This review was made possible by an advance screening of Joker: Folie À Deux. Joker: Folie À Deux releases in theaters on October 4, 2024.
When Todd Phillips brought Joker (2019) to the world, he caused a divisive storm between DC fans and filmgoers alike. It gave a new origin to the Joker character and looked at it through a different lens that only worked for the type of story being told. It was a unique way to tackle a well-known villain, discuss how society can fail someone, and bring awareness to mental health. Despite the negative discussions that came from it, Joker (2019) was big at the awards season, garnering nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and ten others, but it did win Joaquin Phoenix an award for Best Actor and Hildur Guðnadóttir an award for Best Original Score. Five years later, Todd Phillips returns after promising he was done with The Joker to tell us a new story, this time with his lover, Harley Quinn.
Joker: Folie À Deux takes place two years after Joker (2019), where Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is now an inmate at Arkham Mental Hospital after the Murray Franklin incident, where he struggles with his dual identity. With a trial on the way, Arthur Fleck comes across inmate Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who falls in love with him and believes in the Joker, even if the public doesn’t.
TODD PHILLIPS HAS COMMITMENT ISSUES IN JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX
The film opens unusually with an animated short that’s akin to the Looney Tunes shorts we used to get. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was refreshing, and it showed that Todd Phillips really wanted to separate this film from the first one. The only issue is that the film doesn’t really continue with subverting our expectations. Yes, this is a musical, and I think the musical segments do add to the film, although some songs simply weren’t that good. But Todd Phillips and the cast have done everything in their power to denounce this as a musical, which is odd as there’s no other way to call it.
The creative decision to make this a musical was a smart one; music is a hobby that’s used in prison rehabilitation, and it’s one that’s quite successful. Music can also be used to calm people down and relax them. These musical segments are usually used during chaotic moments throughout the film and work at their best during the courthouse scenes.
What doesn’t work with these musical segments is the idea that Lady Gaga can’t sing. Joaquin Phoenix isn’t a singer, and when we get around to his songs, they don’t sound too good, but that’s the point. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, is trying her best to sound almost as discordant, but ultimately it doesn’t work. What helps these musical segments stand apart from the rest of the film is Lawrence Sher’s cinematography, which is just beautiful and a sight to behold. No matter what location or moment we’re at in the film, Sher knows how to work around it and make it look like the most gorgeous thing we’ve ever laid our eyes upon. This commitment is what I wanted from Todd Phillips and Scott Silver’s writing.
Joker: Folie À Deux is a sequel; that much is obvious about the film, but it never truly feels like one. From the way the film opens to the way it ends, it feels more like an extension of Joker‘s (2019) ending. The movie doesn’t tell us anything new about Arthur Fleck that we don’t already know; they don’t flesh out the idea that he might possibly be suffering from dissociative identity disorder. It doesn’t give us anything new to play with, and although there’s now a new character that’s part of the picture, the film doesn’t flesh her out too well. The romance between Arthur and Lee only ends up being believable because they’re two crazy people; aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be any truth to the relationship that they hold in this film.
A LADY IS WASTED
Back in June 2022, Lady Gaga was in early talks to portray Harley Quinn. Two months later, she confirmed via X (formerly known as Twitter) that she would be playing the iconic clown princess of crime. This news wasn’t good for some, as many people were already used to Margot Robbie as Harley and were worried about Gaga’s portrayal of the character. I, however, always had faith in her acting skills, and as expected, I was correct to have faith. While Joaquin feels like he never left the shoes of Arthur Fleck, and you can see through his performance that he’s committed to the role, Lady Gaga is arguably even more committed to the role and pairs well alongside Phoenix. Gaga’s iteration of Harley Quinn not only fits perfectly into the world of Joker: Folie À Deux, but she also feels like the right actor to take on this role, and she does so with such nuance.
What’s so disappointing is that Gaga is rarely ever in the film, so there isn’t much screen time for her to deliver more of the breathtaking performances she provides whenever she’s on screen. It feels not only disrespectful to the actor but also to the character that they’ve decided to cut so much of her out of the film, and it’s evident, as some parts of the film just feel empty, like something was missing. There’s one scene where it’s cutting back and forth between Lee and Arthur; she’s walking up the stairs and heading into Fleck’s apartment complex while Arthur is returning to the prison with the inmates cheering on his return. A scene that awkwardly stops showing Lee and decides to focus on Fleck—it feels like an entire part of this scene was just missing, and that feeling stays with you throughout the film as you notice scenes with Lee that never made it into the film.
DOES JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX REALLY CARE ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH?
Joker (2019) saw Arthur Fleck being treated poorly by society, by his own mother, and even being misunderstood by his social worker, who returns in this film as a witness during the trial. In Joker: Folie À Deux, we get to see the aftermath of the Murray Franklin incident. Some people see him as a criminal, while others see him as what Gotham truly needed. They look up to him and aspire to be just like him. This shows a change in Gotham’s society over the last two years, but what hasn’t changed is the stigma around mental health that these films like to depict. While they’ve helped bring awareness to people over the last five years, the films themselves never educate their viewers on mental health and instead use it as a way to villainize Arthur Fleck.
Arthur Fleck does suffer from a mental health condition called pseudobulbar affect, which causes episodes of uncontrollable laughing and crying. A condition we don’t see Arthur suffer from during the first act and a portion of the second act, as he’s now taking medication to help subside it. This film now tries to pin a new disorder on him, dissociative identity disorder—a disorder that’s rarely ever depicted in a good light—and now Joker: Folie À Deux is added to the list of films that use it to villainize their characters. It’s hard to ever tell if Arthur Fleck truly suffers from it or if it’s being used as an excuse to get him a lighter sentence, but Todd Phillips plays with the idea of this dual identity, this alter that’s the Joker.
It’s why the musical segments work so well, as these are the scenes where we usually get to see Arthur Fleck in the getup, but it’s not only that which makes him the Joker; it’s the confidence that he brings with the character that makes him whole. It’s the one issue with Phillips’ writing that persists between the two films: he cares more about the idea of how society and the system treat people like Arthur Fleck rather than bringing attention to why they perceive him differently. Joker: Folie À Deux lacks informative content surrounding mental health, but that’s not the only department it lacks in.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In all honesty, Joker: Folie À Deux is a movie that I wish focused more on its court drama; at least it would have felt like Todd Phillips had some sort of direction for what he wanted for this film. But in its current state, it doesn’t seem like he had a clue of what he really wanted for this sequel. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher is bewitching, and there isn’t one point where this film doesn’t look like a masterpiece. Hildur Guðnadóttir also returns to compose a score that is so befitting of the idea of this film. Joaquin and Gaga also help this film feel a little engaging with performances that are so entrancing and outright magnificent. Phoenix stays committed to the role, and Lady Gaga shows her growth as an actor; it’s only unfortunate that Todd Phillips didn’t have much faith in her, her character, or the entire film overall.
Joker: Folie À Deux releases in theaters on October 4, 2024. Check out the trailer below.
