The Film Experience

by Nick Taylor

Remember the fucking hubbub around Joker when it premiered at Venice back in 2019? Stephanie Zachareck fearing MRA riots? Lucrecia Martel giving it the Golden Lion? Leading the Oscar nominations with a whopping eleven citations, with Mark Friedberg’s incredible sets somehow left out in the cold? Winning Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir? Wild times!

Although Joker: Folie à Deux was first announced roughly two years ago, it feels as though the spectre of it has been haunting us for so much longer. At long last, the sequel is on its way, in just over two months. The first full-length trailer dropped less than 24 hours ago, and we here at The Film Experience are ready to dig in to whatever the hell is going on...

YES

Frankly, this doesn’t give us enough of Lady Gaga, but I am so ready to see this hungry, hungry actress take on Harley Quinn. It looks like we won’t see her play the usual therapist-turned-lover trajectory. Nor will we see what demented take Gaga has on Harley’s usual New York accent, which honestly feels like a loss. But she looks totally game in those costumes and that makeup, and given how much her own star wattage depends on muscular, intentional scene-building from her directors and co-stars to really turn into a strong characterization, I can’t fucking wait to see her play off Phoenix.
Oh my god, Gaga going on the red carpet and interview circuit for this is gonna be incredible.
Love that New York, New York has been frequently cited as an influence for Phillips. It’s a much less prominent Scorsese to rip-off. Given that it’s also one of Scorsese’s very best films, I hope this inspires more folks to watch that underseen masterpiece, and that Folie à Deux uses it as a springboard to do some unexpected pastiche, rather than even more Taxi Driver pastiche.
Hilarious that this features more actual singing than the trailers for many a movie musical. But also, let’s hope Phillips’ bespoke playlist pops as hard as the average Scorsese soundtrack.

I do not want to see the Joker representing himself in court. Or if he does, I do not want Todd Phillips to keep writing him grandiloquent monologues like that “werewolves gone wild” spiel from the first film. Joker’s script was the worst part of that film by a good mile, and I really hope that’s not the case here.
It's not like the supporting players were a big part of Joker, but I'm surprised we don't see more of the supporting cast. Can we please not bring back Zazie Beetz just to kill her character? Can Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleason get something to do for multiple scenes?
The potential for this to be even more politically inflammatory in service of absolutely nothing is higher than ever.

MAYBE SO

I really hope people are normal about this movie. I need that. The edgy DC fanboys, the Gaga stans, the critical apparatus, the me. I want this to be so normal, y’all.
Will this inspire yet another terrible Lady Gaga Snatch Game in the next year or two? We can only hope.
Folie à Deux looks handsome as hell. I didn’t remember how good Joker 2019 looked until I watched this trailer. The filmmaking did a lot of work to give that script the weight it needed, even if it also tilted a little too eagerly towards a ponderous gloom it never fully earned. So let’s hope this is handsome without turning itself into a white elephant

The highs have the potential to be so very high. The lows could resurrect a tenor of ugly, stupid awards discord we haven’t seen in years. I’ll label Joker: Folie à Deux as a Maybe So, but the sense of genuine anticipation is so much higher than when the 2019 film came out. Truth be told, the actual best outcome for all of this is for more people to watch the grimy magnificence that is The People’s Joker, which should be released to the general public before Folie à Deux hits theaters. If we’re gonna get one Joker taking over Venice, the box office, the Oscars, and the dorm rooms of so many burgeoning cinephiles who feel like “outsiders” for some particular reason, it should be Vera Drew’s.

Joker: Folie à Deux is premiering at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, which runs from August 28th-September 7th. It will be released wide in US theaters on October 4th.