Mesmerising and haunting

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2019)

I was a little nervous at the beginning of the film, as I didn't want it to be an obvious film i.e. tortured soul who suddenly turns and then plans his vengeance against all that had wronged him - and it wasn't...planned that is. The build up was beautifully paced and I was totally fascinated by the character that Joaquin Phoenix has created.
I found that the tone was perfectly held throughout the film, with each chapter moving on exactly when I started to have enough of, sometimes, very difficult content; Arthur Fleck appeared to be riding a chaotic wave that had risen in his life; shadowed by the true trickster figure he is to become, one that learns to lash out spontaneously - I won't write any spoilers here - but I have to agree with many others that JP's performance is utterly mesmerising - hard at times to watch, but culminating in a strangely elating ending.
As I said I don't want to spoil it for others by writing too much here, and it is not an easy film to engage with, but there are strong themes within this piece and I would absolutely recommend this as a wonderful piece of cinema, with the caveat that actually it is not the violence that is most disturbing about this film.