Joker: Folie À Deux has premiered and the reviews are pretty brutal

Joker (2019) was a pop culture phenomenon. Whether you liked it or not, the film's impact was undeniable. It snagged two Oscars, including Best Actor for its star, Joaquin Phoenix. A sequel to such a polarizing release was always going to elicit polarizing reactions, but the reception to Joker: Folie À Deux is even worse than we anticipated.

The film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and the first wave of reviews have come out as a result. There are definitely some positive notes, from outlets like The Independent and Deadline, who praised the lead performances by Phoenix and Gaga. Screen Rant also praised the film for being an improvement on the original in terms of ambition.

Joker 2 is said to be less 'dangerous' than Joker

Unfortunately, the bulk of the high profile reviews fall into the "thumbs down" camp. Owen Gleiberman commended director Todd Phillips and the cast for upping the narrative ante, but his Variety review claims that doing so sacrificed the focus and sense of danger that the first film evoked:

"Joker: Folie à Deux may be ambitious and superficially outrageous, but in a basic way it’s an overly cautious sequel."

The sentiment was echoed by David Ehrlich for IndieWire. The critic noted that the film's desire to subvert and upend the structure of what came before is admirable. He just feels that the premise is so thin, and the thematic conclusions it's drawing so obvious, that it fails to justify its own runtime.

Critics also feel the film is messier and less focused

"At no point does Phillips’ pleasure-denying concept become sophisticated or rewarding enough to justify the agony of sitting through it," Ehrlich remarks. The critic also noted that fans of the original will likely be disappointed by the decisions it makes with the titular character.

IGN was even more critical. Siddhant Adlakha derided the film for failing to make good on the promise of the Joker and Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) story promised in the trailer, in favor of a Joker-based yarn in which Joker is less proactive than he was previously.

Folie À Deux is going to be one of the biggest films of 2024 regardless of what critics say, and many of them make note of this in their reviews. The film will garner attention regardless of its quality, but given that Phillips, Phoenix and Gaga sought to make a sequel that challenged the original, it will be fascinating to see how it fares with the general public.