
JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Harry Lawtey, Steve Coogan, and Zazie Beetz
Director: Todd Phillips

QUENTIN

In Folie à Deux, Joaquin Phoenix seamlessly slides back into the character for which he won an Oscar, and Lady Gaga’s songbird talents are perfectly cast as the relative light to his darkness. That alone would make it worth your time. However, unlike Joker, this sequel actually has something to say, using a subtle meta touch to explore themes of celebrity, obsession, reality v. fantasy, and scandal as entertainment. It’s not flawless, admittedly, as the musical numbers contribute to disjointed pacing issues, but we’re still left with a sequel that, although not quite as good as its predecessor, is more ambitious, which makes it more worthy of respect.

PAIGE

Folie à Deux attempts to build a mountain, but is barely able to climb a hill due to its pacing issues. Don’t get me wrong, its cinematography is stunning, and the performances are solid - Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t miss a beat as Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, and Lady Gaga is a great addition as Harley (although her character needed to be more fleshed out) - but the film just never really finds its rhythm. The movie feels somewhat hollow as it lacks the depth and impact its predecessor left on its viewers. I do admire it for taking some bold swings, but sadly not all of them land here.

AMARÚ

Folie à Deux is a logical successor to the mean-spirited 2019 original, which is wild because making a musical follow-up to a crime drama is a big nonsensical swing. But swings hit if they make sense, and the conceit fit Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) and Lee Quinzel’s (Lady Gaga) brand of crazy. Writer/director Todd Phillips carries over the dark and harrowing tone to continue this story’s flashlight on a descent into madness, not just for the clown couple, but for sensationalization everywhere. I won’t watch it again, as both films left me empty, but I knew that coming in, so for me it worked.

ADRIANO

Like its predecessor, Folie à Deux is a film that boasts excellent visuals and great central performances that stand in for a subtextually empty film. However, this one's plot lacks any cohesion and depth, and despite how loud he screams, co-writer/director Todd Phillips' attempted themes of fantasy and unearned folk heroes in relation to how the first film was perceived end up hollow. Plus, the musical incorporation is useless time fodder for the most part. It's a film that squashes what fans loved about the first one while doing nothing to disprove the detractors. So, who is this for?

PRESTON

If you’ve read my previous article (HERE), then you know I’m a fan of musicals. Folie à Deux is no exception as a demented and, altogether, depressing entry. From the Grease-like cartoonish intro, I was hooked. Joaquin Phoenix puts up an Oscar worthy performance that had me chuckling, at times, at his superbly nuanced facial expressions. My few detractors are: the way in which Lee Quinzel’s (Lady Gaga) arc falls, its sheer dispiriting nature, and how some of the later musical numbers arrest the once steady pacing. Overall, I applaud director Todd Phillips for this ambitious and appropriately unsatisfying sequel.

KATIE

Folie à Deux, regardless of its faults, is an impressively ambitious follow-up to the success of Joker. Although I’m not a fan of its predecessor, I love a jukebox musical, so I really appreciated the direction this film took, as well as the gorgeous visuals and lavish musical performances. The pacing is, however, impacted by all the musical numbers being too tonally similar without enough room to breathe. Joaquin Phoenix gives a committed performance, but Lady Gaga and her incredible voice steal the show, even whilst being underutilised and her character undeveloped.

NICK

I'm not here to tell you Joker: Folie À Deux works, it doesn't. It fails to expand on the Arthur Fleck character or justify its musical aspects. That said, some of the criticism has been a little extreme. This is no train wreck, it's a swing and a miss. Joaquin Phoenix is as committed as ever (though I would have liked to see more Joker) and I had no issues with Lady Gaga's performance. It's a little out there, sure, but it shows ambition. From the moment it was announced, this always felt like an unnecessary sequel and that's exactly what it turned out to be.
This film was reviewed by Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2024 Zurich Film Festival.