Seriously, joker who greenlights a standalone, R-rated origin story for a comic book villain with no superheroes, no capes, and no hope? Todd Phillips, that's who. The guy who gave us The Hangover went full dark mode and made... this. A miracle.

• Title: Joker
• Director: Todd Phillips (yeah, seriously)
• Key Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (obviously), Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
• Genre: Psychological thriller, character study, slow-burn horror... it's its own damn thing.
• Runtime: A heavy 122 minutes. Feels longer. In a good way.
• Release Date: October 2019
• Rating: R for violence, language, and just a general feeling of dread

---

Alright, so forget the comics. Forget the CGI battles. This ain't that. This is a brutal, grinding descent into the cracked psyche of a man being systematically erased by the world.

We meet Arthur Fleck. And man, your heart just breaks for him. He's a clown-for-hire, a wannabe stand-up comedian, living in a filthy Gotham City that's basically 1970s New York on a bad day. His basic problem? He's invisible. He's poor, he's crazy, he has this weird neurological disorder where he laughs randomly when he's anxious or terrified. A joke, yes? It isn't. It's a horrible, excruciating tic that makes everybody cringe.

He lives with his mother, longs to be a guest on the Murray Franklin show (De Niro's talk show host, a perfect throwback), and longs only to make others happy. But the world just continues to kick him. Hard. On the subway. On the streets. By his boss. Everyone tells him to "smile and put on a happy face." And so he does. And it's the most terrifying thing you've ever beheld.

Wait a minute, the film isn't about an evil person committing evil acts. It's about an impaired man finally coming out of that. It's about what happens when rejects of society choose to light the whole dumpster ablaze.

---

I just waited in my car outside the cinema and sat there for like, ten minutes. In silence. I felt gross. I felt hot. I felt confused. This film digs its way under your skin and lingers. .............. Gross, the mood is just. wet. And dirty. It's a slow-motion panic attack on a dirty subway train. The whole film is drenched in this queasy, neon-colored palette. Yellows, greens, reds. It's beautiful and sickening at once.

And the score. Good god, the score. Hildur Guðnadóttir's cello is a cry from the city itself. A presence. Grief. Fury. This low, heavy pain that attends Arthur wherever he goes, curdling into something twisted and triumphant as he does. It doesn't just mirror the action; it teaches you how to feel. And you feel awful. In the best conceivable way.

The whole thing is a love letter to Scorsese's Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, but with the nihilism amplified to eleven. It's incessantly bleak. A torturous, slow car accident you won't look away from.

---

Finally, let's talk about the things that make this sour slog a complete must-see.

1. Joaquin Phoenix is a Demon. Don't even mention Ledger. I said it. This is another beast entirely. Phoenix doesn't just play Arthur; he dissolves before our eyes. The man lost a grotesque amount of weight, and you can count each rib, each spine. His frame is a question mark. And the laugh. Oh my god, the laugh. It isn't humorous. It's a sob. A spasm. A cry for help that's mistaken for something funny. It's the most physically and emotionally committed performance I've ever witnessed. You can't look away. To learn more about turn-around roles, read our post on Joaquin Phoenix's method acting madness.

2. The Dancing. No, Seriously. What's crazy is that some of the most powerful moments occur when Arthur. dances. At first, it's these awkward, heartbreaking little movements in his flat. But once he embraces the anarchy, the dancing is this ugly, beautiful, balletic thing of freedom. That scene on the long staircase? The reason it's legendary. It's the moment the mask becomes the face. Chills. Actual chills.

3. It's Gorgeously Ugly. Cinematography is a masterclass in making something both beautiful and vile. Gotham isn't a trendy comic book metropolis; it's a trash littered hellhole. The camera follows Arthur like a ghost, lingering on his pain, making you an uncomfortable peeping Tom. It's claustrophobic. Intentionally. You're stuck with him. It's grittier, more realistic Gotham than ever before, and you can read more in our Gotham City through the ages feature.

4. It Asks Awful Questions. This movie does not give you answers. It just throws a brick through your window with a note that reads "figure it out." Is Arthur a product of his environment? A casualty of a society that let him down? Or did he just get born broken? The movie leaves it all hanging perfectly. It holds up a mirror to society's neglect and then jumps on the mirror with a clown shoe.

---

Nothing is perfect, though. Gotta stay 100.

1. It's a Bit. Obvious. Hold up, come on. The social commentary is not really subtle. It is as subtle as a sledgehammer. "The rich are awful! The system stinks!" Yeah, we're smart. The metaphors are somewhat on-the-nose moments, such as Phillips does not trust that the audience will get the subtlety. It takes so, so heavily from Scorsese at times that it is more of a cover band than an homage.

2. The Pacing is a Slog. I'm not kidding, this is a slow, slow burn. It's a character study, not an adrenaline ride. If you're looking for action, you'll be bored out of your skull. It's a depressingly lengthy trek through the deteriorating mental health of one man. Your mileage may vary. My buddy Dave fell asleep. I was tempted to wake him up and yell "ARE YOU NOT DISTURBED?!"

3. The Controversy was Dumb. Remember all the suffering? "It's gonna incite incel violence!" Blech. Spare me. The movie isn't glamorizing Arthur. It's empathizing with him. It's dissecting him. To view this movie as a menacing manifesto is wide of the mark by a mile. It's a cautionary tale, not a call to violence. All that commotion only served to demonstrate how uneasy we are talking about mental health.

4. A Personal Anecdote. Alright, straight up truth. There's this one time when Arthur's on the bus, making this kid crack up, and the kid's mom cuts him down with this icy "Leave my kid alone." And Arthur's expression just. collapses. And his tormented laughter takes over. Man, I felt that in my soul. I've never been that man myself, but I've seen him. We all have. The nerdy guy on the subway, the loner at the party. We turn away. This movie shames you into looking. Made me feel a strange, dirty sense of shame. I didn't like it. I liked it.

---

So, after all that. what's the grade?

I'm giving this a 9/10. It's a rough, flawed, and downright gorgeous piece of film.

Is it for everyone? AB SO FREAKING LUTELY NOT.

You'll love it if: you like gritty character studies, powerhouse performances, atmospheric filmmaking, and movies that leave you feeling morally confused. It's a movie that needs to be talked about and thought through.

Avoid this thing like the plague if: you'd like a good comic book movie to enjoy, you'd like to have a hero that you like, you're extremely sensitive to violence and mental illness being portrayed, or you just want to feel good when you leave the theater. This will ruin your entire damn week.

Final idea? Joker is a Molotov cocktail thrown in the face of the superhero genre. It's repugnant, it's dangerous, and it's captivating. It's the kind of movie that reminds you of what film is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch a cartoon. I need to bleach my brain.

---

References

1. Rotten Tomatoes. Joker (2019). Retrieved from https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joker_2019
2. Wikipedia. Joker (2019 film). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(2019_film)
3. RogerEbert.com. Joker movie review & film summary. Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/joker-2019
4. The Guardian. Joker review – a devastatingly beautiful psychological thriller. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/31/joker-review-joaquin-phoenix-devastatingly-beautiful-thriller-venice-film-festival
5. Variety. Film Review: ‘Joker’. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/joker-review-joaquin-phoenix-1203330166/
6. IMDb. Joker (2019). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/
7. The New York Times. ‘Joker’ Review: Are You Kidding Me?. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/movies/joker-review.html
8. Vanity Fair. Joker: The Movie That Will Make Batman Fans Very, Very Angry. Retrieved from https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/08/joker-movie-review-joaquin-phoenix-batman
9. The Atlantic. 'Joker' Is a View of How Society Creates Monsters. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/10/joker-movie-review-joaquin-phoenix-performance/599326/
10. IndieWire. ‘Joker’ Review: Joaquin Phoenix Is Electrifying in a Frustratingly Empty Movie. Retrieved from https://www.indiewire.com/2019/08/joker-review-joaquin-phoenix-1202172881/