Rachel Knight

Joker 2019 (Todd Phillips) Film Review

"I just hope my death makes more cents than my life” Todd Phillips’ Joker takes darkness to another level. It can be summarised with the phrase ‘you can be kind to the world, but the world will not be kind back’. A deeply disturbing, bleak and gripping exploration of a broken individual with a complex antihero that leaves viewers seriously questioning their relationship with the ‘protagonist’. We watch Arthur Fleck’s miserable world (full of miserable people) fall apart through a painful series of events that seemingly cannot get any worse until the next comes along. His character develops throughout the film in a unique fashion, ending up even more insane than he was to begin with. Yet it is the consequence of this that provides him with his new identity that he is so pleased with, as he becomes a saint for those similarly outraged and negatively impacted by the system. Arthur subconsciously fuels further rebellion against “fascist” mayor Thomas Wayne following his actions on the Murray show, by which pure anomie is generated.