Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) – Review

Quick Thoughts – Grade – D+ – Joker: Folie à Deux is a bad romance. 

Joker: Folie à Deux exists because of a feeling that Joaquin Phoenix had while wrapping up work on Joker (2019). Phoenix wasn’t ready to leave the character behind and had a dream of the Joker singing and dancing on stage. He told director Todd Phillips about his vision and the two started conspiring about a sequel that would eventually snag a $200 million budget and the Oscar-nominated Lady Gaga. Phillips admits that this film scares the sh*t out of him, and his risk hasn’t paid off because the movie is too scattershot and boring to make an impression. 

In an interview with Variety, Lady Gaga explained the film by saying ““There’s music, there’s dance, it’s a drama, it’s also a courtroom drama, it’s a comedy, it’s happy, it’s sad. It’s a testament to [Todd] as a director, that he would rather be creative than just tell a traditional story of love.” It’s nice that Phillips took a big swing, but when you make a courtroom drama musical comedy that’s both happy and sad, there’s very little focus on the plot because the story is pinballing all over the place. Both Phillips and Phoenix have admitted that they don’t mind failing while doing what they love (AKA 2010’s I’m Still Here), but it seems like this film is just the two of them going for broke – and failing. It’s crazy to say, but the two didn’t go big enough, and instead of creating a fantastical musical they’ve made a boring courtroom drama that never really goes anywhere or says anything of value.

The film starts with Arthur being dragged from his Arkham State Hospital cell by head guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), and being taken to meet with his lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), who is angling for an insanity plea as she believes Arthur’s psyche has shattered after years of abuse and neglect. Phillips set up the courtroom drama plot line as a way to keep the film grounded, but it mostly is an excuse to bring back characters from the first film to recap what happened to them in the first film. It’s an odd choice, and Catherine Keener is wasted in the role as her character is fired by Arthur, who ditches his medication and starts leaning into his “Joker” persona when representing himself. His burst of confidence comes from his relationship with fellow Arkham resident Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), an supposed arsonist who loves the Joker (not Arthur – which isn’t great) and puts herself in his path to start a bad romance. Their relationship causes chaos in the courtroom and inspires dangerous anarchists and fellow Arkham State Hospital inmates to start rallying around him. 

The first film drew inspiration from The King of Comedy, Taxi Driver, and other Hollywood movies of the era. This time, Phillips pulled from Hollywood musicals for the fantasy song and dance numbers that feature Arthur and Lee taking part in Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour-esque numbers. Their musical numbers are raw and the song lyrics read more like dialogue, which makes sense considering Phillips doesn’t like calling his film a musical. The most interesting part of their relationship is that Lee loves the violent clown and the celebrity that comes from dating a violent criminal. It’s not a recipe for relationship success, and it would’ve been fun to see their relationship explored without so many song and dance numbers that are purposefully sung off-key. 

There are a few interesting moments, like the animated Looney Tunes-esque opening by animator Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville). Also, there’s a fun bit about the TV movie about Arthur’s life that may or may not be terrible. Aside from these bits, Joker: Folie à Deux is an absolute drag made by two people who take pleasure in gambling with house money.