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Joker: Folie à Deux Falls Flat on the Big Stage

A musical psychological thriller, the movie ultimately fails to hit the right notes. Thankfully, Gaga does.

Plot
5.5
Script
7
Directing
6.5
Acting
7.5
Music/Score
7
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
Pros
Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn seems like the perfect casting!
Also, she sings really well… who knew?!
The score and soundtracks in the movie
Cons
The movie moves at first gear throughout
The film could definitely use some action
6.7

Folie à deux (French for ‘madness of two’), also known as shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder (SDD), is a psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief are “transmitted” from one individual to another.

– Wikipedia

This definition gives quite significant context for the movie you may be about to experience, and it is important that you are made aware of this!

Todd Phillips, the director that gave us the Hangover trilogy and a bunch of other comedy movies mainly, has now given us two Joker movies. This time a musical, Joker: Folie à Deux stars Lady Gaga as Harleen Qinzel, Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck a.k.a. The Joker himself, and Brendan Gleeson as Jackie Sullivan, a guard at Arkham State Hospital. 

Joker: Folie à Deux, picks up right after Joker (2019), where we find Arthur Fleck behind bars. The movie explores his time in Arkham State Hospital, which for all intents and purposes is a prison. From his experiences and interactions with his fellow inmates and guards, to how he gets on with his daily routine, the movie definitely has a slow start.

You’d think the pace would pick up when he meets Lee (as Harleen introduces herself), but the narrative shifts to his interactions with her instead. All whilst still being set within Arkham itself. We get glimpses into the mind of Joker through the musical aspect of the movie which then tends to add colour and a deeper understanding of what Joker is going through, if you deconstruct the song and dance…

The movie never really hits a high note, apart from Lady Gaga singing, and moves the primary setting from Arkham to the courthouse. At this point, the movie truly becomes a courtroom drama case for someone with multiple neurological issues.

Catherine Keener as Arthur’s lawyer Maryanne Stewart, Harry Lawtey as newly elected assistant district attorney Harvey Dent, and returning actress Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, all play a bigger role in the second half of the movie.

Ultimately, I went through the whole movie thinking that it’ll perhaps get more action heavy, or perhaps the plot will thicken, but none of those occurs – at least for me. It truly felt like I was watching a Joker documentary which only served to introduce Harley Quinn’s character. The movie really tugs at the heartstrings at times in the courtroom as they explore Arthur’s past traumas, but this musical ultimately falls flat for me.

Joker: Folie à Deux however ends well, which is kinda annoying because now I’ll probably watch Joker 3 even though I didn’t enjoy this installment. The ending opens up new possibilities for the universe as a whole which teases a more thrilling element. To save you guys the time, there are no post credit scenes!

Joker: Folie à Deux is out now!