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Joker: Folie à Deux was a critical and box office flop, barely limping past its $200 million budget and leaving critics wondering “Who is this movie for?” The film did have some notable fans, including Francis Ford Coppola and Quentin Tarantino, with the latter praising its intentionally provocative nature in an appearance on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. Now Folie à Deux is available on VOD, so if you didn’t catch it in theaters, you can see what the fuss is all about. As is typical for a recent release, Folie à Deux is available to rent on Amazon Prime for $19.99 or buy for $24.99.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, whose victimization by society leads him to become Joker in the 2019 film. Rolling Stone praised the original in a contemporaneous review, writing “As entertainment and provocation, Joker is simply stupendous.”
The sequel sees Phoenix reprise his role as Joker, while the cast adds Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, based on the Harley Quinn character who originated in Batman: The Animated Series. Lady Gaga also recorded a companion album, titled Harlequin. In addition, the film adds Brendan Gleeson as a prison guard and Catherine Keener as Fleck’s lawyer, while Zazie Beetz reprises her role from the first film.
Todd Phillips’ Joker films are intended as standalone films, separate from Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise, which includes The Penguin series starring Colin Farrell. Adding to the confusion, the Phillips and Reeves films are both separate from James Gunn’s 2025 Superman film, which will kick off the DC Universe (DCU), itself a reboot of the DCEU started by 2013’s Man of Steel.
DC’s cinematic output is undoubtedly scattershot, with standalone films, TV shows, and breakoff franchises, but streaming all of this content is easy — everything DC lives on Max, and comic book fans can get both their DC and Marvel fix with the Disney/Hulu/Max bundle, which is available for $16.99/mo with ads or $29.99/mo without. Joker: Folie à Deux will undoubtedly land on Max as well, though no streaming date has been announced yet. The movie will also be available on Blu-Ray on Dec. 17, including as a collectible Steelbook. The Blu-Ray versions are available to pre-order now.
‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ 4K Blu-Ray Steelbook
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM