The best performance I have ever witnessed on screen

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 2019)

Like all great movies, I need a few hours after the first viewing to absorb, and reflect. I'm talking about Joker. This is spoiler free, don't worry.
It's a rare thing to go into a film that lives up the the hype. Well, this one surpasses it. The story itself, we've seen kind of before, a person who's just been pushed too far, but here it's different, it's not a guy breaking bad, it's the story of a man who from the outset is disturbed to his very core, a man already gone over the edge, he's literally fallen so far, he's landed where he fell off.
His descent into further madness is portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix is not borderline genius, it's more than genius, every minute he's on screen, there is minor changes in his character that has to be surpassed from the previous minute. I have to wonder what his sanity is like after wrapping up. From the contortions of his emaciated body, to the expressions of absolute mental torture during his maniacal laughter. He is glorious, and I have never seen any actor give a performance like this. You know you should be appalled by his actions, but you cannot help but feel sorry for such a tortured character. Forget about the Oscar, he should get every conceivable award this year for this performance.
This leads me to Director Todd Phillips, he does a masterful job in tying everything together, but I can't go into that too much as it will lead to spoilers. The mood of a frustrated and explosive Gotham City is depressing as the mood of the world we live in now.
The soundtrack is great, some fantastic tracks from the time period as well as some really very haunting tunes from the same artist who worked on Chernobyl, The Handmaids Tale and The Reverend, ok I had to check IMDB but if your a fan of those shows and movie, you'll know what I mean, Hildur Guðnadóttir is her name and it's now on my phone, and I'm listening as I type.
Everything about this movie is perfect and a real joy for a fan of the Bat, and yes there is tons of connections. Check out Bruce's treehouse, a wonderful blink and you'll miss homage to the 60's Batman tv show.
a rare hyped movie that will have a cult following forever.
11/10