Roman Griffin Davis

In Jojo Rabbit (2019), Roman Griffin Davis lets uncertainty show through a boy’s confidence in what he believes. That matters in a film which keeps asking a child to deliver grown-up jokes: Davis makes Jojo seem capable of doubt even when the screenplay sounds entirely sure of itself. We rate the performance considerably higher than the film. Taika Waititi’s satire grows repetitive and its turns towards seriousness feel forced, but Davis gives us someone worth caring about without making the boy’s beliefs any more acceptable.

His scenes with Thomasin McKenzie’s Elsa are the clearest evidence of what works. Together they let doubt enter a film that too often seems satisfied simply to have good intentions. The writing asks this relationship to explain too much, and neither actor can solve that problem by being sympathetic. Davis’s achievement is smaller and more useful: we can attend to Jojo as a confused child rather than merely wait for the next joke or lesson.

That was his screen debut, followed by the part of Art in Camille Griffin’s Silent Night (2021). After a period away from acting, his work included Curly in Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk (2025), a much smaller role than Jojo. We flinched at the early scene involving Curly’s cramp, because Lawrence refuses to cut away from the boy’s ordeal. The scene’s impact belongs partly to Lawrence, and it would be unfair to ask such a brief part to prove everything Davis can do.

The Long Walk is the stronger film, but Jojo Rabbit gives us the fuller reason to take Davis seriously. It also sets a useful test for future parts: does the writing allow him to be hesitant, mistaken and still worth listening to? A debut this prominent invites predictions that a handful of roles cannot support. Give him another substantial part that allows him to be difficult; there would be little point in asking him only to be endearing.