Matt Barrie

Utterly compelling. Imagine watching a stand up comedian's act dying on stage or seeing someone bullied or perhaps watching someone with mental illness on a train. Doesn't like sound comfortable viewing right? This film is a masterpiece. It makes you feel uneasy, it shocks you, it plays with your perceptions and expectations while at the same time allowing you to understand how a person's life can go so wrong. Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the Joker is astonishing. Is it possible to top Heath Ledger as the Joker? He might just have pulled it off. The audience applauded at the end of the screening I attended .