How could Joker (2019) be worse?  Make its sequel, Joker: Folie á Deux, a musical.  Perhaps I did not give the follow up fair shrift?  Its predecessor is one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen, completely void of any form of true empathy to which this Catholic reviewer could cling.  One could make the argument that this should be expected from a film that focuses on the eponymous comic book criminal.  Interestingly enough, on my way back from my pilgrimage last week, I decided to rewatch The Dark Knight (2008).  In mentioning my choice to the priest that accompanied us, he referenced the trouble Heath Ledger had in playing Batman’s long-time nemesis, which many blame for the actor’s suicide.  There is likely truth to this sentiment, though I pointed out to Father that the film ultimately demonstrates good winning over evil.  The Bible tells us that, not unlike much of what we see in cinematic tales of the Caped Crusader, things are assured to get better in spite of our struggles.  Because the subject of Joker and Joker: Folie á Deux is a villain, you can forget any hope for a brighter future.  God places hope in our hearts as a way to cope with difficulty.  Without it, what reason is there for going on?  This seems to be where Joker: Folie á Deux lands, and it is reprehensible.  I do not care how well a film is acted, directed, or shot.  If I come away with it feeling as rotten as I did, then it will not receive this Catholic’s approval.

Because Warner Brothers is the studio behind the travesty that is Joker: Folie á Deux, they do an old school cartoon to introduce you to Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), which society knows as the clown-faced title character.  It basically says everything you need to know about what is going to happen in the film.  Arthur is in the guise of his alter-ego, striding into a show with his adoring fans lining the red carpet as he passes.  His shadow, however, does not want to cooperate, splitting from him and causing havoc.  In reality, Arthur is an inmate in Arkham Prison awaiting trial for the murder of five individuals that took place in the previous movie.  He is brought in to see his defense attorney, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), whose legal strategy relates to what we see in the opening reel.  Getting Arthur to talk to a panel of experts, they want him to admit that he has a split personality disorder.  He appears withdrawn, unwilling to make this connection.  What begins to bring him back to a greater awareness of his surroundings is when he gets a glimpse of Harleen Quinn (Lady Gaga), who he later calls Lee, but that is getting ahead of myself.  Because Arthur, we are told, is a model prisoner, he is given the “privilege” of spending more time on the psychiatric ward where Lee is held.  When they get a moment, she tells him that she admires everything about him, the kind of attention and flattery he seems to crave.  She also admits to having lit her mother’s house on fire, which forced the parent to commit Lee to the asylum.  As proof, I guess, of her devotion, she sets the piano in their common room ablaze.  In the resulting chaos, they dash out the door and towards the front gates where they are eventually dragged back behind bars.  For this outburst, Arthur is forced to spend time in solitary confinement.  Not long after rejoining the general population, Lee visits him in his cell, telling him that she is being forced to leave because it is thought that he is a bad influence on her.  Nonetheless, they find a way to have sex before she leaves in a turn of events that make little sense based on how he has been treated by the guards.  Further, nothing like adding pre-marital intercourse to the list of behaviors celebrated by the movie.  At any rate, before she leaves she promises to be at his trial, which is going to be broadcast all over the city, making his followers more full-throated in their support for their so-called “hero.”  Incidentally, the attorney tasked with prosecuting Arthur is Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), who is known to DC fans as the bad guy “Two Face.”  You get none of that story of transformation here, but since this is a musical, I am trying to find ways of padding the length of my discussion.  Throughout the trial, Maryanne keeps hammering home the notion that a mental disorder related to childhood trauma is what caused the emergence of the Joker.  As it goes on, Arthur, with Lee’s encouragement, increasingly feels like he is being misrepresented.  Arthur and Lee additionally overcome the lies she told about why she was in Arkham, cemented when she says she is pregnant and living in the apartment in which he had killed his mother.  With such a healthy relationship, you can see why he is so eager to be the Joker everyone expects him to be, no?  This leads to the firing of Maryanne and a bizarre cross-examination of Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill), a former co-worker of Arthur’s who had given the Joker the gun used in the killings.  Yet, when it comes time for his closing arguments, thinking that he has a chance at happiness with Lee, Arthur falls back on the insanity line that Maryanne had been convinced was working.  The moment he says that it was him, not Joker, that is guilty of murder, she walks out of the courtroom.  She further ignores his phone call during jury deliberations.  Yet, as the verdict finding against him on all charges is read, a bomb goes off outside, collapsing the wall and allowing him to escape.  Instead of taking up the offer of being hidden by a couple of his followers, he goes straight to Lee, only to be rejected.  He is back in prison, but only shortly, being knifed to death by a fellow inmate.  The end.

Believe it or not, that is a rather truncated synopsis of Joker: Folie á Deux’s plot.  A large reason for why it would be shorter is owed to the fact that it is a musical, as earlier mentioned.  It is what is known as a “jukebox musical,” meaning that the tunes you hear are based on popular songs and were not written for the film.  Given that Lady Gaga is one of the stars, I suppose this makes sense.  It only made the movie all the more unbearable.  Still, because I am Catholic and try to be charitable when and where I can, it must be noted that the melodies serve a purpose.  The second time Arthur meets Lee, he is brought into a sort of music therapy session where all the patients are encouraged to sing out when they feel moved to do so.  It is meant to be a healing exercise, but it is ultimately counter-productive for Arthur.  There is a belief in the Life in the Spirit that whatever brings discord is from the enemy, but that which produces joy is of God.  One could say that the numbers Arthur imagines himself and Lee performing accomplish the latter, with him getting to live out his true self in the form of the Joker.  What contradicts this notion is seeing him desperate to be with the woman he loves and disavowing any real connection with his alter-ego in a futile attempt to gain his freedom.  What is clear is that Arthur is a severely broken person.  There is a bit of brokenness in all of us, a predilection towards sin that is part of all our fallen nature.  Music can be a tool in battling these latent desires so long as they lead us to God.  That is not what happens for Arthur, and, unfortunately, he pays for it with his life.

Arthur’s death in the end is not what I expected in Joker: Folie á Deux.  This is not simply because one rarely anticipates such characters actually dying.  It is also because, as a practicing Catholic, I know that there is a pathway back into God’s graces no matter what we have done.  What is required is a contrite heart.  Arthur spends most of the film lacking contrition, even bragging to Lee that there was one more murder, that of his mother, with which he has not been charged. Call me crazy, but that does not sound like contrition to me.  Instead, it is prideful, attention seeking behavior that is as sinful as any of the murders he commits.  Yet, there is the moment when he is about to deliver his closing arguments, and he realizes what a fool he has been.  There is an old saying to the effect that there are no atheists in the foxhole.  Put differently, this means that when under threat of life and limb, people give up their so-called atheism and appeal to a higher power that will hopefully spare them.  Indeed, survival of such peril has led to lifelong conversions when those left alive give proper thanks to the power that brought them through their trials.  What makes this film tragic is that not only is Arthur rejected by Lee, but he ends up being stabbed to death.  I guess some comfort can be taken from the fact that he appeared to have remorse by the end, but I doubt he died the way he wished.  Then again, God more often chooses a means of us meeting our demise differently than we would have it.  This points to a need for preparation that I am unsure as to whether Arthur has done.  A priest would tell you that remorse is equal no matter what stage of life at which it manifests, and that admission of guilt works whenever it is earnestly made.  Further, his motivation is love, sadly not of God, but of another person.  To not have those feelings reciprocated is one of the worst feelings in the world.  God is there for Arthur, even if he does not realize it.  Hopefully you will read this section and use it as a reminder of God’s love for you.

The lack of the acknowledgement of God’s mercy in Joker: Folie á Deux is nothing new in cinema.  This is a specifically Christian criticism.  A broader one would be to see any point in this mess.  This was made even worse in my theater when the movie cut off after the first fifteen minutes.  We were then forced to relive the opening sequence once it started working again, which was even more boring the second time around.  In short, there is nothing to recommend this film.