• Directed by Todd Phillips
• Written by Scott Silver, Todd Phillips
• Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener

Mostly Spoiler-Free Review

Let me get this out of the way: I loved Joker: Folie A Deux. Fiction that subverts audience expectations and metafiction in particular appeals to me, although I find myself occasionally alone in my defense of some movies of this form. Michael Haneke’s Funny Games has been criticized at nihilistic and cruel, but this is outweighed by how the movie requires the audience to examine their own participation in the on-screen violence. In short, if we turn the movie off, the family survives. In a similar way, Joker: Folie a Deux asks us to reexamine our role in Arthur’s infamy and declining mental condition.

Does the audience—whether it’s the throngs of protesters and anarchists who have adopted Joker as their symbol, Lee searching for her own twisted purpose, or us the filmgoer rooting for Joker the criminal to break free and cause mayhem—want to see Arthur for the wounded human being he is? Is there anyone in this movie who genuinely cares about getting him help? For a movie based in one of D.C.’s most adapted characters, Joker: Folie a Deux brings a lot to examine and interpret, packaged in a deliberately paced, brutal prison and court drama. 

Oh, and it’s a musical too. 

About Musicals

I’m not like, a big musical person; I liked Chicago, but everyone liked Chicago.  I can say that the music numbers were interesting. Mostly taking place in Arthur’s fantasy world after he meets Lee in music therapy, the songs in Arthur’s life represent the importance of the role the Lee starts to play in his life. Starting with quiet solo fantasy numbers and ending up with full ensembles with back-up singers and flashy stages, they give a focused vision of his hopes and fears. Joaquin Phoenix may not be the strongest singer, but Lady Gaga is, and it all works in a chaotic, messy, in-universe kind of way.

My non-musical fan hot take: the songs are there illustrate a point about character, not to be chartbusting showtunes.  Personal favorite musical moment: the “Sonny and Cher”-style sequence; not just for the singing, but for Joker turning to his imagined studio audience and admitting “I don’t think we’re giving the audience what they want”. 

What did the audience want from a musical Joker sequel staring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn? There’s a lot of directions that story could go, but how many of them fit in Todd Phillips’ carefully sculpted world? Phillips already reinvented the Joker and shed a new light on Thomas Wayne. This could not be the Harley Quinn I know and love, and that’s a good thing. 

Light spoilers here:

I want to talk about Lee’s motivations and that gets into some more detailed breakdowns

The ultimate obsessed fan, Lee arranges a meet cute in music therapy class where she and Arthur first bond over shared traumatic upbringings and past crimes. As they grow closer, she becomes more involved in his trial, publicly heckling his Defense Attorney’s attempts to have him found not guilty by reason of insanity, feeling that this humiliates Joker and prevents him from being his true self. She’s constantly pushing him further and even instigates a breakout attempt that ends up with him in solitary. When she convinces a guard to let her visit, Lee insists that Arthur is Joker, and that fully embracing his real identity will lead to his freedom. She even refuses to sleep with him until he lets her give him a Joker makeover with smuggled cosmetics.

Even after her past is exposed to be lies made up “so he would like her”, and she must pull the “I’m pregnant” card to keep him hooked, Arthur is too invested in the fantasy she’s presented him.  Until almost the end, he thinks he’s got a chance of being found “not guilty” and the two of them will “build a mountain”; it’s telling that her future plans are no more specific than that. Right before the trial wraps, we get a particularly poignant scene of Lee preparing for the day. She carefully applies black harlequin eye makeup while singing, “Life is a beautiful thing as long as I hold the string”.  

We see Lee in a way Arthur cannot: a spoiled rich girl playing in a fantasy world whose aesthetic she will soon grow tired of. Her harlequin glam outfit for the trial shows her status as Joker’s number one girl, and it’s a departure from how she’s dressed previously. It’s not just about paying homage to the original Harley Quinn, it’s about showing who Lee really is: not a kindred spirt who can empathize with Arthur, but a bored rich girl who needs fantasy and drama to give her life meaning. 

There is some mention made of her speaking to the press early on, but it’s not followed up on and while she basks in roar of the crowd as she ascends the courthouse steps, she’s never seen stopping for pictures or comments. Fame would have been an easier motivation to understand for her, but Lee is someone who “hasn’t done anything with her life” and is grasping for drama and excitement.

She exhibits the ultimate in parasocial fan behavior, so much so that when Arthur finally breaks free of the expectations and disavows the Joker, she abandons him, finally admitting that it was all just a fantasy. She’s on to the next thing, even changing her look with a drastic haircut.  In one of the most poignant moments in their breakup, she keeps singing while Arthur begs her to just talk to him. He’s returned to reality, but she won’t or can’t. Her need to attach herself to something bigger than her small life is too great. 

End spoilers!

Lee’s character can be seen as an uncomfortable analysis of fandom itself.  How quickly do we walk away from something we profess to love when it alters from our ideal version? Does fandom mean embracing every version of a thing, or just your preferred? How much do we as fans manipulate creators to get our desired product? Fandom and the pressures to create for a specific audience come up often in Joker: FAD as it pushes back again and again against the original depiction of Arthur in Joker, and by presenting his actions through the eyes of his victims, gives disturbing new perspective.

He’s no longer the voice of the downtrodden fighting back; he’s just a sad man taking his anger and loneliness out on anyone he can blame for his circumstance. In fact, he’s so caught up with his own pain, he’s oblivious to others, even when they’re in similar situations to him. It’s a sobering realization for Arthur; it’s one of many moments when the movie tells you it’s probably not going to go the way you want, while hurtling towards an ending that is both shocking but, thanks to some beautiful foreshadowing, inevitable. 

It’s not a perfect film; the courtroom scenes are long, and there are some characters I wouldn’t have minded getting more justice than they received and at least one scene that was probably just retreading better material already in the film. It’s challenging and at times openly confrontational to the original. It’s a movie that wants to show the audience the ugly truth of someone they may have idolized or related to, and at times, not so subtly tells them why it was so terrible to do so in the first place, even if that’s not what they want to see. There’s not much plot; it’s more character study as Arthur progresses through the stages of the trial. 

Ultimately for me, it all worked. The end of Arthur’s story implies the beginning of another, bringing up more conversations about the power of legacy, unintended or otherwise. I don’t know what the future will hold for Joker: Folies a Deux; early box office numbers are lower than projected, and reviews are mixed to negative. I’m happy to be an outlier in this, even if it only sheds light on my already questionable taste. I enjoyed the themes and questions Joker: Folie a Deux presents, but I also understand why fans of the original may not. 

Final Thoughts:

If you are looking for a continuation of Arthur Fleck’s rise and embracing of the Joker mantle alongside a traditional Harley Quinn, this is not that story. If you prefer your comic-inspired movies to be more slow-paced deconstructions of fandom, tropes, and characters, there may be a lot here for you to enjoy. You should probably also like musicals. 

Joker: Folie a Deux is playing now in theaters.