By Seth Lukas Hynes
Joker
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz
Rated MA15+
Joker is a harrowing, engrossing character drama about the rise of iconic supervillain The Joker.
Joaquin Phoenix delivers a riveting performance as Arthur Fleck, a severely-depressed man struggling to put on a happy face.
The pacing has a tense rubber-band effect: small positives, such as Arthur’s job as a clown and his tender relationship with his mother, brighten his mood and outlook, but misfortunes, shocking discoveries about his past and the general hopelessness of his condition cause his mind to crash back into darkness.
The suspense tightens, and the intense fatigue and angst in Pheonix’s performance escalate, as this back-and-forth effect progresses, until Arthur’s sanity inevitably snaps.
Arthur’s development is a powerful study in irony. Assuming his Joker persona, Arthur attains newfound focus and vigour, but commits horrific acts of violence and theatrical sadism. Arthur heals, but in sickening ways; this clash of sympathetic and monstrous makes him all the more compelling.
The film also features a slimy outing from Robert De Niro as Arthur’s talk-show host hero, grungy art direction capturing the widespread discontent and wealth disparity of ’80s America, and an eerie score from Hildur Guonadottir (composer for the Emmy-winning Chernobyl mini-series).
Joker is a taut, superbly-acted and deeply-confronting character study about a man both succumbing to darkness and growing through it.
