Joker is a character study and origins film of one of the most famous comic book villains in history. The film casts a new light on a character that has been portrayed by several actors in many movies. What makes this movie different is that there is no major event that makes Arthur Fleck the Joker; he doesn’t fall into a vat of acid and become horribly disfigured, and he’s not some elite criminal. He is simply an everyday individual who through his mental illness and lack of resources to address them is pushed to an extreme. 

This film’s subject matter is incredibly dark and that is reflected in just about everything. The setting is highly reflective of this as Gotham in 1981 is incredibly dirty, impoverished, tense, and seemingly always overcast. The cinematography and camera work in this movie is top notch with director Todd Phillips stating he wanted the movie to have a very “handmade” feel, one in which viewers are always very close to the character. This method of shooting is very smart for a character study like this Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is in almost every frame and allows the viewer to feel very involved in the breakdown of Fleck’s mental state that eventually results in the chaos in the latter stages of the movie.

Because he has so much screen time, Phoenix’s performance is incredibly important, and he does deliver. This is an absolutely incredible representation of an individual devolving into madness, so much so that the film is genuinely frightening. Phoenix gets all the subtleties right, perhaps none more so than the bone chilling laugh. In an interview, Phoenix discussed how he honed in the laugh, saying he watched videos of individuals suffering from the condition that Arthur Fleck has, the Pseudobulbar affect. His ability to take himself to the dark places that a character like Joker requires is phenomenal and this truly is a generational performance. He does all the small things right, and while different from Heath Ledger’s adaptation of the character, is certainly on that level.

Behind him at every turn is the film’s complimentative soundtrack, emphasizing all the anxiety, discomfort, and pain that Arthur feels, and it often times makes the audience feel the same way.

Perhaps the genius in the film lies in how it makes the audience feel. Creating a moral quandary, one almost sympathizes with Arthur. One can understand his struggle and feel sorry for his situation; the city government has cut his only source of medication and therapy, throwing him into the deep end with no way to swim. However, Arthur becomes a bonafide murderer, criminally psychotic. Is one supposed to root for him as he causes chaos? Is that a character who should be inspiring to the audience? Absolutely not. Joker is an absolute evil, but a preventable one, and that’s the films  message: much of evil is preventable, but access to mental health resources are so casually thrown away. 

A character study like this can often ride on the main actor’s performance, and this one does. However, everything else in the film is built to supplement Joaquin Phoenix’s brilliant performance and it does it very well. In short, Joker is a very high quality, thought provoking film that shouldn’t be taken lightly.