The review embargo for Joker: Folie a Deux has lifted following the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which means we finally know what critics think about the sequel to the 2019 smash hit. The reviews are largely positive, but some suggest that the movie might not be quite as compelling as the first installment, and that it doesn’t have the same electrifying spine as its predecessor.
IGN gave the movie a 5/10 and wrote, “Despite the best efforts of Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, and an opening hour set in Arkham Asylum, Joker: Folie à Deux wastes its potential as a movie musical, a courtroom drama, and a sequel that has anything meaningful to say about or add to the first Joker.”
Indiewire, meanwhile, gave the movie a C-, writing “Needless to say, Folie à Deux does not give the people what they want. On the contrary, it actively courts the disappointment of its own fandom in order to articulate how cruelly Arthur is co-opted by the fantasies of the collective unconscious — lost in a dream that his followers want to have for themselves.”
Empire‘s review was more positive, giving it four stars, and described the movie by saying “As sweet and beguiling a musical romance as it’s possible to have between two murderous psychopaths. Its kooky approach won’t suit all stripes of comic-book fan, but it finds a strange, tragic hopefulness all of its own.”
The Wrap meanwhile, said that the Joker sequel was “the most interesting film about Arthur Fleck. It’s genuinely a little daring, genuinely a little challenging, and genuinely a little genuine.”
The Hollywood Reporter, on the other hand, didn’t much care for it. “For a movie running two-and-a-quarter hours, Folie à Deux feels narratively a little thin and at times dull,” they wrote.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the critical response to Folie à Deux is as divided as the first movie’s response was. The movie received plenty of awards acclaim in spite of that mixed reception, but it’s inclear whether this sequel will have the same kind of legacy with either audiences or critics.
