‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Review: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga Sing and Dance a Deranged Duet of Musical Mischief | Venice

Five years after Joker (2019) premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the top prize, director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix have returned to the Venice Film Festival with a long-awaited sequel. In the wake of killing five people to public knowledge, and six including the sly murder of his mother, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) is confined to the grimy maximum security ward of Arkham State Psychiatric Hospital. The engorged ego he possessed at the conclusion of the first film is long-deflated, finding him in a state of timidness similar to that of the character’s initial introduction. His body is more frail than ever, with shoulder blades practically primed to burst right out of his bare skin. Compared to the other inmates of the asylum, he is docile, but the threat of his sinister potential still looms. 

With his televised murder trial right around the corner, Fleck’s attorney Maryanne Stewart (Cathrine Keener) is constructing a case on the basis of insanity resultant of a Dissociative Identity Disorder, hoping to evade the call put out by Assistant District Attorney for the death penalty to be invoked. While sauntering down the clinical hallways of a minimum security ward to meet with a psychiatrist for evidence building, he locks eyes with Lee (Lady Gaga) through the glow of an ajar door from which off-key harmonies flow. For his good conduct, Arkham guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson) enrolls Arthur in that very same music class, signaling the start of a fanatic bond between Arthur and Lee. 

The title of this film derives from its most compelling aspect. ‘Folie à Deux’ is a psychiatric syndrome that literally translates from French as ‘the madness of two’, and is otherwise known as shared psychosis, a state in which two individuals buy into a mutual delusion. The primary link to this is the relationship shared by Lee and Arthur, in which Lee acts as the imposée (inducer) and Arthur simultanée who joins in on the fantasy Lee has been scheming to construct. She physically and metaphorically brings music into his life. While sequences provide a glimpse at the fantasies conjured in their intertwined minds, adding extensive and intricate scenes beyond the sphere of musical numbers would have only crafted a more compelling picture of these imaginative visions. 

The blending of a jukebox musical features songs such as Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” and “Close to You” by Carpenters, with a courtroom drama is a format that feels fresh at first but loses its charm as the minutes tick on. The script has an irritating habit of saying more than showing. A made-for-TV movie based on Arthur’s life, which has helped to maintain his ‘star’ status amongst members of the public, is referred to on several occasions. This feels like a missed opportunity for exploration into why he resonates with the rowdy crowds that loyally gather outside the Gotham County Court or even a fun moment of comedic relief. Harry Lawtey (from the red-hot HBO show Industry) plays Harvey Dent, the DA acting as the prosecution in Fleck’s trial, but avid DC fans will know the character as Two-Faced, a man whose disfigurement pushes him into a life of villainy. The lack of reference to this either means the character’s inclusion is an easter egg or potentially hope for another installment, which without spoiling the plot, feels very uncertain. 

Above all else, the script does a disservice to the complexity of Harleen Quinzel. This is far from an issue that stems from creating a new character variation, but rather its failure to commit wholeheartedly. In both the comics and other screen adaptations of the character, Harley is seduced into madness by Joker. There is a clear desire to subvert this entirely throughout this film’s narrative, as Lee is the real mastermind who in the courtroom purposefully meddles with the trial by undermining Maryanne in a bid to summon Joker’s ‘full form’ from the mind of Arthur. The uniqueness of this rendition of the character and her arc suffers by not indulging in the origin of her hyperfixation and manipulative calculation, or even what her endgame frankly is. 

That is not to say that Lady Gaga does not deliver a compelling performance, but one that is supporting rather than a lead. What she is given to work with leaves so much more to be desired from a character who would have flourished as a full-fledged waltz partner. Phoenix’s performance is as strong as ever, adding a new layer of vulnerability to Arthur as he rapidly falls for Lee and descends back into madness. They share a chemistry that feels electric from the outset, but aptly the spark fades as their idealistic fantasy slips away. 

A sequel of this scale calls for references to aspects of its predecessor that are now deeply ingrained in popular culture. Joker: Folie à Deux does this tastefully and in a rather restrained way, be it a musical number at the fictional comedy club Pogo’s or a blood-splattered portrait of Murray (Robert De Niro) in the amusing animated sequence that opens the film. Yet, the most crucial of callbacks is Hildur Guðnadóttir’s phenomenal Oscar-winning score, which still retains its haunting vigour. In fact, the only thing this installment lacks from the first is its eerie suspense which the narrative desperately pines for as the fallacy of their imaginations wears off. 

Regardless of its non-fatal flaws, this is far more entertaining of a film than the first, but with Joaquin Phoenix reprising a role he won an Oscar for and Lady Gaga belting show tunes in gorgeous costumes, how could you ever think this film would be one to miss?

Grade: B

This review is from the 2024 Venice Film Festival where Joker: Folie à Deux had its world premiere in competition. Warner Bros will release the film theatrically in the U.S. on October 4.