There’s very few films I have left the cinema as conflicted as I was walking through London after seeing Joker: Folie a Deux. The sequel to the lauded Joker retains its star in Joaquin Phoenix and its director Todd Phillips. It throws in the talents of Lady Gaga and Brendan Gleeson. The film is also a musical, which is exactly as weird a decision as it sounds. 

Critical and fan reception for this film has been “mixed” to put it politely. At the time of writing it sits at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, and only a fraction above for the audience score. Honestly, I completely understand why. The song numbers come out of nowhere at times, often interrupting other scenes. They’re performed in a style that is deliberately unsettling and odd, except for when they’re suddenly full Broadway stage shows. Some characters seem to flip motivations in moments. It’s genuinely all over the place in multiple ways. 

The first Joker was a brash commentary on mental illness delivered in a Taxi Driver style brutal character study . It was not trying to entertain as much as it was trying to ask a question about how a character like the Joker could exist. The sequel opens with a cartoon skit, immediately disarming any thoughts this is going to be more of the same. Folie a Deux is weird, whimsical, creepy, and strange. Perhaps a better description for this film would be a simple word: Madness.

There is so much to unpack with this film. I could genuinely argue this is a perfect sequel to the original. At the same time, I could just as easily argue it’s an incoherent mess. If it were about any other character this would be a completely unwatchable mess. But it is not about just any other character. It’s about the Joker. More accurately, it’s about Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. It’s about his steady transformation towards a version of The Joker that’s much closer to the comic book villain we know. 

They even include a twist on Harley Quinn. Lady Gaga’s performance is wildly different to Margot Robbie’s interpretation, yet I felt it was clearly that same origin. It flips a lot of the Joker/Harley relationship around, but I had no problems with that. Gaga’s singing throughout it very well restrained, as I know she has a phenomenal voice. It’s probably quite hard to sing in a way that sounds like you aren’t a trained singer.

Much like the first film, this film is crafted with all the subtlety of a brick through a window. It’s brutal about it’s commitment to Arthur’s insanity, and that lack of subtlety is what has led to a lot of people just writing this off as a brash mess.

What we end up with is a film I have very conflicting feelings about. I am confident that general audiences will find this a violent blend of boring and nonsense. You’ll probably leave this film thinking “What the hell did I just watch?!”

OK. It’s about to get unbelievably nerdy. Strap in for some Comic book lore.

There is a comic book called The Killing Joke. It’s widely accepted as the best Joker story, and it contains multiple quotable monologues and moments. One of those that’s always stuck in my head when experiencing Batman stories is “One Bad Day”. In the comic he delivers it to Batman before they fight. It’s the Joker telling you his motives. It’s why he does what he does. To prove that he’s just like everyone else if they’d had his lot in life.

Watching Joker: Folie a Deux with that in mind, it felt like the filmmakers were delving into how a character could reach that mindset. What could be the series of “Bad days” that lead to that final one that tips the Joker over the edge. That is all part of the reason for the chaos happening on screen. The musical numbers, the colour changing umbrella’s, the make up being on and off, all these little details that make you question what is happening are all happening for Arthur as well. He is losing his mind and being driven towards becoming The Joker.

That takes us to where the problems I have with the film are – the ending. I won’t spoil anything of course, but the end left me sighing a bit. Storytelling and film-making is all about choices. The choice they made at the end took me out of the film and took me into the mind of Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix, and what their future plans are.

So… how to put a button on this meandering review. Joker: Folie a Deux is a garbage truck on fire. It’s the worst film that I absolutely love for my own, incredibly specific reasons. It’s a film that could well have been made in a lab for me, apart from the end.

Good: The performances across the board are excellent, it’s evident why these actors have the reputation they do. For me specifically, it was a thought provoking story about my favourite fictional character.

Bad: This film is on a razor’s edge. It can tip into being nonsensical and at times even boring if you aren’t locked in early on. This isn’t one to watch in the background, you’ll think you changed film every 5 minutes. I completely get why people may hate this.

TL;DR – The Killing Joke + Lala Land = I love it. Most people won’t.