During the COVID-19 pandemic, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbour is pitted against neighbour in Eddington, New Mexico.

Aster takes audiences back to May 2020 in the fictional backwater of Eddington (pop. 2,634), Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), a wheezing, anti-mask sad sack, locks horns with Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), the slick technocrat pushing lockdowns and a massive AI data hub. Time and pressure leads their escalating feud into a full-on explosion of values and animosity that soon tips into full-blown political theater as Joe runs for mayor in a rage-filled campaign against the future of public health and tech. Emma Stone provides support as Louise, Joe’s fragile, shut-in wife gets caught in the crossfire of her husband’s political ferver, and is lured further into delusion by her conspiracy-obsessed mother (a standout) and slippery cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler) preaching viral mayhem.

Eddington has a lot going on it, and it’s a cinematic experience that is genuinely different and unexpected. Running at it’s slow burn nature never feels hinged, but when the chaos does kick off, it’s bloddy explove and you’re left in a very WTF state! Sharp, exhausting, chaotic and frequently maddening, Eddington is a savage satire of contemporary America, and it’s utterly wild and volatile that when it’s twists and turns do hit you’re left in mouth-a-gape awe.

Aster’s cast is top notch, and they pull off a bunch of characters who are generally so-messed up and unlikeable that you just can’t look away. Joaquin Phoenix is unhinged gold as Sheriff Joe Cross, who morphs from a grumpy protector to unrecognizable rage machine, grandfathered into hios role and completely out of his depth, his whispery psychosis and pseudo-leadership are mesmerising, and he takes he pushes his deranged performance to the max. Facing off against him is Pedro Pascal as slick and popular Mayor and local business owner Ted Garcia, who is fundamentally everything Cross isn’t, and he’s too keen on following money, rather than looking into the good of the community. It’s special to watch these two butt heads, and with Eddington’s unpredictability things get messy fast.

Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone lives up to her talent as the Louise, Cross’ disturbed, shut-in wife who is quickly losing it, and fast, and she’s only person you feel any kind of empathy for, especially in light of her husbands growing sense of mania. Then there’s Austin Butler who shows up like a warped pied piper cultist, dripping charisma and menace with every leaked livestream as the bug-eyed, enchanting Vernon Jefferson Peak.

Eddington doesn’t just reflect 2020; it detonates it, turns it upside down, dips it in venom, and hands you a gun and a meme to carry forward. It’s uncompromisingly bleak and hilariously savage, a cultural fever dream that kicks you while you’re laughing. Aster doesn’t offer healing—he offers a mirror cracked nearly beyond repair, and dares you to look anyway. This is film that is stunningly fresh, backed out with bizarre and confrontational surprises, and that is sure to cause derision. But to Aster that’s the entire point, as his fierce satire cuts close.

If you’re into films that feel like a punch to the gut wrapped in a grotesque joke, this is your desert showdown. But be warned: it’s not cathartic. It’s combustible. Eddington leaves wounds, and questions, burning long after the credits roll, and that makes it one of 2025’s most audacious cinema showings.

Image: Universal Pictures

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Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) institutionalised at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

Todd Phillips’ Joker was a monumental cinematic achievement, a modern-day masterpiece of narrative, performance, atmosphere, and score, which earned rave reviews and a dominant box office gross of over $1 billion dollars. It was a film that took the greatest supervillain of all time, The Joker, and reinterpreted his character and psyche in a radically different way, leaving audiences stunned. Now, five years later, Phillips returns to continue the story of Arthur Fleck/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally unstable and severely damaged individual whose actions unleashed chaos on the streets of Gotham City, manifesting the presence of sheer anarchy in Joker. Where 2019’s Joker was a dark and nihilistic thriller of the birth of a villain, Joker: Folie à Deux is a spinning, whirling, and bright piece of musical theatre character study. Audiences are pulled deeper into Arthur’s twisted and scarred psyche as Gotham City braces for the trial of the century, and many layers and subtexts are explored in a film that channels ‘Singing in the Rain’ by way of ‘The OJ Simpson Trial’, with the narrative leading to plenty of unexpected moments.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a character study presented as a musical, allowing audiences to delve into the fractured mind of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix). Arthur, now confined to the hell of Arkham Asylum, has become a macabre celebrity as his trial date approaches. Through the use of music, singing, and dance, the chaotic presence of Joker emerges, providing an examination of these two unique characters. Phillips finds a mix of psychological complexity and off-kilter comedy in the narrative, not to mention its lavish musical numbers, which all add to the texture and feel of the story. He also continues to build on his radically different version of Gotham City, 1984, with the environment of Arkham Asylum serving as its own character and bringing out Joker’s twisted personality. Additionally, characters like the ambitious and showboating Harvey Dent, Gotham’s District Attorney, add to the complexity of the movie, shedding light on the deeper layers of Arthur Fleck’s character.

For his performance in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix was granted an Academy Award, and most deservedly so. As the frayed, tormented, mentally disturbed and psychologically violent character, he presented an incredible take on one of pop culture’s most fascinating and unique villains. It was a performance of sympathy and malice, derangement and terror, and we witnessed the actions of a fractured soul that led to the rise of pure chaotic anarchy in a single moment of violence. Now, through the medium of song and dance, audiences are taken deeper into Fleck’s mind in Joker: Folie à Deux, and Phoenix is given room to play as only he can. Within this film, Phoenix taps his inner Fred Astaire, and his all-singing, all-dancing fantasy illusions bring out the presence of the snappy and malicious Joker, his shadow self, and this is contrasted with his waking form of the beaten down and mentally unstable Arthur. Phoenix dwells deeper into these two distinctive personalities, and we get a real character study of each personality, leading us to who the real Arthur Fleck truly is.

Injecting a dose of crazy into Joker: Folie à Deux is the presence of another seminal DC character, Harley Quinzell, portrayed here as Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a fellow patient of Arkham Asylum who becomes infatuated with Arthur and who leads him down a path of madness of her own construction. Gaga inhabits Lee with her peroxide blonde hair, crazy cat-eyed stare, and bombastic personality and exudes a sense of compulsive, antisocial and narcissistic traits that gift her with a penchant for arson and a desire to cause as much trouble as possible. She has a penchant for toying with people and has an almost Charles Manson-like grip over Arthur’s emotions as she coaxes further chaos out of Arthur in the form of Joker. Her presence not only amplifies the actions of Joker but also keeps the audience off guard when it comes to the film’s narrative, leading to plenty of surprises.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a significantly different cinematic experience compared to the first Joker film, as it is set up as a musical. Drawing inspiration from the classic musicals of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, Todd Phillips and his team utilise elaborate set dressing and big band settings to delve deeper into the chaotic fantasy world in which Joker exists within Arthur Fleck’s mind. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga deliver compelling singing and dancing performances that evoke a mix of Sonny and Cher meets Bonnie and Clyde, reflecting their co-dependent mania. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher skillfully captures the oppressive world of Arthur with its sickly palettes of greens and yellows, as well as Joker’s vibrant world of red, orange, purple, and teal, creating an immersive cinematic experience for audiences. Additionally, Academy Award winner Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score expands the ambience of the film, infusing it with tension through sinister chords.

Thematically Joker: Folie à Deux delves deeper into the themes introduced in the original Joker, while also explores new ideas surrounding identity and fantasy. It takes the audience further into Arthur Fleck’s troubled mind, highlighting the extent of his fractured psyche. Audiences get to peer into the confrontation of the ego and ID of Arthur and Joker, as this film seeks to answer the the question of: Who is the real Arthur Fleck? Through its exploration of identity and reality, and the inclusion of elaborate fantasy scenes that reveal Arthur’s true self, Joker: Folie à Deux offers a textured and complex character experience that will captivate audiences seeking a deeper understanding of the character.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a film that swings for the fences with its narrative, and it’s a film that genuinely takes audiences by surprise. What we get is a loud and colourful musical experience that reveals the true character of a villain, and it offers an interesting point of view that makes for an unexpected yet intriguing picture.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Now Phillips and Phoenix are back for the much-anticipated sequel, Joker: Folie À Deux. This time, they’re bringing along multi-talented singer-songwriter and fellow Academy Award winner Lady Gaga for the ride. The result appears to be a highly taught and incredibly creative musical-crime opus that will completely shake up audiences.

Watch the all-new trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) institutionalised at Arkham Asylum, and awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love (Lady Gaga), but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

This new trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux is utterly sensational in its production and follows on from the pulse-pounding teaser trailer, and it sets the stage for something completely unexpected. Having caused a large-scale riot and being implicated in multiple murders, Arthur Fleck, better known as Joker, awaits the ‘trial of the century’, and unexpectedly falls in love with a musical therapist of Arkham Asylum, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who is carrying her own sense of derangement, and their crazy love is sure to spell disaster for Gotham City.

The new trailer does not provide any sense of narrative direction or specific plot points. Instead, it focuses on mood and tone and captures the anarchy that swells up around Arthur and Lee as their insane love for each other boils over. Phillips himself brings an incredible level of grandeur to the project, and the prevailing narrative has an almost ‘OJ Simpson trial meets Singing in the Rain‘ quality.

What is clear is that Phoenix, the Academy Award winner, has completely folded back into the skin of Arthur Fleck. With his gaunt frame and the gleam of madness behind the eyes, he’s ready to make a complete show out of his trial and ignite a new fire through Gotham. Audiences will also be given a special treat as Phoenix will engage in both song and dance as his already fragile psyche cracks even further, and this new narrative device will lead to a real surprise for audiences.

Sharing in Arthur Fleck’s madness this time around in Joker: Folie À Deux is Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a music therapist who is drawn to Arthur while he is incarcerated at Arkham Asylum and who stokes his madness and anarchy… and the fire that spreads. Gaga truly revels in the glee and insanity that follows Arthur, and her dark intentions are slowly revealed as the trailer progresses. While Phillips has been coy on the characterisation of Gaga’s Lee, and her purpose in the narrative, he has described her as being an almost ‘Charles Manson-esque figure’ to Arthur… and this can certainly only more chaos awaits in Joker: Folie À Deux.

Joker: Folie À Deux appears to be an utter spectacle. With its bold vision, unique handling of a classic villain’s mythology, and sensational song and dance numbers, it will be incredibly memorable to watch when it arrives in cinemas on October 3.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.

Sir Ridley Scott reigns supreme when it comes to utter visionaries of the cinematic arts. As a director with the seamless ability to transition from genre to genre and who can create worlds of enormous size and scale, no one is more skilled than him. With a long list of desirable credits, including Alien, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and The Last Duel, Scott now turns his attention to his most lavish and expansive project yet, Napoleon, which brings to life the French Revolution and the path that it would create for a young, talented and ambitious Corsican soldier, Napoleon Bonaparte, who through ingenuity, skill, and ruthless ambitious would climb to the heights of utter power. Scott brings to life with Napoleon an extraordinary vision that balances a taut and complex personal drama with that of nation-rattling epic war drama, and audiences will be left awe-struck.

The films of Ridley Scott carry with them an incredible visual flair, and the great director’s background as a draftsman and painter has led him to craft some of the most beautiful images ever brought to the cinema screen. Napoleon is no exception, and its imagery is wrapped in a gorgeous Baroque light channelled from the height of the Napoleonic age. And it makes for a stunning viewing experience. Cinematography, production design, art direction, costume design, prop design and score all work together to build this incredibly ambitious project, whose presentation feels like the grandest of operas. Napoleon is a lavishly visual feat from its depiction of the Revolution and the Reign of Terror to the decadence, splendour and hedonism that followed in the palaces and balls of the era, to the awe-inspiring feats of combat and battle that would re-shape Europe, all of it is presented on screen with such majesty by Scott.

Napoleon is a grand and opulent piece of cinema to behold, and the lavish luxury of the new aristocracy sweeps the audience up in the picture thanks to the beauty of its Baroque imagery. But it’s the film’s explosive battles where the dynamic energy of the picture truly stands out, and the experience of these battles is utterly awe-inspiring. During his life, Napoleon Bonaparte fought 61 battles, and Scott captured six of the most decisive ones in Napoleon. The director gives each of these set pieces their own rhythm and style, and each is a marking point for the developing life of Napoleon. At the Siege of Toulon in 1793, we find the young Napoleon using sheer force and youthful aggression to overwhelm British forces. And it is a bloody, violent affair. At the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798, his cannons made Egypt shake and quiver. His brilliant, devious, and Machivallein’s mind came into play at his decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 that cemented his power through continental Europe. Then there is the mighty Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, which defined the Napoleonic Age. It is captured with such force by Scott, and it is one of the most audacious and explosive battle scenes ever committed to the silver screen.

Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix leads from the front in Napoleon as the great general turned emperor. He offers up a dynamic and fully-formed presence as the great conqueror. Pheonix is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation, and this talent was itself shaped by Scott in his exceptional performance as Commodus in 2000’s Gladiator. Now, more than twenty years later, these two collaborators have returned for Napoleon, and Phoenix is flawless in his performance as Bonaparte. He completely disappears into the commander’s presence and offers a performance of chiselled focus and frenzied egotism. The actor captures Bonaparte’s chaotic and aggressive personal life and balances it out against his natural strategic mind and gift for the battle that led him to be called a Master of War. Phoenix also finds himself in the fray’s vanguard and is always in the very midst of the fight. But it’s in Bonaparte’s aggressive desire for power and glory where Joaquin Phoenix’s performance truly excels, and it’s one for the ages.

Facing Joaquin Phoenix is English thespian Vanessa Kirby, whose star is rapidly rising, and she delivers an utterly flawless performance as Bonaparte’s lower and consort, Empress Josephine. Kirby shows an incredible range as Josephine, a complex and difficult woman who, on one side, is deeply affectionate and flirtatious, the other cold and abrasive and scornful of her husband’s infatuations, driving him in his grasp for power. There is a twisted co-dependence and masochism shared between the two of them, and you feel that Josephine was an ever greater strategist than her husband, as he could never fully possess her. Kirby captures the true spirit of the character, with her position as a glamourous host and trendsetter is juxtaposed with her lavish party girl antics, with her actions getting under her husband’s skin. Kirby’s performance has many shifting layers, and raw emotion shapes her role as Josephine. Her natural glamour and elegance add to the poise of her performance, and Kirby keeps Phoenix on his toes just as Josephine kept Napoleon on his.

The Napoleonic Age gave rise to some of the most dynamic characters to ever live, and Scott captures their presence with the intellect of a historian and an artist’s eye. He’s assembled a cast of some of the best talent working today, and their combined skill brings the Napoleonic Age to life. Tahar Rahim is the astute and worldly Paul Barras, a leading figure in the events that follow the Reign of Terror and who foresees the talent in Bonaparte and looks to put him to use. As Napoleon’s scheming political alley and foreign minister Talleyrand, Paul Rhys brings a formidable and deadly intelligence to a man that elevated Bonaparte’s ambitions. And finally, the great Rupert Everett gives a scene-stealing performance as Arthur Wellesley, The Duke of Wellington, a man esteemed as one of the greatest military commanders ever. Everett is completely stirling in the role, capturing Wellington’s perfect ‘stiff upper lip’ pragmatism. Quick-witted and adeptly sharp, Everett’s performance is a tribute to Wellington’s command of Waterloo and delivered as a pure class piece.

Scott’s Napoleon is an epic for the ages, and its scale and size eclips his previous works. This picture captures the passion and fire of the Napoleonic Era and the events and characters that would change the course of the world’s destiny forever. Napoleon is immense and grand in both production and delivery, and Scott spares none of the violence, sex, emotion, or intimacy of the picture. All of it makes for an operatic experience. The great director applies no filters to the chaos and destruction of Napoleon’s wars and his examination of how far ambition can take a man. The conflict of drama meshes with the destruction of battle and is wrapped up in the glory of conquest for a gigantic viewing experience.

Napoleon is a grand and immense spectacle, and it truly captures the spirit of both the man and the era that bore his name. It’s also a testament to the skill and command of Sir Ridley Scott and is utterly epic to witness.

Image: Sony Pictures

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Watch the all-new trailer for Napoleon below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.

As a filmmaker, Sir Ridley Scott is one of the greatest cinema artists working today. Whenever he steps behind the camera, he creates incredible cinematic works, and his long list of credits which includes the likes of Alien, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangster and The Last Duel, is a testament to his skill and vision. Now Scott brings to life the audacious and incredible story of Napoleon Bonaparte, who, through ingenuity, skill and relentless ambition, would rise to become Emperor of France and conquer much of Europe in the process.

Building off of the first teaser trailer, this new trailer for Napoleon focuses on the soldier turned general turned tyrant’s tireless pursuit of power and the volatile and almost masochistic relationship he shared with his lover and wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). Both Phoenix and Kirby have perfect chemistry that is shared between the two of them, and Scott revs up the drama between the two of them for a picture that will have you on edge.

Napoleon is far and away Scott’s grandest picture to date, and that is indeed saying something. The great director fully captures the scale, pageantry and chaos of the Napoleonic Wars, and its incredible battle sequences will make cinemas quake. This is a picture that brings together all of Scott’s immense talent for the art of cinema, and it will be an absolute must-watch on IMAX screens.

 

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Prepare for a powerful and dramatic epic when Napoleon arrives in cinemas on November 23.

Image: Sony Pictures

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Watch the full trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

An original and personal look at Napoleon’s (Joaquin Phoenix) origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).

Sir Ridley Scott is no stranger to epic film productions, having directed the likes of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, American Gangster, All the Money in the World and The Last Duel, and Napoleon is the revered filmmaker at his best. Scott brings audiences into the turbulent and revolutionary times that followed France’s Reign of Terror and which would find a talented, capable and ambitious young general who claws his to power by conquest and cunning.

Tapping into his acclaimed ability to bring worlds to life, Scott has not shied away from the opulence and scale that Napoleon’s life demanded, and this work is bathed in the beauty of Neo-Classical design and the gunpowder and musket flair of the roaring battles that followed it. With its mix of political intrigue, a deeply personal and romantic drama, and some of the most jaw-dropping battle scenes ever brought to the big screen, there can be no mistake that Napoleon will be an event movie for 2023.

Phoenix is riding high following his Academy Award-winning performance in Joker, and having re-teamed with Scott for Napoleon, the two of them produce something very special. Phoenix is both equal parts commanding and frightening with his lively performance as the legendary Corsican general who rose to command all of France, and he owns every bit of the screen. History offers him plenty of intensity with this role, and it’s an utterly transformative performance for the actor.

Playing off of Phoenix is rising star Vanessa Kirby who steps into the role of Napoleon’s one true love, Josephine. A passionate woman, who is firey in both love and temper, Kirby excels in the part, and this glamorous historical figure gives her an incredible performance. As her husband’s power grows ever more dominant, their relationship strays and fractures, leading to some very real tension for the two of them. Of the complex and often times flawed relationship that they shared, Scott said “Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by. He came out of nowhere to rule everything—but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”

Napoleon’s vast scale and operatic narrative is sure to sweep audiences up in its production, and this is a production that was made for the big screen. With its lavish set design, oppulent costuming, period rich detail and more than 16 battle scenes that include legendary campaigns such as The Siege of Toulon and The Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon is a film audiences will not want to miss out on.

Brace yourself for glory when Napoleon arrives in cinemas on November 23.

Image: Sony Pictures

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Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) is an emotionally stunted and softspoken radio journalist who travels the country interviewing a variety of kids about their thoughts concerning their world and their future. Then Johnny’s saddled with caring for his young nephew Jesse (Woody Norman). Jesse brings a new perspective and, as they travel from state to state, effectively turns the emotional tables on Johnny.

Filmmaker Mike Mills takes audiences on a journey of both the geographic and the emotional in the simple yet heartwarming tale C’Mon C’Mon and thanks to the director’s keen eye and attention to detail, this one will certainly stay with you. Best described as a small, intimate, character study of family, parenthood and connection, C’Mon C’Mon sees a career-best Joaquin Phoenix proving why he is in such demand and telling a story that you feel means a lot to him. As Johnny, a cross-country travelling radio DJ and journalist, he’s a man without connections or attachments until they suddenly come calling to him in the form of his curious, playful and wild nephew Jesse (Woody Norman).

Mills takes his time in telling the story of C’Mon C’Mon and this is a piece of cinema that is expressed at its own time and pace, and its ability to just focus on the moment of the scene is what truly gets to you as an audience member. Best described as a series of vignette meetings as Phoenix’ Johnny is given charge of his wild and curious young nephew Jesse, this is the story of a man who must now accept responsibility as a quasi-parent and who for the first time in his life has the chance to experience what the concept of a family truly means. Shot in crisp black and white by cinematographer Robbie Ryan, C’Mon C’Mon has its own mood and feel to it. Mills focuses on character moments over sheer narrative and for audiences, it’s interesting to see the presentation of a story that feels so normal and home-grown and which unfolds in a real-time setting.

As he is known to do, Phoenix again slips inside the character of Johnny, a sharp, methodical DJ and journalist who is possessed of great empathy and understanding and who suddenly for the first time in his life has to undertake the role of a quasi-parent. What results is a sharp shock for a man who has lived his life for the majority of it as a bachelor and it’s through this new relationship and care for his young nephew Jesse that he comes to see a greater purpose for life and finds an appreciation for the little things that makes life worth living. The character of Johnny allows Phoenix to be incredibly introspective with his performance and as this story plays out before your eyes we see this man change and come to beware of the greater world around him and his place within it.

The approach that director Mike Mills takes to C’Mon C’Mon is entirely his own and it’s nice to see a film that follows its own pace and explores the internal emotions of its main character. Yes there are moments of heavy drama, which relate to the innocuous moments of parental life, such as losing a child in a crowd or simply becoming rundown with the day-to-day motions of parenthood, but it’s because of this that C’Mon C’Mon is so easy to connect with as an audience member and why it’s so uniquely charming. It’s a film of simple characters who exist in the world we all live in and who are prone to thoughts and meditations that we all think on.

C’Mon C’Mon is a beautifully articulated piece of cinema that gets to the heart of family, parenthood and what it means to be in someone else’s life. It’s a piece of cinema made with the sincerest of love and you can’t help but be dazzled by it.

Image: Transmission Films

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In 1981, a failed stand-up comedian named Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) disregarded by the society turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.

Let it be known that Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Joker is utterly transformative. When you first lay your eyes upon Arthur Fleck it is apparent that this guy is beyond a doubt a loser. Arthur exists at the very bottom rung of the ladder in this broken system, and every day is a bad day. Beaten down by the society that he exists in, Arthur is continually flayed out by his needy mother, a loathsome work environment, his unfulfilled dreams of comedic success, and a society that is so uncaring that it doesn’t even recognise him. As we watch this man’s suffering unfold on screen, we soon start to see a brutal streak begin to develop within him, and when this callousness eventually explodes, with shocking fury I might add, it completely takes your breath away. Through all of the chaos that presents itself up upon the screen you only witness the character of Arthur and not a hint of Phoenix’s actorly self, and this is what makes his performance such an utter triumph.

Phoenix’s performance in Joker transcends every part of his being as an entertainer. As soon as he steps into the dishevelled shell of Arthur Fleck you see a completely different side to the actor. His physical appearance, facial expression, posture, voice, all of it changes as he steps into the character of Arthur. Everything about the construction of Arthur Fleck is designed to bring him down. Seeing this man walk through the trash laden streets of Gotham City, you meet a man who is being crushed by the weight of the world around him, and it pains you as an audience member to watch it. Phoenix’s key trait as Arthur is his maniacal laugh, which is rooted in the neurological condition of pathological laughter, and its shrill, high pitch certainly leads to plenty of uneasy moments. As the film moves forward and Arthur begins to accept the madness building up around him, we see his shadow self emerge in the Joker and the idea of a happy ending evaporates quickly!

Guiding the insanity that is on display here in Joker is Todd Phillips, and his direction here is nothing short of astounding. With Joker, Phillips has taken the comic book genre and completely cut it apart as he dives into the analysis of the villainous archetype, and what drives a man to manifest himself as insanity incarnate. Framing his story around the classic notion of the Joker’s ‘one bad day’ narrative, Phillips takes audiences into the dark recesses of the human psyche as Arthur slowly becomes a terrifying force to contend with. Phillips builds a viewing experience that is completely seamless here, and thanks to the power of the delivery of his narrative you get caught up in the events that are unfolding before you.

Joker is marked out by a cinematic style that harkens back to the films of the 1970s and early 1980s and it helps to set the mood for the grimy, grungy world of Gotham City. Alongside its lead protagonist, the dirty, failing environment of Gotham City plays a major part in the film’s story, and longtime Batman fans will get a thrill at seeing Phillips take on it. Inspired by classic films of the 1970s and early 1980s, including the works of Martin Scorsese such as Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and The King of Comedy, Phillips paints the picture of a crumbling, broken urban landscape which is plagued by massive income inequality, squalid living conditions and corruption at every level. This Gotham City is ready to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and all of its adds into the conditions that bolster Arthur’s evil shadow.

Two of the most important contributions to the success of Joker are its cinematography and score and Phillips lucks out here. Phillips regular cinematographer Lawrence Sher is on board for the ride and he crafts a film that is possessed by a haunting beauty. Making terrific use of light and shadow and the contrast that exists between them, along with an incredible colour palette that ranges from sickly greens and depressing greys to bright yellows and crimson reds, Sher’s eye for detail helps to visualize a unique cinematic experience for modern filmgoers. Then there’s the ghoulish score of composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, and her use of this gloomy, evocative music grounds you in the faltering world that surrounds Arthur and the nightmares that plague his subconscious. The union of these two filmmaking art forms contribute heavily to the success of Joker and Phillips makes incredible use of them in bringing his vision of Joker to life.

On the thematic level, a lot is going on inside of Joker and one of the most notable themes that Phillips explores here is the relationship between comedy and tragedy. Often regarded as the two most defining theatrical styles, every audience member is accustomed to the workings of these genres, but here Phillips pulls between each of them to show how each affects the other in his film. Added to this is the growing madness that slowly builds throughout the film, and audiences will be shocked as to how Phillips uses the idea of madness to shape this cinematic work. From narrative to character, the juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy impacts every part of Joker and Phillips thematic uses of genre helps him to get a reaction from his audience.

Added to this is Phillips deep exploration of the Shadow, a construct of Jungian archetypal psychology which has long held considerable sway over the source material related to the Joker. And here we see all of it on display. Joker is the exploration of a how a villain is formed and in the case of Arthur Fleck its the result of considerable trauma, a seething level of resentment, deep psychological scares, a failing approach to mental health and the uncaring world that this broken man lives in.

In Joker we see both nature and nurture lead to the manifestation of an extreme evil, and there’s plenty of shocking moments on display. It’s rare to see this level of analysis from a filmmaker, especially concerning a portrait of a villain, who as characters are so often regarded as one dimensional bad guys all for the sake of dramatic tension. But with Joker Phillips takes us inside the inner workings of a mind that is slowly falling to those darker human impulses, and I bet that you’ve never seen anything like it before.

Be forewarned that Joker is a piece of cinema that is not for the faint of heart. This is a film that is confronting, horrific and completely savage in its creation, but it is also something truly incredible to behold. In a world that is so accustomed to the workings of comic book narratives, it can sometimes feel like there’s no new direction to take the genre in. Joker is the answer to this. It’s a piece of cinema that looks to both its source material and the medium of film for inspiration, and then having sampled it, does it’s own things instead. For a director like Todd Phillips Joker is a very brave piece of film to make, and it brings something incredibly different to cinemas. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a piece of cinema that is so original in its construction, both in relation to the comic book genre and the medium of film in general, and that’s why Joker’s existence is such a triumphant success.

Joker is that piece of cinema where everything about it comes together. Direction, narrative, casting, production and score. All of it is present and accounted for here and it makes for an incredibly memorable viewing experience. It’s a film that will both shock and entrance you and I’m certain that you won’t be able to look away. And when its final frame fades to black and the credits begin to roll, you’ll come upon the realisation that you’ve witnessed something truly unique.

Image: Roadshow Films

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Watch the first trailer for Joker below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 1981, a failed stand-up comedian named Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) disregarded by the society turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.

While audiences are no strangers to superhero cinema, they’ve never seen anything like this before. Dark, brooding and filled with psychological malice, Joker appear to be a hard-edged psychological thriller that will take audiences into the black edges of the mind with it’s tale of a man who slowly begins to lose his mind with terrifying results.

Joker is a completely new step forward for Phillips, and you can forget about any type of Hangover style comedy here. With it’s grimy palette and edgy style, Joker is bearing influences from the likes of the work of Martin Scorsese and Darren Aronofsky, and this trailer will absolutely have you on edge. This is clearly filmmaking that goes right for your throat, and it’s going to be a completely wild ride.

While Phillips may be at the command of this madness train, it’s Joaquin Phoenix who takes audiences on this journey of insanity as Arthur Fleck and his transformation into the savage and unhinged Fleck is brilliant! Gaunt, pale, unkemp and completely out of control, Phoenix is definitely going to unnerve audiences here…and his laugh is tinged with creepiness which will send a shiver down your spine.

Juxtaposing themes of joy and comedy with horror and mania, Joker is going to be one seriously intense watch, and is set to re-interpret both The Joker and the Batman mythos in a whole new light. And I’ve also got to praise the trailer’s use of Nat King Cole’s ‘Smile’ which only adds to the mounting psychological tension and makes for a perfect fit here with Joker.

Get ready for something completely bold, original and new when the world’s greatest supervillain arrives in cinemas on October 3.

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