Name: Joker: Folie à Deux
Released: 2024-10-4
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga

Of all the things Phillips does better in “Joker: Folie à Deux” than he did in “Joker,” the best is by far his course correction in catering to radical misogynists.

September 6, 2024

FULL REVIEW

Loud and Clear Reviews

Serena Seghedoni

Joker: Folie à Deux is absolutely not what you expect it to be, but that’s not a bad thing. [...] the story of a man who refuses to be anything but himself right till the very end, and that’s what makes this Joker sequel so deliciously subversive.

One thing that Joker: Folie à Deux really does get right is how this version of The Joker is not really a bad guy - he's a mirror for society.

Folie à Deux achieves two remarkable things. It updates the movie musical, using the genre in an inspired way that shouldn’t frighten fans who don’t like them. It’s also that rare sequel that meets – if not surpasses – the quality of its predecessor.

It seems like Todd Philips targeted Folie à Deux directly at the audience who got a little too into Joker – and made it to antagonize them.

We're left with the tragedy of a broken man in a world only interested in sensationalism. It's a big swing for all involved, but all the better for it.

It begs the question, why is Phillips so reluctant to embrace that the film is a musical? Why not add a little more colour, some flourish to the production design?

It is not that this version of the Joker is inherently wrong, but it is uninteresting. Please let us be done with this.

It feels remarkably honest and true to itself, demonstrating again that taking such a popular character seriously is nothing to laugh at.

September 4, 2024

FULL REVIEW