Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) is the title character of a shape-shifter posing as a teenage girl in a futuristic medieval society. She becomes the sidekick of a commoner knight, Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), framed for murdering the Kingdom's beloved Queen Valerin (Lorraine Toussaint). Nimona and Ballister must flee the Institute's security forces while searching for the real killer. The Kingdom is surrounded by a protective wall built to prevent a monster's attack. Citizens adhere to a strict social hierarchy where those of royal lineage have the honor of serving.
Ballister worries that Nimona may be the monster he has trained his entire life to fight. But soon realizes irrational fear has demonized a creature who only seeks acceptance and belonging. The situation is further complicated when Ballister's true love, Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), is tasked by the fascist Institute to hunt them down.
Spies in Disguise directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane faced an uphill battle completing the film. Nimona was shelved for a year after Disney acquired and closed Blue Sky Studios with the acquisition of Fox's media business. The film was deemed too controversial for release. Quane comments, "That was a pretty bad day. You're going to share it on Thursday, and getting news that your studio is closing down on a Tuesday." The film was eventually completed by Annapurna Pictures and sold for distribution to Netflix.
Based on the award-winning graphic novel by ND Stevenson, Bruno believes Nimona "represents sort of anybody who's felt misunderstood or different." The filmmakers are keenly aware of the assault on LGBTQ rights and efforts to suppress any art that's deemed 'controversial.' Quane hopes that "people watch it together as a family or a group. We have shared experiences as human beings." The film is meant not only "to entertain" but also "allow for people to be seen for who they are."
Nimona's Funny and Unapologetic
MovieWeb: I loved this film. Talk about the process from Blue Sky Studios to casting these amazing voice actors.
Troy Quane: Wow, so we have 20 hours of content. It really was passion from the beginning, and it all started from the character of Nimona. It's not just the title. It's also the lightning rod that drew everybody to this project. This character who's fun and unapologetic, and in your face, and funny, but at the same time is just looking to be seen, just wants people to get to know who they are. Everything from the rest of the movie just sprung from that, whether it was the world building, whether it was the casting, whether it was our storytelling; the graphic novel is so expansive has so many different avenues to go down. But we knew if we focused on that journey, how to call around that, and really keep the focus on where it needed to be, which is Nimona.
Troy Quane: This character represents sort of anybody who's felt misunderstood, or different, or felt "othered" in any situation. As we were building that, and having conversations with people around the studio, we realized how universal that idea was. No matter how different each person's unique individual experiences were, they saw an aspect of that in themselves. It sounds very artsy fartsy, but you start to realize that as different as we all are, we were really not that different. There's a lot of shared experiences we have just as human beings.
MW: Talk about getting Riz [Ahmed] and Chloë [Grace Moretz].
Nick Bruno: Riz and Chloe are amazing. They're great actors. They're very funny. They're amazing people to play with in a room. We had so much fun, just breathing life and soul into these characters in a way that we haven't always been able to have. They cared so much, not just about the characters, but who they represented in the themes of this movie. They were just so giving, in both their time and their hearts. Couldn't ask for a better cast.
Reflect the World Around Us
MW: Here's the hard question. The themes of the film are happening at a time when states are canceling this kind of stuff for kids. When you see what's happening to Nimona, the romance between Ballister and Ambrosius, what do you say to audiences to be open-minded?
Troy Quane: Honestly, what we say is just watch it together, sit down and watch it together as a family, or as a group, and see what's there. This is a story that we really crafted to be appealing to everybody. It's funny, it's exciting, it's adventure, and really has a message of just, get to know people, right? That's what we want people to walk away with. So, we will say that same message goes for the movie. Just get to know it. See it for what it is. See that it's not a scary thing. We're not trying to cram messages down anybody's throat. We just want to entertain and represent and reflect the world we see around us. And allow for people to be seen for who they are. That goes for anybody, in any experience.
MW: What's the best and worst day for you both as the directors of Nimona?
Nick Bruno: The best day is often the worst day. It's when you're really struggling with, how do you get this idea to come across in a way that feels both entertaining and honest? But when you solve it, that's the struggle, everyone's laughing, and everyone's feeling something in the room. That's the best. That's the greatest feeling. When you feel those things click.
Troy Quane: I just have this specific one example of putting the reels up and going, we found the movie, we know what this movie is, which was the best day. Then knowing you're going to share it on Thursday, and getting news that your studio is closing down on a Tuesday. Your movie's not going to go anywhere. You're dead in the water. That was a pretty bad day. But then feeling the love and the passion, that support for that what you all created together. It buoyed that, lifted it up, and brought it back to life, another pretty great day.
Nimona premieres June 30th exclusively on Netflix.