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When Todd Phillips decided to make ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’, a sequel to his 2019 hit ‘Joker’, he didn’t settle for the expected. Instead, Phillips chose to transform the film into a jukebox musical—an audacious move for a franchise that built its identity around dark psychological realism. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, this sequel had immense potential, with its creative risks hinting at something truly groundbreaking. But despite its high production value and powerful performances, the film has struggled both critically and financially, calling into question whether it was a necessary addition to the Joker narrative.
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A Bold Swing: The Musical Format and its Strengths
Turning a film about mental illness and crime into a musical was a gamble. The juxtaposition of light-hearted melodies with dark themes pushes viewers into surreal territory, much like the inner world of Arthur Fleck himself. Lady Gaga’s musical talent elevates these scenes, imbuing them with theatrical flair that captures the toxic romance between Fleck and Harleen Quinzel.
In many ways, ‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ joins the growing wave of experimentation in Hollywood. With studios like Warner Bros. and filmmakers across genres willing to take risks, musicals are becoming a viable way to explore unconventional storytelling—even in gritty, mature films. However, the musical genre’s inherent challenge is ensuring the format adds meaningful depth to the story rather than feeling like a creative flourish for its own sake. While ‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ succeeds in some respects, it also falters, raising concerns about whether the film’s ambitions exceeded its narrative purpose.
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A Sequel That Wasn’t Needed
One of the film’s biggest challenges lies in justifying its own existence. The original ‘Joker’ was a self-contained character study with a powerful, conclusive arc for Arthur Fleck. By the end of that film, Fleck’s transformation into the Joker felt complete. However, ‘Folie à Deux‘ revisits his character in ways that undo much of the progress he made. Rather than advancing Arthur’s story, the sequel feels more like an attempt to recapture the magic of the first film—a calculated decision to ride the wave of a previous box-office hit.
This lack of meaningful development is one of the film’s most significant flaws. Fleck’s journey becomes repetitive, offering little that feels fresh or essential to the character’s growth. For all its ambition, the movie ends up diluting the impact of the first film, making it difficult to understand why this sequel was necessary.
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Mixed Financial Results: A Risky Gamble that Missed the Mark
The financial performance of ‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ reflects the challenges of balancing creative risk with audience expectations. With a $200 million production budget, the film needed to perform exceptionally well to break even. So far, it has only made $163 million—a disappointing result for a franchise that was expected to replicate the success of the original Joker, which grossed over $1 billion globally
This underperformance suggests that audiences may not have been as receptive to the musical experiment as Warner Bros. hoped. It also reflects a broader issue in Hollywood: the tendency to rely on sequels and known IPs, even when the narrative doesn’t demand it. Studios often greenlight follow-ups to successful films without fully considering whether the story still has something meaningful to say.
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Lady Gaga Shines—But Only in Song
Lady Gaga, who plays Harleen Quinzel, delivers a strong performance—but it’s one limited largely to her singing abilities. While her vocal performances are captivating, the film misses an opportunity to fully showcase her acting range (which is almost as extensive and exceptional as her voice). Quinzel’s descent into madness, which could have been explored with more depth, is sidelined in favor of musical interludes. This imbalance leaves Gaga’s performance feeling incomplete and fails to provide the same level of character insight that Joaquin Phoenix enjoyed in the first film.
Phoenix, though still compelling, struggles with a script that rehashes Arthur Fleck’s internal conflict without adding new dimensions to his character. What could have been an intense exploration of Fleck and Quinzel’s relationship ends up feeling underdeveloped, with much of the emotional weight carried by musical numbers instead of dialogue and character interaction.
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What ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Says About Hollywood’s Obsession with Sequels
‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ highlights a larger trend within the entertainment industry: the struggle between creative risk and franchise fatigue. Hollywood’s reliance on sequels often comes at the expense of original storytelling, and while experimentation is encouraged, it is often applied to pre-existing IPs rather than new narratives. The animation industry, for instance, has managed to strike a better balance by embracing innovation through original works alongside franchise expansions.
Studios are more comfortable betting on known properties, even if the story has run its course. This strategy can pay off—films like ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘ have managed to blend creative risk with box-office success—but it also creates situations like ‘Folie à Deux‘, where a sequel feels more like a calculated business move than a narrative necessity.
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Conclusion: A Flawed but Ambitious Experiment
‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ is a film that swings for the fences but doesn’t quite hit its mark. While the musical format adds a new layer to the Joker’s story, it also feels like an unnecessary continuation of a character who had already reached a natural conclusion. Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga deliver compelling performances, but the film limits their potential by focusing too heavily on spectacle at the expense of character development.
The movie’s financial struggles underscore the risks of relying too heavily on sequels to past successes. In the end, ‘Folie à Deux‘ stands as both a testament to the importance of creative experimentation and a cautionary tale about the dangers of franchise overreach. For all its ambition, it serves as a reminder that even the boldest artistic choices need a solid narrative foundation to truly resonate with audiences.
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Scott Silver, Todd Phillips, Bob Kane
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
By Jake Yancey
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Jake Yancey is a product of NYU Tisch and is passionate about engaging in substantial conversation and enriching, multi-faceted dialogue in politics, tv production, and culture. Jake is excited to work at The Hollywood Insider because he believes that Film and Journalism are humanity’s first line of defense against the chaos of an uninformed public sector and so spends his time scouting for relevant stories everywhere. Jake, driven by a strong work ethic and love for people, plans on eventually working at the studios to help develop the stories which have had such a lasting impact on him.
Jake Yancey is a product of NYU Tisch and is passionate about engaging in substantial conversation and enriching, multi-faceted dialogue in politics, tv production, and culture. Jake is excited to work at The Hollywood Insider because he believes that Film and Journalism are humanity’s first line of defense against the chaos of an uninformed public sector and so spends his time scouting for relevant stories everywhere. Jake, driven by a strong work ethic and love for people, plans on eventually working at the studios to help develop the stories which have had such a lasting impact on him.
