Nimona

Available on Netflix

This subversive computer-animated picture is an underdog story in more ways than one. Its titular character, voiced with delightful anarchy by Chloë Grace Moretz, certainly fits that bill, being a shape-shifting demon that elects to come to the aid of Riz Ahmed’s shunned knight, who has been accused of a murder he did not commit.

Nimona, adapted from ND Stevenson’s graphic novel of the same name, also has an intriguing production history that makes its critical and commercial success all the more impressive. Originally the brainchild of Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, it was ashamedly canned by Disney following their acquisition of Fox due to an alleged discomfort with the film’s overt LGBTQ+ themes.

Thankfully, it was revived by Annapurna Pictures and Netflix and the result is one of the year’s most delightful films. If Nimona’s brave, timely, and crucial motif isn’t enough to draw you in, then it is at its most basic level a really enjoyable action film, with superb voice work from the aforementioned Moretz and Ahmed.

Co-directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Spies in Disguise) play with mediaeval convention in a manner not dissimilar to Shrek, although their film retains a modern sensibility that makes it all the more relatable to contemporary audiences. As well as the intriguing animation, Christophe Beck’s energetic score keeps proceedings moving along at an effervescent pace.

This is truly the sort of animation that we need to see more of, one that can teach younger audiences about uncomfortably complex, but no less vital, issues that our societal trappings will undoubtedly force them to confront in later life. I absolutely loved every second of it.