Joker: Folie à Deux

One of the most anticipated titles of the autumn is undoubtedly the sequel to Todd Phillips’s Joker. Since the 2019 film won the Golden Lion at the 76^th edition of Venice, it was somewhat of a foregone conclusion that Folie à Deux would also premiere at the Italian festival, before a swift theatrical release to cash in on the Halloween crowd and dominate this year’s couple costumes.

The plot picks up neatly where the first part left off. After his crime spree, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is awaiting trial in a maximum security facility. Due to his fame, he enjoys certain privileges, for instance, one of the wardens (Brendan Gleeson) takes him to singing classes in a different wing of the penitentiary. There he meets Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a female arsonist, who, as it transpires, likes to bring out the worst in him.

Despite the wonderful title alluding to a shared delusion binding two partners in crime, there is not much folly to speak of. Quinzel is painted with some hybristophilia tendencies, while Fleck is understandably basking in the attention he has been receiving since becoming Joker, and out of this his first romantic dalliance is born. One searches in vain for the epic love story from the comic books or previous adaptations: those two broken souls, whose alliance amounts to the perfect storm. Instead, we have measured courting through Arthur and Lee’s renditions of songs, mostly taken from Classical Hollywood cinema.

In Phillips’s careful approach not to frame Joker as the hero a certain demographic has appropriated him into, the choice to not portray the pair as an amped-up Bonnie and Clyde is certainly premeditated but robs them of most of their appeal. The court case, which also plays a central role, concerns itself with the question of legal insanity, but viewers of the first film have been made privy to Arthur’s mental deterioration first-hand and may have little patience for another play-by-play of these events.

Surprisingly, it is the element that gave most people pause in anticipation of this project that overall works the best: the musical numbers. Instead of painstakingly dredging up original material that goes in one ear and out the other as so many new musicals tend to do, the chosen songs are all familiar but not too overused. The trilling is mostly a visualisation of the feelings the protagonists are incapable of expressing and as such speak to an idea of love, born out of a fantasy.

In terms of performance, Phoenix is distinguished as per usual, but there is little new to add to his Oscar-winning initial performance of the character. Seeing as music is her main profession, it is unsurprising that Lady Gaga feels at home singing and dancing in front of a camera. Other than that, the role doesn’t challenge her to much more and the question of whether she actually has what it takes as an actress or if she is just good at picking her roles to suit her talents remains unanswered.

A disappointing follow-up to a modern cult film, Folie à Deux proves to be a mediocre version of Chicago, which tackles all the same issues related to crime, fame and fickle follower-ship in a much more entertaining manner.

Selina Sondermann

Read more reviews from our Venice Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Venice Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux here: