Joker: Folie à Deux is an American sequel to the 2019 Joker film. It was first released on October 4, 2024. The main theme of the sequel is mental illness and how it can be shared through relationships. However, it also does not explore Arthur’s emotions and thought processes as deeply as the first Joker film. The first Joker film shows more emotion and shares his mental illness.
According to Variety, the first film earned $1.1 billion at the box office and made a profit of $437 million. Joker: Folie à Deux is a major disappointment, with a debut of $37.7 million and experiencing the worst two-week drop in history, falling over 80%. Its cumulative total is $51 million, significantly lower than its reported $200 million budget. The storyline for Joker: Folie à Deux continues from the first Joker film but has several missing plot holes. Lady Gaga plays Lee Quinzel, making the movie a musical, with her and Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Arthur Fleck, also known as Joker, singing throughout the film. During the film, Arthur meets Lee on his way to a therapy session and talks to a lawyer. Lee stops Arthur and shares a gesture that occurred in the first movie, leading Arthur to fall in love with her after that moment. After that moment, Arthur goes to court the next couple of days and is called deranged but is also supported by some other people who agree with his actions on what he did in the first movie.
The film is lack luster for many reasons and for many viewers. Personally, I didn’t enjoy this movie as much as the first one, especially since it seemed rushed. The ending also seemed rushed in how they wanted to conclude it and wrap the movie up. Even though you might like Gaga, this movie might not be the greatest film to see.
Currently, there is a rating of 1.8 stars out of 14,000 raters. It also had 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, 5.3/10 on IMDb, and 28% of Google users liked the movie. If you enjoy musicals, then this film is for you. However, if you do not enjoy musicals as much and want emotion, action, and more in the film like the first one, then this is not the movie for you.
