Todd Phillips warned us. A small group of film journalists had gathered in a Burbank screening room to watch his anticipated sequel Joker: Folie a Deux – a fancy title for a follow up to a controversial, Oscar-winning villain origin story. We were the first official group of strangers to screen what Phillips, co-writer Scott Silver (The Fighter, 8 Mile), and leading man Joaquin Phoenix had concocted. And Phillips wanted to set the stage. He informed us:
There's a couple ways to do a sequel. I've done sequels before. Hangover 2 is a sequel to Hangover 1. It's basically Hangover 1 with different punchlines. And that was the spirit of making that movie. … For this movie, there was no way Joaquin was going to do it if it was a line drive like that. There was no way Joaquin was going to do anything with the number two after it – even if you say a Deux – unless it was an entirely different, and risky, and sort of swinging for the fences. So that kind of led the charge.
Remarkable as it sounds, Joaquin Phoenix does not have sequels on his resume, which stretches back to the early 1980s and includes such memorable movies as Walk the Line, Gladiator, The Master, Signs, and Beau is Afraid. Mentally, I went into Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie a Deux anticipating something more of a traditional sequel, when I should have remembered that Phoenix wouldn’t sign up to do that. As a result, Phillips and Silver wrote to the instincts of their leading man.
As Phillips went on to tell us, prior to our screening of the film:
(Joaquin) literally said to me, ‘I'm not going to do this unless I'm as scared as I was on the first one.’ … He was petrified on the first movie, the way you want an actor to be. And so the reason he would not be interested in this sequel is because that feeling goes away. And then you're like, ‘What are you doing?’ We weren't scared on Hangover 2 in that way. On this movie, we wanted to be as scared. So we kind of wrote a script that we were all scared of . We kind of wrote a script that would sort of give (Joaquin) that feeling.
That’s what they produced. An unnerving, disturbing, completely unexpected sharp-left-turn of a movie that follows along the path established by Joker, but inverts the narrative so drastically that it has made me rethink Phoenix’s original film, and reach new conclusions.
The following will get into spoilers for Joker: Folie a Deux.
Joker: Folie a Deux is impeccably shot, and extremely well acted.
Lest we forget, the original Joker competed for 11 Academy Awards (including Picture, Director, Screenplay and Editing). Its follow up is every bit the technical marvel as its predecessor. Todd Phillips created a grimy, New York-in-the-70s aesthetic for Gotham City, and he continues to layer grit and distress on his sequel. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher has a different task at hand here, though, trading the wandering expanse of Arthur Fleck in the city for the oppressive confines of Joker in prison, and we feel – through visuals, and performances – the constraints that are being placed on our lead character.
Joaquin Phoenix, once again, is brilliant as Arthur, an outcast, loner, mama’s boy who lashed out for attention (in murderous fashion) but now must face the brunt of his consequences. From the moment we see Phoenix's gaunt frame and distracted gaze – with skeletal angles protruding through his wafer-thin skin – it suggests that something eats away at Arthur at his core. Is it guilt? Regret? He hardly speaks, but for asking prison guards for a cigarette, so his intentions are left for us to puzzle over.
Arthur quite literally snaps out of his fog only after spying Lee (Lady Gaga), a patient at the neighboring psychiatric ward who is part of a choral group Arthur pretends to be interested in joining. Lee, as it turns out, is a big fan of Joker. Not Arthur. Joker. Massive distinction. What Arthur is slow to realize is that his criminal actions from the first movie have inspired a growing movement in Gotham. The streets are filled with Joker disciples, though the man they think they worship isn’t sure he wants to be their idol, after all.
Joker: Folie a Deux will contend for the saddest film you’ll see this year.
By design, Todd Phillips and Scott Silver deliver an oppressive, sad, and hopeless cautionary tale that deconstructs most of what people admired in the first movie. When Phillips told us that he and Phoenix had no intention of simply putting together a conventional sequel, they were right. I know I want to see Joker: Folie a Deux a few more times to simply unpack the numerous messages included about stolen identity, loneliness, the media’s treatment of misunderstood individuals, the broken penal system, and more. I also know I have to work up the fortitude to endure repeat showings of Joker 2, because it’s a depressing sit. You’ll admire the hell out of it. I’m not sure you can enjoy it.
Two supporting characters stand out in Joker: Folie a Deux, for both their performances, and the way they interact with Arthur Fleck. The always welcome Catherine Keener plays Maryanne Stewart, a defense attorney convinced that Arthur is suffering from multiple personality disorder, which she believes she can use to get him out of his charges – and, more important, get him proper care far away from Arkham.
Inside of Arkham, Arthur is closely monitored by a sadistic officer played by Brendan Gleeson. These characters rise above the fray because of their opinions on Arthur… and it’s the movie’s treatment of the character (and Phoenix’s harrowing performance) that should affect the audience most. Is Arthur really also The Joker? Does he want to be? There are answers to be found in Joker: Folie a Deux. I’m just not certain I liked the ones the movie provided.
Reset your expectations for Joker: Folie a Deux.
I absolutely recommend that you go see Joker: Folie a Deux, which is a meticulously crafted study in isolation, a fascinating analysis of the worshipping of false gods, and a showcase for the blistering talents of Joaquin Phoenix.
You might have heard that Joker: Folie a Deux is a musical, and to a certain extent, it is. By my estimation, half of the musical numbers in the film are effective, and half are forgettable. And as captivating as Lady Gaga can be in her role, Harley Quinn is let down by the script, as Joker: Folie a Deux attempts significant changes to both the character’s comic origin, but also her motivations throughout the movie. Adding the Harley Quinn character to a Joker story makes sense – even one that’s so interested in deconstructing what the idea of “The Joker” really is. But Phillips and Silver didn’t crack what, exactly, to do with Harley in this story, and it felt like the character was underserved by this narrative.
Still, there’s so much to discuss following a screening of Joker: Folie a Deux. Moreso than when we even exited Joker, which I thought worked extremely well as a standalone origin story with an ambiguous ending and more than enough threads that could have connected to a Batman story down the road. As Phillips explained to us during our pre-screening conversation:
Normally when a movie's done – any movie, from a Hangover to an Old School – the last two days, it was just kind of happy it's over. And it was a really strange thing on the first Joker. I don't know if you ever look at my Instagram, but I actually remember I posted a picture from the last day of the first Joker, many years ago. And Joaquin was hugging me with tears in his eyes. And that's not normal for the end of a movie. And that's not because he wasn't going to see me again. That was really because we kind of fell in love with Arthur, and we thought there was more to tell in Arthur's journey. Joaquin jokingly was like, ‘We could have shot for three more months.’ … And I felt the same way again. Normally, I’m like, ‘Get me the fuck out of here. Get me to the editing room and let's go figure out what this is.’ But on Joker 1, we just wanted to keep – we just loved Arthur. And I know Joaquin did as well.
Which, once you see Joker: Folie a Deux, will make you laugh. Because the way they treat Arthur in this movie will make you question that love. And it will make you question how you feel about Arthur, and about Joker, from the first movie. I know I remain deeply conflicted after one viewing, and I am mentally preparing for another go-round. Either way, give me these two films, and the issues they raise, over a Venom, a Catwoman, or any other superficial stab at creating a mythology around an anti-hero. At least Phillips, Silver, and Phoenix swung for the fences.
