innocence. But what if she’s the monster he’s sworn to destroy?

Nimona is Troy Quane and Nick Bruno’s best work; granted they have only worked together on one film, Spies in Disguise, in addition to Troy Quane’s holiday special, The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol. The noted jump in quality might be attributed to having more creative freedom than working with Blue Sky Studios (the original production company along a very rocky creative journey) or that Nimona was already a great graphic novel as is. Whatever the case may be, this films hits on so many levels.

Nimona creates an atmosphere that evokes numerous different emotional responses from happiness to anger, and all the complexities in between. The characters are so much more layered and complex than many of the stock, one dimensional characters that some of the more lazy efforts try to force upon audiences. There are many moments when characters such as Niomna, Ballister, or Ambrosius (Eugene Lee Yang) hide how the truly feel creating more drama for each other. This is super relatable because as people, we do not like when people know how we truly feel until things get out of hand.

This is what Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor delivered in spades when writing the screenplay, creating an atmosphere for children and adults alike. It conjures a bit of the magic Disney brings to their films in that way for the most part, which is never a bad thing.

The emotional beats soar when they focus on themes such as being ostracized for being different from society or the differences between monsters who can’t blend in with society and the monsters that can. There is a powerful scene highlighting these points perfectly when Nimona talks with with Ballister after they attempt to let the truth out about The Director (Frances Conroy). 

“Did you see the way that little girl looked at me? Kids. Little Kids. They grow up believing that they can be a hero if they drive a sword into the heart of anything different. And I’m the monster?”

This is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire film, letting us in for the first time to how Nimona is truly feeling, a scene enhanced even further by a magnetic Chloë Grace Moretz. You can just feel the disappointment and anger in her voice and the way it is animated is truly beautiful.

Overall, this is a wonderful movie that everyone will fall in love with. The trope of characters turning into a monster in film has yielded great results recently. Luca was great, Turning Red was well made, and I’m pretty sure Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken will be just as good. As of right now, Nimona reigns supreme as it hits on all the levels!

Nimona is currently available to stream on Netflix. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_fuHRyQbOc]