The sequel to the 2019 film is set to be released in UK cinemas on the 4th October.
Deadline.com: “It seems Phillips wants to comment on what’s become entertainment in a TMZ world where tabloid stories and social media dominate interest over more serious issues. We want the show. Meanwhile, we have a former president and current candidate, beloved by his base, holding court in a similar kind of sensational trial in New York City. Coincidence? That’s entertainment, indeed, but what are the consequences? Without giving anything away, Joker: Folie à Deux has some answers, and twists.”
The Independent: **** “Certain plot elements remain jarring. The lines between fantasy and reality aren’t always made clear, for instance. But overall Folie à Deux is just as edgy and disturbing as its forerunner, replicating the idea of modern American cities as terrifying powder kegs perpetually on the cusp of explosion.”
The Guardian: *** “This crazy self-possession propels the film up its laborious narrative gradient. And Lady Gaga delivers a diva charge. Could it be that her Harley Quinn will return in an adventure of her own?”
BBC.com: ** ” In Joker: Folie à Deux, Phillips isn’t taking any chances. He has devoted his sequel to the message that Fleck is a wimpy, self-centred stooge who lets down everyone around him. He’s a nobody. Depending on how you look at it, this demythologising exercise is either daring or it’s irritatingly smug, but it’s definitely not much fun. Phillips seems to be saying that if you fell for Fleck’s Messianic self-image the last time around, then the joke’s on you.”
Variety: “Audiences, I suspect, will still turn out in droves to see “Folie à Deux.” But when it comes to bold mainstream filmmaking, it’s the scolds who are having the last laugh.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “Gaga is a compelling live-wire presence, splitting the difference between affinity and obsession, while endearingly giving Arthur a shot of joy and hope that has him singing “When You’re Smiling” on his way to court. Their musical numbers, both duets and solos, have a vitality that the more often dour film desperately needs.”
Empire: **** “Phillips, Phoenix and now Gaga have fashioned a genuinely original narrative, even in its obvious magpie’s-nest borrowing. Folie À Deux is not the definitive Joker story — maybe there will never be one — but no other adaptation has burrowed this far under the character’s face-painted, mutilated skin.”