Riz Ahmed’s ‘Nimona’ hailed by critics as a unique queer fantasy

On Friday, Netflix dropped the highly anticipated animated fantasy film ‘Nimona’ which stars Pakistani-British actor Riz Ahmed, Chloe Grace Montez, Eugene Lee Yang as the main leads, and is adapted from the comics of the same name by ‘She-Ra’ creator ND Stevenson.

Since its release, critics have hailed the film as a gorgeous queer fantasy that calls for acceptance and equality for the LGBTQ+ community, but mostly critics have hailed Ahmed’s and Mortez’s performances, as Entertainment Weekly praised it for the casual queer representation as the main lead Nimona is a gender non-conforming being, and the romantic relationship between two male knights.

Speaking on the queer representation, Ahmed had said:

“I understand this is a big win and a big moment representation-wise, and we’re all so proud of that. But I think those moments only feel like real wins when they’re not tokenized, when they are actually there because of the emotional truth of the character. When we are honoring these characters as human, that’s when it feels real, you know?”  

Writing on the powerful vocal performance by Mortez as Nimona, Polygon hailed her for creating the duality between the rebellious side of the vibrant shape shifter, but also exploring her vulnerable side as an outcast who doesn’t feel like she can belong anywhere.

Coming on the themes of queer representation, Mashable praised Nimona for being speaking on empowering the queer community:

“Along with its unique animation and rollicking action sequences, Nimona digs into themes of individuality, identity, and acceptance that aim to speak directly and warmly to the queer community. At a time when LGBTQ rights and spaces continue to come under attack from bigoted legislation(opens in a new tab), Nimona cements itself not just as a great fantasy film, but as an important one as well.”

Calling it a film that takes aim at the post 9/11 surveillance state, IGN praised Nimona for being “a tender and bold tale about challenging institutions, being a good ally, and the need to live as your true self.”

Nimona takes place in a science fantasy world where Ballister Boldheart (played by Riz) is the first commoner to be enlisted in the presitigous Institute of Elite Knights, when an accident takes place during the knighting ceremony after which he is forced to flee for his life. Partnered with the rebellious Nimona (voiced by Chloe Grace Montez) a shape-shifter who has a desire to do something evil, they team up to clear his name and investigate the perpetuators behind the accident.