Warning: This article contains spoilers for the movie “Joker: Folie á Deux” and mentions institutional violence.
“Joker: Folie á Deux,” the long anticipated sequel to the 2019 award-winning film Joker, was finally released nationwide on Oct. 4, picking up where the first film left off: Arthur Fleck, or Joker, awaiting trial in Arkham Asylum. Despite bringing in Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, and interspersing a host of musical numbers into its plot, “Joker 2” failed to build off from its critically acclaimed prequel and was met with a flurry of largely negative reviews, due to the film’s director, Todd Philips, disdain for the first movie’s fans and the lack of utilization of Gaga’s skills. The film received a D rating on CinemaScore, the lowest rating a comic book movie has ever received (box office flop “Madame Web” (2024) received a C+, for reference). With a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.3 out of 10 rating on IMDB, it’s not exactly a surprise that “Folie á Deux” has earned less than half –– $40 million –– in domestic opening earnings than its predecessor, the first R-rated movie in history to gross over $1 billion (Wikipedia).
“Folie à Deux” opens with an animated musical sequence featuring Arthur Fleck and his now-sentient “Joker” shadow, which attempts to take his place but abandons him once police arrive. Undeniably foreshadowing the themes of carceral violence and regret, the initial non-animated scenes show Fleck at Arkham State Hospital, harrassed by guards and awaiting trial.
The audience soon meets Harley “Lee” Quinzel –– Fleck/Joker’s right-hand woman, musical scene partner and fellow patient at Arkham. The two bond at group music therapy and eventually escape from Arkham together — an ultimately unsuccessful mission which sets up the film’s courtroom plot. During the trial, Fleck adopts the persona of the Joker, only to publicly reject it after a traumatic incident. His guilty verdict arrives, along with the explosion of a car bomb outside of the courthouse. Fleck escapes, reuniting with a begrudged Lee that rejects his love, only to return to prison and die –– stabbed to death by an unnamed inmate who proceeds to carve a Joker-like smile on his own face.
“Joker: Folie á Deux” appears to be an attempt to counteract the idolization of the Joker from the first film, whose real-world impact inspired online incels to mobilize, drawing inspiration from the character. The result is a movie-musical that seems afraid to truly commit to a genre: by tying in beautifully-performed but oddly-placed songs, a tonal dissonance between dark theater and violent trauma porn appears, and remains, for the rest of the film.
It’s certainly possible to create a film where its musical elements enhance or compliment dark topics, but “Folie à Deux’s” chosen soundtrack –– including Golden Age classics like “World on a String” and “That’s Life” –– falls flat with apparent lack of direction from the film’s executive team. “Folie à Deux” feels like a film that can’t decide if it wants to be a critique of violence in the carceral system or a musical courtroom drama.
As for the film’s connections to the original DC comics, the difference from the source material perpetuates the belief that any similarities are nothing more than inspiration. Harley “Lee” Quinzel remains a student of psychiatry, but is characterized as less of a therapist who’s manipulated and pushed into a life of crime and insanity and more like a serial killer fangirl who managed to get with her idol. Because of this change, the dynamic between Fleck and Lee is almost the opposite of the Joker and Harley Quinn from their shared comic history. Fueled by a desire to maintain Joker’s fame, Lee consistently manipulates and lies to Fleck. Fleck turns into a man so desperate for love that he allows his own music-fueled delusions to drive their relationship (in part due to the lack of scenes that build it naturally), a departure from the nature of Joker in past DC comics –– who became the franchise’s clown prince of crime.
Fleck and Lee’s dynamic –– and Lee’s character development for that matter–– isn’t improved by multiple scenes cut from the final film, which included Lee (enhanced by Lady Gaga’s astounding performance abilities) singing and performing full-length renditions of songs featured on Gaga’s companion album, “Harlequin.” Due to Gaga’s general lack of screentime, most of the central relationship between Fleck and Lee is built within musical numbers, making Lee’s love seem less genuine and more theatricalized. The film also under-utilizes Gaga’s acting ability –– almost all of her few scenes in “Folie à Deux” are musical numbers, giving her no room to act and instead simply singing at the camera.
The message of “Folie à Deux” remains unclear to me, other than being an attempted critique of those who idolized the Joker from the first movie. However, being a meta-commentary on idolization isn’t a sufficient crux for a film that feels much longer than its two hour runtime. Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck/Joker is stuck in a toxic system perpetuated by Lee, the one person he appears to love. When he finally gains the clarity to free himself from the Joker, the film rejects any possibility for development; he dies in the final moments. However, despite the confused plot and characterization in “Folie à Deux,” the film’s stunning visuals and Gaga’s performance make it worth watching –– but perhaps only once.
Contact the editors responsible for this article: Ivy Buck and Norah Catlin