‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ review: Lady Gaga shines in a provocative prison musical

Premiering at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, Todd Phillips’ eagerly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker takes a decidedly unexpected swing. Rather than do the obvious and give audiences The Further Adventures Of The Clown Prince Of Crime, doubling down on Bat-references, Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver have instead delivered a surprisingly moving, psychologically complex tale that is part prison movie, part courtroom drama and all musical.

The film opens in bravura style with a terrific five-minutes-long Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon by Belleville Rendez-vous‘ Sylvain Chomet, stylised to look like 1940s animation. Entitled Me And My Shadow, it presents a cartoon version of comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) battling against his Joker persona, represented as a dark shadow figure who dons the familiar clown make-up and takes over. The sequence raises clear expectations for what we’re about to watch, but Phillips and Silver have something very different in mind.

Immediately after the cartoon, the film switches to live-action, where Arthur is imprisoned in Gotham Jail, awaiting trial. His lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) attempts to help Arthur mount his defence case, but events take a turn when he meets fellow prisoner Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga), in a prison singing program and the pair strike an immediate connection, bursting into song on numerous occasions.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the sheer quantity of musical numbers, the film chooses to downplay the choreography, instead focusing on the songs themselves (mostly standards from the 1940s and ’50s), and their comments on the emotional and mental states of the characters. For example, Arthur’s first track is Motown hit ‘For Once In My Life’, which sets up his search for connection and a kindred spirit.

However, Folie à Deux‘s boldest move is the way it confronts and challenges key elements of the first film, specifically the way Joker became a figurehead for disillusioned malcontents, who delighted in his anarchic, murderous activities. Here, despite repeating the line “give the audience what they want” several times, the film does the exact opposite, at least as far as certain Bat-obsessed members of the fanbase who just want to see more of the same will be concerned – at certain points this feels like blatant teasing, and it’s bound to provoke a reaction.

Phoenix is fantastic once again as Arthur, delivering a compelling and remarkably physical performance that teeters on the edge of insanity throughout – it’s simultaneously chilling and unexpectedly moving. Lady Gaga is equally good as Harleen, sparking palpably insane chemistry with Phoenix, and there’s strong support from both Keener and Brendan Gleeson as Jackie, a prison guard with a fondness for musicals.

As with the original movie, the film looks gorgeous throughout, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher making strong use of colour and conjuring up some beautiful images – highlights include an overhead shot of some umbrellas (referencing Jacques Demy’s 1964  musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg) and a stunningly lit frame of Arthur lighting a cigarette in his prison cell that resembles a lovingly illustrated comic book panel.

In short, Phillips and Silver have delivered the last thing anyone expected: a socially responsible Joker movie that finds an intriguing way to explore the consequences (both on and offscreen) of the first film. Joker fans shouldn’t cry too hard though – Warner Bros. have cleverly found a way to leave the door open a little for the franchise to continue, should the need arise.