Joker: Folie à Deux

Back in 2019, director Todd Philipps reassured that Joker was always pitched as one movie, not set up to have any sequels, and in his own words, “that’s it”. 
Hence, when news broke out in 2022 that "Joker 2" was in development, I instantly feared that the $1 billion earnings at the worldwide box office was enough of a reason to repaint Joaquin Phoenix’s nose in red. Yet, Joker: Folie à Deux is not just capitalising on the original’s profit, it’s not simply expanding the character’s story, but rather it’s a response to the über popularity it has achieved since. 

Todd Phillips has to deal with following up the success of his previous movie, just as Arthur Fleck, now safely locked in the criminal ward at Arkham State Hospital, has to cope with his newly found celebrity status as a high profile criminal. Two years after his violent breakdown turned him into the anarchic embodiment of social discontent, Arthur’s highly anticipated trial is coming up.
Diving deeper into the Batman universe, the prosecution is led by Distinct Attorney Harvey Dent, while Arthur’s eyes are cast on Harleen Quinzel, a madly in love groupie of the dangerous clown. 
On one side his lawyer wants to plead insanity due to multiple personality disorder, splitting the trauma survivor Arthur from the killer Joker. On the other, his followers, heralded by his girlfriend, are only the jester. His identity is in question as much as his faith, as he risks the electric chair but also losing his messianic lure.

To cope with all this, Arthur uses music to mend his inner fractures to be whole again, losing himself in colourful, theatrical fantasies. This allows Phillips to find a fresh approach to tackle his sequel through the musical, referencing Sweet Charity and Parapluis de Cherbourg rather than Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, distancing himself even more from the previous one.

Yet the greatest influence comes from Sidney Lumet’s Network. Joker became a sensation for the masses, both in Gotham and in cinemas all over the world, because he was “mad as hell, and wasn’t going to take it anymore”. He shouted a lot but eventually had very little to say. And just like Howard Beale, once the populist chanting runs out, he becomes irrelevant. This is why the audience that is expecting the same satisfying empowerment found in the first film is going to be disappointed, if not enraged, by this new one. Joker: Folie à Deux acquires a meta dimension, establishing a direct conversation with them, the ones who idolised the character with T-shirts and tattoos, the incels who dance on the stairs and worship Tony Soprano and Heisenberg, without actually understanding them.
This is a commercial film that sinks its own toxic fanbase: or, in pure joker style, cinematic anarchy.