Joker: Folie à Deux Swings Big, Lands Unevenly

Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t the disaster some claim it to be—but it’s far from a triumph. While bold, visually ambitious, and anchored by powerhouse performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, the film is ultimately dragged down by sluggish pacing, underwhelming musical execution, and a surprisingly limited focus on its titular character.

Five years after Joker broke box office records and courted controversy, Joker: Folie à Deux arrives not as a traditional sequel—but as a provocation. Todd Phillips takes a massive creative risk, pivoting from psychological thriller to psychological musical, and daringly flips the narrative on Joker’s glorified infamy.

Phoenix, once again fully immersed as Arthur Fleck, delivers a performance both disturbing and introspective. Enter Lady Gaga, whose portrayal of Harley Quinn is refreshingly restrained, quietly intense, and undeniably magnetic. While their screen time together is electric, it’s far too limited.

Key strength: The film actively rebukes the problematic interpretations of the original, abandoning the “incel martyr” mythos in favor of a more chaotic, introspective reflection. That choice, however alienating to some fans, is commendable.

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So, It’s a Musical… But Is That a Good Thing?

The “musical” angle is probably Folie à Deux’s most talked-about twist—and it’s not always a winning one. While the Hollywood Golden Age stylings bring visual flair and abstract energy to some scenes, the musical numbers feel muted.

Why it struggles:

Gaga, despite being one of the greatest vocalists of her generation, gets very few chances to truly sing.
Set pieces lack the dazzling spectacle associated with musical cinema—opting instead for dingy, depressive atmospheres.
The standout “Joker and Harley Show” number teases brilliance, but the film never follows through on its promise of flamboyant madness.

As a result, Folie à Deux feels more like a film with music than a fully-formed musical. It’s stylistically daring but emotionally disconnected.

⚖️ The Courtroom Drag & The Missing Joker

Perhaps the most baffling choice in the film is its extended courtroom arc. A large portion of the runtime is spent relitigating the events of Joker (2019)—which might have worked if it led to a satisfying narrative evolution. Instead, it leads to a meandering existential thesis that might be saying Arthur Fleck was never Joker at all.

What should’ve been revelatory comes across as muddled and sluggish. For a movie about chaos, the story is frustratingly static. And for a film titled “Joker,” there’s shockingly little of him on screen.

💄 Gaga Shines—But Deserved More

Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn is one of the film’s strongest elements. She’s neither campy nor cartoonish; instead, she plays Harley with eerie restraint and unspoken menace.

But the film fails to capitalize on its biggest asset:

Few musical numbers are built around Gaga’s vocal strengths.
Her scenes, while effective, are infrequent.
The dynamic between Harley and Joker, the twisted romance promised in marketing, is largely underdeveloped.

Her underutilization becomes one of the film’s most disappointing ironies—especially for fans expecting a Gaga-led reinvention of the iconic villainess.

🧠 Final Verdict: Admirable Vision, Unbalanced Execution

Joker: Folie à Deux deserves credit for trying something bold. It confronts its predecessor’s most dangerous fan readings and says, “No, this isn’t the guy you should idolize.” That’s brave storytelling. But brave isn’t always entertaining, and this film suffers from tonal inconsistency, pacing issues, and a musical identity crisis.

It’s not the cinematic trainwreck some headlines would have you believe—but it’s definitely not the sequel Joker fans expected.

⭐️ Rating: 2.5 out of 5

+ Joaquin Phoenix remains chillingly committed
+ Lady Gaga delivers a refined and haunting Harley Quinn
– Bloated courtroom drama slows the film’s pace
– Musical format doesn’t fully land
– Minimal Joker, minimal chaos

Folie à Deux is less a follow-up and more a rejection of Joker’s cultural aftershock. It challenges, confronts, and stumbles—proving that swinging for the fences doesn’t always guarantee a home run.

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