A truly haunting character study.

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2019)

'Joker' is the type of film that you want to rewatch immediately yet never watch again; it's as deeply disturbing as it is utterly compelling, leading to a unique experience that truly sticks with you. The pure visceral effect of it literally lasts for days, and once that wears off the narrative still lingers in your mind, something truly rare in today's age of cinema. It's an incredibly grounded character study, with one of the most complex protagonists in years. He's not a hero, but not quite a villain either. It's far more complicated than that, purely because it's simply far more realistic than that. Arthur fleck is just presented as a person, one who you aren't supposed to empathise with but rather pity. The film never forces you to feel a certain way about him either, as it just shows the events in a relatively unbiased way, which allows for different audience interpretations. The filmmaking here is fantastic, with everything from the cinematography and production design to the haunting score putting most films to shame. It still astounds me that Todd Phillips directed this as it's in a completely different league to anything he's helmed before. For all it's technical, behind-the-camera excellency though, there's no doubt that this wouldn't have been nowhere near as successful without Joaquin Phoenix's masterful performance. It has been said before, but it needs to be said again: this guy deserves the Oscar. It's far and away the best performance of the year, and is perhaps one of the best performances I've ever seen. Phoenix's mere presence here demands your attention and he completely throws himself headfirst into the role, outdoing himself in the process (a very high praise for an actor of his talents indeed). Sure, the writing is great too, but Phoenix completely sells Arthur's transformation in such a convincing way that I'm sure the performance could have overcame bad writing had it needed to. Thankfully though, Phoenix is matched by the film surrounding him, which just solidifies how great the whole thing is. Like I said, it's a very disturbing, even scary, watch that is completely absorbing from the opening frame. It's not fun, but it isn't supposed to be. It knows what it wants to be, establishes this very early on, and rolls with it, completely sticking the landing. It's an incredibly accomplished work and if DC stick to this route from now on, they'll soon become the leading company in comic book adaptations. 9/10