Nowhere near to the long-awaited dark-humored nuclear satire ever promised, Fox Searchlight's latest awards darling is an erratic, heartfelt anti-hate drama more prone to "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "Life is Beautiful" than "The Great Dictator" or "The Producers."

How on earth did a Kiwi filmmaker get the green light for a studio movie focused on a lonely 10-year-old Nazi enthusiast and his imaginary friend the Führer in an era when every single supposedly controversial idea leads to cultural backslash and media outrage? New Zealand-born director Taika Waititi knows the answer.

Everything dates back to 2004. After making some comedy shorts for local festivals, his short, "Two Cars, One Night," went on to earn a Best Live Action Short nomination at the 2005 Academy Awards. Three years later, Waititi built some European reputation with the wry rom-com "Eagle vs Shark," which gave him his first Sundance entrance at the Grand Jury Prize competition. Following a wave of short-films and TV episodes, the best-dressed helmer wrote and directed "Boy," another offbeat comedy released at the AFI Fest, the Berlinale, and Sundance. Six years later, with "Hunt for the Wilderpeople," he won some accolades and wider recognition; however, it was "What We Do in the Shadows" which changed his and his usual collaborator Jemaine Clement's careers. Highly praised among cult movie fans, this offbeat examination on vampires and society was so bloody hilarious and oddly on-point that, besides being one of the best mockumentaries ever made- its TV equivalent would be "The Office", -it inspired an original FX spinoff series. Now, we have to make a stop at Marvel Studios.

This instant cult classic not only was the genesis of his first Best Adapted Screenplay award, but also the golden ticket to print his dynamics on a superhero flick. Bursting with colorfully polarizing reception, "Thor: Ragnarok" crushed box office predictions and saved the franchise by stripping Thor of his Phase One status quo and infusing Jack Kirby art style into his new and upcoming extravaganzas. Waititi succeeding at Marvel big-budget magnitudes is just another beautiful testimony of indie directors topping Hollywood, provoking such an impact that he has already committed to a new Thor adventure- the only character with four Marvel solo movies to date -and a highly anticipated untitled Star Wars film. This was the long way the director went through to release his 7-year-in-the-making WW II dramedy in theaters.

You cannot pronounce Adolf Hitler and film together and if you do so, it would unmistakably be a flying red flag. Months prior to its world premiere at TIFF, "Jojo Rabbit" was the very definition of controversy among studio executives. Everyone in Hollywood thought, keeping in mind the ingredients, that the movie would be censored or even banned in some territories at any point in time, just like did Armando Iannucci with his highly controversial political satire. Shockingly surprising, all the concern was in vain.

"Jojo Rabbit's" promotional material was not "Passengers"-level misleading but it did show the palpable preoccupation from Disney about a movie that was not what it seemed. Failing at satire, the Waititi movie turned out to be a sugary fable about the beauty of love in the reign of terror, a heartfelt drama disguised as a fearless Nazi satire. Looking at the bigger picture, it's a missed opportunity for a filmmaker who could have easily delivered his most intimate and disruptive movie yet.

How the film depicts the horrors inside the crumbling Third Reich and makes light of the delicate situation behind Jojo's own bubble is an utter letdown. Unlike last year global sensation "Joker," which allegedly endorsed and even promoted real-life violence due to its sympathetic depiction of a sociopath, Waititi's script approaches fanaticism, hate, oppression, xenophobia, and even sexuality in an unstable, too friendly way, often running away from its responsibility to take a stand and speak out loud for itself; by setting the story in the last stages of World War II, it is too afraid to make a true statement about the dangerous ideologies and philosophies it deals with.

Fortunately, the film does come off with a victory as a mother-son drama. Sidelined as supporting context, it is far from the core matter and yet it is the scenario the movie really pulls off. Scarlett Johansson's interventions as Rosie Betzler are sparse, but the charm and tangible chemistry between her and Roman Griffin Davis make each of them even more meaningful. Despite being unsurprisingly represented as a secret resister, Johansson holds up the more dramatic arc in the movie. Her moving performance, highlighted by a plainly Oscar-key dinner sequence, is certainly not the one that helped her to land an Oscar nod this year, but it still sets the bar high enough for one of the few actresses who might eventually alternate movie star fanfare and fest indie material.

Roman Griffin Davis' performance must be remembered as one of the best child performances of the decade, alongside "Room's" Jacob Tremblay, "Moonlight's" Alex Hibbert and "The Florida Project's" Brooklynn Prince. Jojo is winningly portrayed by Davis' cute and poignant work, his screen appeal is magnetic and the acting range put into his scenes is both raw and tender. By being the youngest actor ever to be put forth by the HFPA, Davis' early professional career looks like one of the brightest of his generation; there's Timothée Chalamet potential in his eyes.

"Leave No Trace" Thomasin McKenzie is a diamond of an actress. McKenzie's Elsa is the focal point of two-thirds of the movie and many special sequences throughout like her introduction à la "The Grudge" or the where-are-you-hidden-the-Jew respective one. McKenzie has always chosen character of unusual intensity and here she delivers, once again, grounded work, far from the sweetness flying around from, for instance, an extra-adorable Archie Yates.

Comedy-wise, the movie is not off-kilter and daring either. Loosely adapted from Christine Leunens' novel "Caging Skies", the script is side-splitting when it really commits to it - the Heil Hitler scene is one for the ages, -especially in the marvelous first act. The comic relief comes in the form of a cartoonish Adolf Hitler and closeted Captain Klenzendorf. Waititi and Rockwell are strangely charming and darkly humorous geniuses. They both are tailor-made for the roles and they prove it by embracing their parts and becoming the beating heart of the movie. Rebel Wilson's slapstick humor plays out flat and unfunny altogether and, keeping in mind her vicious comic timing from the "Pitch Perfect" movies or her stunning speeches at the BAFTAs, her involvement as the only female comedic voice is just plainly disappointing.

From blocking to the extreme symmetry of the pictures, Mihai Malaimare Jr.'s Wes Anderson-esque cinematography and Michael Giacchino's subtle yet disarming score underlines the child's perspective of a world on fire, both physically and metaphorically, while also crafting an on-point visual representation of the values the story weaves throughout. Beautifully rendered and unpretentiously shot, "Jojo Rabbit" sinks its teeth into the silver linings of the time, conveying that sense of forgiveness, freedom, and mutual support the final scene struggles to convey.

With Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox, movies like "Ford v. Ferrari" and "Jojo Rabbit" were either PG-13 box office juggernauts or award-contenders; as things turned out, they were both at once. Fox Searchlight Pictures mid-budgeted original gems have been leading the way for years in theaters, film festivals, and awards ceremonies with mostly original pieces of cinema. The Waititi comedy feels just like the ending point of one of the few studios that infused new life into Hollywood with indie and foreign film-making. Even though Disney keeps claiming that they are going to continue producing and distributing movies under the name of the 25-year-old studio, we all know the amount of creative freedom and defying power would never be the same.

"Jojo Rabbit" by Taika Waititi looked like the sort of movie with the potential to provoke either riots or rallying cries; unfortunately, what is beneath is nowhere near as incendiary or provocative as everybody dreamed of. Close to mocking than satirizing, the Waititi dream movie feels somewhat like less than the sum of its parts, landing up in good-hearted preachy territory, but suffering from some serious tonal shifts halfway through and an utterly disappointing storytelling direction. All things considered, "Jojo Rabbit's" top-notch performances, uninvited sweetness, delightful yet countable comedy hints, and affecting mother-son drama saves the movie from being a train wreck, but it still leaves a sour aftertaste for non-mainstream audiences who came to witness Waititi's strengths evolve into something truly powerful.