Nimona (PG), on Netflix
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other streaming sites: YouTube

This CGI film is based on a web comic (later collected in a graphic novel) which I haven't read. It was released on Netflix in June 2023 (after being cancelled by Disney when they acquired Fox and Blu Sky Studios), but shortly before its Netflix release it had a limited theatrical release, so I'm torn about whether to consider it a web film or a theatrical film. I'm putting the review in my web films section, but link to it in both places. (Thus setting a precedent for other films with similar releases.) So, what can I say about this movie? It's clever, very funny, has great animation, has good plot twists, and the story gets pretty dark. It has really good characters, especially the title character. And there's an important lesson about not judging people just because they're different.

It begins with some narration about a kingdom being attacked by a terrible monster, which was defeated by a heroine named Gloreth. But the main story is set 1000 years later. The kingdom still has all the trappings of a medieval society, but with advanced technology (so the movie is a science fantasy). There's a great wall surrounding the kingdom, to keep monsters out, but it also keeps all the citizens inside. A young commoner named Ballister (or "Bal" for short) is allowed by the queen to train to become a knight, something that previously was only allowed to people from noble bloodlines. On the day the graduates of the Institute are to be knighted, Bal (voiced by Riz Ahmed) is nervous, especially because another knight-in-training named Todd has always given him a hard time for being a commoner. But he gets moral support from his boyfriend, Ambrosius (Eugene Lee Yang), who is a descendant of Gloreth herself, and the captain of the knights. To the shock and horror of everyone, immediately after Bal is knighted, his sword emits an energy beam that kills the queen.

So, Bal goes into hiding, to avoid being arrested. But then an apparently teenage girl named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) finds him and insists on becoming his villainous sidekick. (Though it really seems more like he should be her sidekick.) Of course Bal has no intention of being a villain, and he turns himself in, hoping to prove his innocence. Unfortunately, no one believes him, not even Ambrosius. The Director of the Institute (Frances Conroy) also expresses her grave disappointment in Bal. But once again, Nimona appears out of nowhere and breaks him out of prison. She's able to do this because she can shapeshift into any kind of animal, or any person. (It's very much worth noting that none of the things she transforms into- with the exception of a couple of people she impersonates- is any less her, I mean who and what she truly is, than her teenage girl form or young girl form or young boy form. No matter what she looks like at any given moment, she's... Nimona.) Anyway, Bal still wants to clear his name and expose the true killer, and Nimona helps him with this goal.

And that's all I want to reveal of the plot. Like I said before, there are some good twists, and I don't want to spoil any of them. But I really loved Nimona herself. She's pretty awesome (and at one point the song "Because I'm Awesome" by the Dollyrots plays, which is a song I've long liked and thought it fit perfectly in the scene where it was used here). And there's plenty more good music in the movie, including the "Banana Splits" song (which both I and TV Tropes think of as an actor allusion). Nimona may enjoy breaking stuff and talking about killing people and whatnot, but she has some pretty good reasons for that. Everyone thinks she's a monster, so she basically became one. And we eventually see her origins in a heartbreaking flashback. What's more, she makes it clear at a couple of points in the movie that she sometimes engages in suicidal ideation. Yeah, I did say it was dark. Well, I don't know what else to tell you. It's just an amazing movie in every way. (I also highly recommend you watch the "Council of Geeks" video I linked to above.)