Alright, so here’s the deal with Arthur Fleck. He’s in jail for five murders (actually six, but the cops don’t know about one). The craziest one happened on live TV. Now he’s waiting for his trial to see what punishment he gets. His lawyer is trying to argue that he has a split personality disorder—there’s Arthur, and then there’s the Joker. But Harvey Dent, the assistant district attorney, is pushing hard for the death penalty.

Meanwhile, in jail, the guards are giving him a hard time, constantly mocking him and making his life miserable.

One of them throws him a bone—or more like makes fun of him by letting him join this choir made up of inmates. That’s where he meets Lee, a young woman who he immediately falls for because he finally sees someone who might actually see and understand him for once. But there’s this catch: is Lee into Arthur or is she captivated by Joker?

Trying to follow up on that massive hit with *Joker* was no small task, but Todd Phillips took a smart route with it.

He doubled down on all those pop culture bits that are super popular today—even if they’re overused or cheesy—and stitched them together to keep people interested in these crazy times where everyone’s kind of obsessed with showing off and pretending everything’s reality TV-style harmless fun (which usually isn’t real at all!). Plus, having Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta—better known as Lady Gaga—play Lee/Harley Quinn adds serious star power since she’s got her own famous musical persona that clicks so well with this movie vibe. That choice from Phillips was just spot-on!
In “Joker: Folie a Deux,” Lee doesn’t sing like in a typical musical. Instead, she kinda speaks through famous song lyrics, mostly from Broadway hits. Arthur gets tired of it eventually and tells her to knock it off—kind of like how we sometimes wish characters in musicals would drop the singing and just talk.

The movie digs into how musicals can be a little creepy when they push for happiness no matter what. They try to make everything end on a high note, which matches Joker’s creepy laugh. It’s like his nickname “Happy” that his mom gave him in this mean way—it’s all part of life’s dark comedy.

Then there’s stuff pulled from real life mixed in: Anonymous, the pandemic, George Floyd, the Capitol riots—you name it. Plus references pop culture bits that remind you of things like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and making connections to famous duos like Sonny and Cher. Everything becomes part of this big act—like that Fred Astaire film they show during the movie—and it’s about using music to feel whole while also poking fun at life’s messiness and whether true love is really out there.

This version of Joker kinda gets our obsession with showing off our wonderful lives on social media so others can envy us. It’s about wearing a smile that could make everyone around us smile too while still staying the star of our show—and diving into whether controlling how we’re seen is actually a right anyone has.

Joaquin Phoenix is back in the new Joker movie, and he’s just as intense as before. Right from the start, he dives deep into his character’s struggles. He captures all the pain, really making you feel it. And while Lady Gaga does a good job showing her character’s layers and complexities, she doesn’t quite steal the show from Phoenix with all he’s bringing to the table.

Director Todd Phillips jumbles up different film styles—there’s some musical flair, prison drama vibes, and even some cool animation early on that hints at how shadows and darker sides take over a star’s life. Plus there’s this part where they’re dealing with someone’s beloved dog passing away—it’s pretty somber stuff about loneliness.

Even Arthur’s own lawyer wants him to split himself into two roles without realizing it’s characters that survive these days—not real people. But Arthur doesn’t play along; he just stands there exposed like he deserves all the rainy misery while everyone else hides behind masks (and not just Joker ones!). Phoenix’s performance is heartbreakingly raw throughout—it’s something else.
In the new Joker film, things are shaken up a bit from the last one. Sure, Joaquin Phoenix still nails it with those scenes where he dives into his quirky, famous character. He’s on point with all those weird moves and distinctive attitude that fans loved. But director Todd Phillips throws a curveball this time around by gradually pulling apart the whole idea of trying to copy the Joker’s style. It’s like he flips Tony Stark’s “I’m Iron Man” on its head with Arthur’s “There is no Joker.” And just when you think it’s all wrapped up, he throws in a cheeky “That’s All Folks,” which feels like both a nod to and a playful jab at the big studio behind it all.