Joker: Folie à Deux is not simply a dark narrative of a broken mind told through the brilliant choice of one of the most spectacular genres in the history of cinema, particularly American cinema: the musical. It is a harsh reflection of the existential failure of a society collapsing from its very foundations. Arthur Fleck's descent into madness becomes a mirror of the menacing forces moving within the undercurrent of social and political life, revealing a terrifying truth: the world we live in is a shadow theater, full of illusions and shattered identities.
The Joker is the symbol of this disintegration, an entity crushed and reborn through the pain and indifference of his surroundings. Todd Phillips offers neither solutions nor catharsis here; instead, he returns to the Joker as a subject, allowing this time the film to plunge into the abyss of total ambiguity, where the boundaries between reality and illusion become so fluid that it no longer matters which is which. This amplifies Arthur’s ever-increasing and self-mocking presence—sometimes as the Joker and sometimes as a wounded, broken man. At the same time, in this second film, the political reflection is ever-present but deconstructed within the continual reflections of the birth and diffusion of a character both within a system of dominance that manifests as surveillance-punishment and from all forms of justice, as well as being pillaged by the hopes or sadistic and bloodthirsty reception from the masses.
At the heart of Joker: Folie à Deux, political reflection is evident: the film places the crisis of the system at its core, but not in the traditional way of revolutionary narratives. The Joker is not a revolutionary; he is the symptom of a society that has lost all cohesion. Politics is absent as a cathartic escape route, as is the formation of any substantive counter-narrative regarding the dissolution of the position of society and the masses. This happens because the very concept of politics, as commented on by "Joker 2," has lost any potential for meaning in an environment where the structures have disintegrated and justice functions as a punitive machine.
The courtroom is not a place of justice but a place of pointless condemnation. Harvey Dent is the embodiment of this state power, which punishes not for social restoration but as a mirror of its own moral decay. Arthur is not guilty only because he committed crimes; he is guilty because he symbolizes the failure of this society to save him, to understand him.
A Phenomenology of Madness!
The phenomenological core of the film lies in the ambiguity of reality. The musical scenes and the hallucinatory interruptions in the narrative function as expressive means of Arthur’s deep psychological disintegration. Here, the experience of madness is not just psychological but also ontological. The film forces us to see the world through the eyes of the Joker—a world where reality is as fluid as his thoughts. The audience is invited to ask: what does it mean to be sane in an insane world?
The dance and singing scenes, as well as the tender moments interspersed with them between Phoenix’s and Gaga’s characters, seem to come from the unconscious—both personal and societal. They are not merely hallucinations; they are manifestations of the deepest truth of the character and his interaction before and after with the society that shaped him. The pain that cannot be expressed in words finds an outlet through the dreamlike, imaginary dimension.
The psychological analysis of Arthur Fleck’s character also deepens in its exploration of trauma, individual identity, and the dissolution of the Ego. In this second film, Fleck is even more fragile; his relationship with Harley Quinn makes him an even more tragic character. Although Harley is seemingly his complement, she does not function as a balancing factor but instead as a divisive and destructive one. Her presence makes his loneliness and his inability to exist within a human community even clearer.
The two characters are trapped in a psychological vicious circle, where one feeds the madness of the other, never finding redemption. The psychological tension culminates through scenes that express their inability to escape the chaos they have created—not only for each other but for themselves as well.
Existential Collapse?
The existential dimension of Joker: Folie à Deux is perhaps the most crushing. The film offers no answers. Instead, it persistently raises questions about the nature of identity, madness, and freedom. In a world where everything is fluid, Arthur Fleck represents the person who recognizes his complete inability to find stability or meaning. In the despair of his existence, he transforms into the Joker—not to impose a new order but to accept chaos as inevitable.
The film offers no redemption—neither for the Joker nor for the audience. All that remains is the sense that absurdity has triumphed, leaving behind a world spinning into madness, alienation, the complete dominance of the powerful and their narratives, and despair. This film can be seen as a desperate cry against the loss of meaning, a descent into the abyss where the only reality is madness itself.
