Tanner Maillie

I went into Joker: Folie à Deux with high hopes, considering how powerful and thought-provoking the first film was. Unfortunately, this sequel was a complete letdown. What made the original Joker great—its raw portrayal of mental illness, society's failures, and the descent into madness—was completely overshadowed by a chaotic mess in this follow-up. The most jarring aspect was the tonal shift. Where the first film was gritty and grounded in realism, Folie à Deux took a wildly different approach, incorporating unnecessary musical numbers that didn’t fit with the dark, psychological vibe that the Joker character is known for. It felt like the filmmakers were trying too hard to make an artsy statement rather than focusing on a cohesive narrative. This drastic shift left me confused and disengaged, as it seemed completely out of place for what I expected from a Joker film. Moreover, the pacing of the movie was all over the place. One moment, it was slow and plodding, and then it would suddenly jump into chaotic sequences that felt disconnected from the rest of the story. It was exhausting to watch and hard to follow. The movie lacked any clear direction, leaving me wondering what the point was. I was constantly waiting for it to pick up or offer some sort of emotional payoff, but it never came.