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James Mottram

4/5 stars
Joaquin Phoenix returns to the role that won him an Oscar and gave him the biggest hit of his career in Joker: Folie à Deux.
Playing in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where 2019’s Joker won the prestigious Golden Lion, this sequel upends the comic-book movie even more than its predecessor.
Director Todd Phillips takes the brave decision to turn this into a Hollywood musical. Yes, you read that right: Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck sings old standards, the clown turning crooner.


The film begins with an old-school, Warner Brothers-style cartoon, loosely replaying events as Arthur’s Joker persona shot dead TV interviewer Murray Franklin live on air.
Now incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, this deranged loner is awaiting to see if he will stand trial. Near-silent in the beginning, Arthur only brightens when a prison guard (Brendan Gleeson) admits him to a music class.
“We use music to make us whole,” says the teacher. And it’s here where he meets his soulmate, Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga).
An arsonist whose mother had her committed to Arkham, Quinzel is familiar to all DC Comics fans as Harley Quinn, the character known as the Joker’s paramour.

Here, she fan-girls over Arthur, even making love to him in his cell. But as Arthur eventually heads to trial, his lawyer (Catherine Keener) in tow, he’s clearly ill at ease with the notoriety he’s gained.
“I just wanna blow it up and start a new life,” he says, although with crowds outside chanting for his freedom, that may be too much to ask.
With Phoenix and Lady Gaga singing low-key versions of classics like “That’s Entertainment” and “(They Long to Be) Close to You”, Phillips runs with the idea that much of this is taking place inside Arthur’s fractured mind.
No longer is he a stand-up comic, but a full-on variety entertainer, minus the top hat and tails.

While Phoenix isn’t the greatest singer, he doesn’t need to be, especially with Lady Gaga on backup. This is more of a growling rip through show tunes, which may irritate purists but feels apt alongside the rain-splashed aesthetic.
Styled like the original, Joker: Folie à Deux is a beautiful-looking film, with Phillips crafting shots like comic-book panels. Undeniably, the film lacks the fireball intensity of the first film (and misses the presence of Robert De Niro, who featured as the slain Murray Franklin).
But this is still a menacing work brimming with originality. A standard Hollywood sequel this is not.
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Venice 2024 movie review – Joker: Folie à Deux puts Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga in musical

Lady Gaga (left) and Joacquin Phoenix in a still from Joker: Folie à Deux. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Lady Gaga in a still from Joker: Folie à Deux. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Joacquin Phoenix in a still from Joker: Folie à Deux. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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Lady Gaga plays music teacher and more to Phoenix’s Joker behind bars in a highly original sequel that’s menacing and beautifully styled


Lady Gaga plays music teacher and more to Phoenix’s Joker behind bars in a highly original sequel that’s menacing and beautifully styled.


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Review | Venice 2024 movie review – Joker: Folie à Deux puts Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga in musical

Lady Gaga plays music teacher and more to Phoenix’s Joker behind bars in a highly original sequel that’s menacing and beautifully styled