Disturbingly brilliant film making

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2019)

Read all you like about "Joker" - there is nothing that will prepare you for the gut-punch to come. This is less "The Dark Knight" and more "Taxi Driver" but make no mistake, it feels like the most original take you have ever seen on a well-worn genre. It is an uber-violent character study of a mentally ill man trying to survive in a bleak society that is failing him. It is an immersive and cathartic experience, and an enthralling and uncomfortable one for the viewer.
If there is a more perfect performance than Joaquin Phoenix commands in this film, I would love to debate it. His depth and range is an acting masterclass and somehow demands empathy in a violent and disturbed character.
Todd Phillips stamps himself as a modern master with this film. The look and feel of the film has such pace and menace, yet at the same time creates a claustrophobic atmosphere.
It is a brilliant film. I hope people continue to see it as a cinematic masterpiece and it doesn't get caught up in politics or become part of a narrative of the sometimes flawed society we live in ourselves.