With the weekend nearing closer and June bidding us farewell, Netflix has come up with an impeccable treat! From the director of Spies in Disguise Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, a new animated film, Nimona, is here to slay hearts. As unique as her name is, her personality is equally distinctive. With a bright smile on her face and darkness clouded in her vision, Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) holds abundant complex emotions trapped in her. With her shape-shifting skills, Nimona is able to transform into any creature in an instant. Alas, her skills haven’t garnered her the status of a hero but of a monster. The injustice faced by Nimona dates back centuries ago but the inequities Ballister (Riz Ahmed) has to face aren’t.
As phenomenally animated as the film is, its script doesn’t disappoint either. However, the ambiguous ending of Nimona might leave some questions flooding your brain. Here are the answers to all those questions!
Nimona Plot Synopsis
Set in a fictional land, Nimona takes place in a highly tech-equipped town. In this universe, people hail the woman, Gloreth, who sacrificed her everything to help the town prosper. Gloreth slayed monsters, helped build the economy and appointed knights and heroes to take care of her kingdom. Becoming a knight in the late Gloreth’s town is no easy feat. Only selected people from the chosen bloodline could become heroes and knights.
Now, even after centuries have passed and the world has modernized, the trend is being continued. However, when Queen Valerin (Lorraine Toussaint) witnesses a boy who yearns to become a knight, she decides to bend the rules a little. She takes the boy, Ballister, under her wing and lets him prove his worth. Ballister makes the Queen proud every day with his excellent combat skills and dedication towards his role but the townfolks are uncertain.
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Nimona And Ballister Team Up Against The Queen Killer
Decades pass and the little boy has now turned into a well-equipped and well-trained knight. Even though he stands in front of the Queen at his coronation ceremony, Ballister is yet to receive acceptance. As soon as the Queen hands over the sword to Sir Ballister Boldheart, she is struck by lightning and falls onto the ground. Meanwhile, a fellow knight, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), chops Ballister’s hand and chaos breaks out. Ambrosius and Ballister aren’t only acquaintances but also have deeper feelings towards each other.
But now, as the entire town believes Ballister to have purposefully killed the Queen, even Ambrosius stands against him. Hiding in dark corners of alleyways and lairs, Ballister mopes about his twisted fate and Ambrosius’ lost trust. With Todd, a fellow knight, Squire, leader, and the Director of the town against Ballister, he has no reprieve.
On the other hand, Nimona, who’s lurking on the streets, finds Ballister’s posters hanging on the walls. After Gloreth’s monster, Ballister has become the most hated person and being the roguish girl she is, Nimona finds it engrossing. She ends up knocking on Ballister’s door and makes an ally out of him forcefully.
Who Stages The Queen’s Death?
While Nimona has become cynical due to her experience with knights and heroes, Ballister still holds a soft corner for his mates. They don’t share the same sentiment though. They search for Ballister like bloodthirsty hounds and chase him like wild dogs. To convince Ballister to appoint her as his sidekick, Nimona puts on an extensive display of her shape-shifting abilities and rescues Ballister.
Though reluctantly, Ballister agrees to have Nimona as his ally. The two of them embark on a mission to discover the Queen’s killer. While Ballister wants his endeavour to be peaceful, Nimona wants to make it messy and slaughter everyone who calls Ballister a villain and her a monster. With conflicting opinions, Ballister and Nimona kidnap Deigo The Squire (Julio Torres). He exposes the Director’s video in which she swapped Ballister’s sword before his knighting ceremony and stages Valerin’s death.
Who Is The Gloreth’s Monster?
With the video footage in his hand, Ballister confronts the Director (Frances Conroy) but like the conniving woman she is, she refuses to accept any of the accusations. Ambrosius once again stands against Ballister and the knight clan attacks the latter. Nimona saves him but Ambrosius’ betrayal cuts him deep. The two of them use Nimona’s shape-shifting skills to milk out the confession from the Director and while they succeed, the Director flips the scenario once again.
On the other hand, Ambrosius has now started to trust Ballister’s words and confronts the Director. She narrates to him the story of Gloreth’s time when the latter had to cast away a shape-shifting monster to save her town. The Director believes she did the same apparently. Ambrosius, who is the descendant of Gloreth, reaches out to Ballister and claims that his sidekick is Gloreth’s monster. Though he initially refuses to believe Ambrosius, Ballister gives in when he witnesses the centuries-old scroll in which Nimona is referred to as the Gloreth’s monster.
Nimona Ending Explained: Why Does Nimona Turn Into A Monster?
Centuries ago, a mystical creature, Nimona, used to live isolated from the world. Swimming alongside fishes and chirping with birds, Nimona used to spend her days lost in the forest with no human contact. Soon, she was discovered by another child, Gloreth. The two of them became close friends but Gloreth soon gave in to the perception of Nimona stuffed in her brain by the townfolks and turned against Nimona. Tortured by the knights, Nimona somehow managed to creep out unnoticed and save herself.
When Ballister, too, calls her a monster who turned against Gloreth, Nimona loses her sanity. She decides to prove how cruel of a monster she could be and starts to destruct the town. Realizing his mistake and the injustice faced by an innocent creature, Ballister tries hard to calm down Nimona. On the other hand, despite Ambrosius’ pleadings, the Director points a nuclear gun at Nimona.
Nimona saves the town by seemingly sacrificing herself despite her aversion towards the folks. After her stunt, everyone starts to hail her as a warrior but Ballister is upset to have lost her. Even though he was reluctant to accept her as his partner, he now understands how Nimona was the best thing to happen to him. As the film credits start to roll, Nimona’s voice rings out and Ballister’s cheesy grin puts a smile on my face–and yours, too, right?