Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

October 1, 2024 (US) • Drama, Crime, Thriller • 138m

Overview

While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur Fleck not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.

Director

Joaquin Phoenix

Keywords

based on comic sequel madness mental health super villain 1980s prisoner abuse dark romance jukebox musical corrupt officials

Where to watch

Free / Included

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Top Billed Cast

Karen Teliha

B Ward Music Class Patient #14 (uncredited)

Crew

Collection

Joker Collection

Joker

Joker: Folie à Deux

Reviews

CinemaSerf

⭐ 6/10

October 5, 2024

I was going to go and see the first Joaquin Phoenix outing as the "Joker" (2019) to remind my self of who did what to whom, but I didn't have time. I think I am glad because I recall that being so very much better than this. Here, we pick up after "Fleck" (Phoenix) has been on his clown-faced slaughtering spree and is in prison supervised by prison officer "Jackie" (Brendan Gleeson). His lawyer "Maryanne" (Catherine Keener) is trying to have him declared competent to stand trial for his crimes so she can plead some sort of personality disorder defence - he's not "Fleck" when he's the "Joker" sort of thing. Thing is, he encounters "Lee" (Lady Gaga) at a prison sing-a-long and she manages to ingratiate herself with him and then to derail that plan ensuring the plot twists it's way into the courtroom where his conviction for multiple homicides quickly appears as inevitable as there being a song in the film. Now I did like the soundtrack, but by the way Todd Phillips has presented this, it might as well have been either Tony Bennett or Newley who took on the leading role as her part is largely a series of entertainingly photographed music videos with the thinnest slices of meat constituting a weak story in between. It's a love story, I suppose, but that wasn't really what I turned up to see. There's loads of excess, but no menace or jeopardy and the character's previous adeptness at treading the thin line between sanity and madness isn't really developed at all here. He comes across more as a pathetic, emaciated, prisoner whose flame has well and truly gone out. His legal antagonist (Harry Lawtey) looks about eleven years old but that doesn't really matter either as the judicial proceedings themselves offer us little by way of sustaining drama, even as we build to a denouement that offers the tiniest bit of hope then... It's a stunning piece of cinema, money has been spent and there's imagination a-plenty from the production's designers. It's just too much of a jigsaw of a film with too little plot serving as a vehicle for an album boxed-set that's doubtless ready to hit the shops.

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YearOneFun

⭐ 1/10

October 5, 2024

both **JOKER** movies were clickbait. he is not the joker & she is not Harley. (they are Arthur & Lee) 🤮**that's what you get for overhyping first movie!** 😂🤣

Manuel São Bento

⭐ 4/10

October 5, 2024

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/joker-folie-a-deux-review-an-ambitious-musical-failure/

"Joker: Folie à Deux holds immense technical and artistic merit, but it fails to replicate the success and impact of the original.

Todd Phillips’ boldness in turning the film into a musical is admirable, but the execution ends up being incoherent, with abrupt transitions between the dark drama and the musical numbers, resulting in a j… read the rest.

Brent Marchant

⭐ 5/10

October 6, 2024

Combining movie genres can be tricky business. When the mix is right, the outcome can be truly impressive, but, when it’s off, it can spell cinematic disaster. In the case of this long-awaited sequel to the 2019 box office and critically acclaimed success, unfortunately, the result is closer to the latter than the former. Picking up where the protagonist’s story left off, this saga about charismatic villain Arthur Fleck (a.k.a., the Joker) (Joaquin Phoenix) finds him in prison awaiting trial for his string of heinous crimes. Most of the picture’s first half takes place here, an unlikely venue for Arthur meeting the love of his life, the psychopathic Lee Quinzel (a.k.a., Harley Quinn) (Lady Gaga), who diligently stands by her man when he eventually goes to court, the primary focus of the film’s second half. So, at this point, the picture is already part prison film, part courtroom drama and part dark romance. But, if that weren’t enough, writer-director Todd Phillips draws upon a fourth genre – musicals – to make the mix even more overstuffed (but, hey, if you’ve got a talent like Lady Gaga at your disposal, why not, right?). The result is a convoluted, overlong, often-uninteresting offering that’s heavy on style but weak on substance and not especially interesting. Admittedly, the performances of the two leads and many of the supporting players (Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Steve Coogan in particular) are quite good, doing a more than commendable job of making this material look far better than it actually is. In addition, stylistically speaking, the picture is terrific when it comes to its production design, costuming and cinematography. And the soundtrack is great, too, including an array of superbly chosen standards to complement the narrative (even if there are a few too many selections). But these strengths by themselves aren’t enough to make a good picture overall; what’s stuck in between these elements feels more like filler than substance, and that’s where the movie falls apart. In my view, “Joker: Folie à Deux” isn’t as resoundingly awful as many reviewers have made it out to be in light of its artistic and aesthetic accomplishments, but that doesn’t mean this release is not without its share of problems, most notably in the dreadful writing and mishandled film editing. This is one of those pictures where you get to the end and are likely to heave a heavy “Ho hum, so what?” And that’s regrettable, given that the character and this picture’s predecessor both deserved better than what this follow-up has to offer. If you haven’t seen this yet, you might be better off sticking to the picture’s genuinely stellar trailer, as that’s ultimately much better than most of what’s found in this clunky 2:18:00 release.

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r96sk

⭐ 9/10

October 18, 2024

Great title, great movie.

I had heard tiny bits about <em>'Joker: Folie à Deux'</em> falling below expectations since its release, though they weren't substantial enough to know if the film was any good or not. I have to say, I really enjoyed watching it all play out. It admittedly isn't on the same level as the phenomenal predecessor, but that's OK - I wasn't expecting it to be.

I will say that making this a musical of sorts was a bold cho… read the rest.

aGoryLouie

⭐ 6/10

October 29, 2024

Meh I liked it, not as much as Joker (2019) but liked it enough

Not that it didn't have it's problems because it had so many, but not as many as some feel it has

Seems the producers/writers had a few different ideas that they just decided to mush together which created this very average sequel.

I've seen the first Joker three times, probably wouldn't give this a rewatch, would give a third a watch.

Chandler Danier

⭐ 5/10

December 10, 2024

If this beautiful and well executed fiLm was not the Joker I wouldn't have watched it. I would have liked it the same but wouldn't have wasted my time.

Loser gets laid, becomes winner. Gets beat up. Is loser again.

I didn't like the new matrix for its 'haha this movie's making fun of the movie' premise. At least this is funnier as a trick to get fans to watch this. What a waste of weight loss.

Telephone is a much better musical Gaga pri… read the rest.

kevin2019

⭐ 5/10

December 30, 2024

"Joker: Folie `a Deux" has a variety of reveries based upon Arthur Fleck and Lee Quinzel, but it isn't long before these elaborately staged musical extravaganzas begin to make the entire film resemble some sort of expensive television show starring the one and only Jaoquin Phoenix and his very special guest Lady Gaga. The film certainly provides a superb showcase for the musical talents of them both, but it comes at a price: It is also responsibl… read the rest.

krabat

⭐ 6/10

March 22, 2025

The second Joker movie had a lot to live up to. There was always an underlying tension, which was expected to erupt into chaos and violence at any time. But sadly that moment never came. What was left was the sad story of a mentally ill criminal going through his trial and gaining some hope when falling in love.

**Beware: spoilers ahead**

Although despised by most of Gotham's citizens, the Joker had a loyal fan-base. Then, later in the mov… read the rest.

Wuchak

⭐ 7/10

December 23, 2025

**_Joker falls in love in prison and goes to trial while singing songs_**

Whilst the 2019 movie was intended to be a standalone film, Joaquin Phoenix said he felt there was more to explore with the character, which was augmented by his dreams that inspired the idea to make the potential sequel a musical. Since the original film was a mega-hit, the creative wheels started rolling and Lawrence Sher was reenlisted as cinematographer, citing Francis Ford Coppola's “One from the Heart” (1982) as an influence.

The story is simple and condensed into my title blurb; it’s just a brooding continuation of the original film, with the addition of two thrilling sequences in the final act (which I’m not going to give away). If you took out all of the song & dance sequences, you’d have a 95-minutes movie. So, whether or not you’ll like this flick comes down to if you can stomach the imaginative musical pieces. If you enjoyed “Chicago” and “Into the Woods” or even “The Wizard of Oz,” and are open to that approach mingled with the dark side of the DC universe, specifically the Batman mythos, you’ll probably appreciate this. If not, you’ll rail against it.

I get that ‘Lady Gaga’ (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) is an acquired taste, but she’s uniquely beautiful here and performs well. Surprisingly, there’s no physical exploitation, which I respect.

At the end of the day, this isn’t as captivating as the original film, yet a lot of that has to do with the unpalatable or mundane nature of the plot; I’m talking about the setting of a prison hospital and the court room happenings. So, in my mind, the colorful song & dance routines perk things up from time to time.

It runs 2h 18m and was shot from Dec-Apr 2022-2023 at the abandoned Essex County Isolation Hospital in northeast New Jersey, which is a dozen miles west of the Lincoln Tunnel. Other exterior places include New York City (the County Courthouse and the “Joker stairs” in the Bronx) and downtown Los Angeles. Studio stuff was done at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios.

GRADE: B/B-

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certifiedcritic

⭐ 7/10

April 7, 2026

People hated this movie because they had the previous installment to build upon, and on top of that, the directors kept saying this was going to be a musical and people ignored all warnings. If you go in with the mentality of a musical, it's a decent watch