A knight in disgrace and a shape-shifting stranger become unlikely allies in Nimona, the 2023 animated adventure from directors Troy Quane and Nick Bruno.

What is Nimona about?

Ballister Boldheart has spent his life chasing a place among the kingdom's celebrated knights, only to be branded a criminal on the very day he earns his title. Stripped of honor and hunted through the streets, he finds an unexpected ally in Nimona, a restless teenager who can twist her body into any creature she chooses. She offers her chaotic energy to his cause without asking permission, and he accepts her help without fully trusting what she is. Their partnership drives the story forward: he wants to clear his name inside a system built to reject people like him, while she treats rules and titles as obstacles to be leapt over rather than honored. The kingdom's knightly order, meanwhile, keeps a wary eye on anything it cannot easily categorize, and that suspicion becomes as central to the plot as the mystery Ballister is trying to solve. The film moves between armored tournaments, rooftop chases, and quieter scenes where the two leads size each other up, letting its animation style shift tone as freely as its heroine shifts shape.

About the cast

Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed lead the voice cast as Nimona and Ballister, with Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, Beck Bennett, RuPaul, and Indya Moore rounding out the kingdom's knights and officials.

Context & significance

Directors Troy Quane and Nick Bruno bring a hand-crafted, sketch-influenced animation approach to a story about a hero and a shapeshifter who don't fit the roles their world has assigned them. Made in the United States, the film pairs large-scale medieval fantasy visuals with a script that keeps its focus on the two central outsiders.

Watching Nimona on Ktime

Nimona is available to watch on K-Time with a free account login, with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles so Farsi-speaking viewers across the diaspora can follow the story in the language they're most comfortable with.