10 Movies To Watch If You Loved Joker (That Aren’t Folie A Deux)

Joker: Folie à Deux didn’t make a big impression on fans of the first film, prompting an examination of movies more similar to 2019’s Joker To watch as a palette cleanser. Openly antagonistic to fans of the previous film, Joker: Folie à Deux Failed to reach an audience, flopping even harder than infamous comic book movie bombs like Morbius and Madame Webb. With the sequel so widely disappointed for those who enjoyed it joker, It’s a better time than ever to examine some great films that are more similar to the first film than Joker: Folie à Deux Is.

The topics of Joker Include mental health, loneliness, abuse, and social disenfranchisementWhich are all better represented than in the commercial disaster Joker: Folie à Deux. Some of these films are obvious influences on the original, reflecting itself through Todd Phillips’ work both stylistically and thematically. Others are simply great chasers to the ideas presented in JokerBuilt on them without the burden of DC Comics representation.

10

Falling down

A true portrait of a man spiraling out of control

If there is one thing Joker Could have done differently to get his point across, it would have been to make Arthur Fleck more of a force to be reckoned with, giving him a much more visceral fall from grace. Falling down Accomplishes just that, following the downward spiral of a seemingly normal protagonist who quickly exposes who he really is.

The film centers on William Foster, a defense engineer trying to make it across Los Angeles in time for his daughter’s birthday party at his ex-wife’s house. Foster is subjected to a mixture of minor inconveniences and dangerous situations that quickly unleash his latent inner violence, prompting dramatic chaotic responses from what appears to be, on the surface, a rule-following citizen.

like joker, Falling down is quite a bleak film, centered on the relatability of its protagonist’s frustrations with the world around him. If Arthur Fleck was a lot more dangerous and less theatrical, he would look something like William Foster.

9

The Dark Knight

The answer to why the origin of Joker should remain unanswered

As a Batman-adjacent property, Joker Makes an argument for Joaquin Phoenix to put on the best performance of the Clown Prince of Crime ever. But at the end of the day, no one can top Heath Ledger’s legendary character The Dark KnightStill considered today to be the best Batman movie ever made. The second and most critically acclaimed of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, this film sees Christian Bale’s Batman take on his own terrifying version of The Joker as he continues to fight corruption in Gotham.

in many ways, The Dark Knight makes the opposite point of joker, Never give a concrete answer to the origins of the Joker. In truth, the character might be better served that way, more compelling as a chaotic force of nature than an actual character with an arc of his own. The Dark Knight Is worth watching still Joker Simply to decorate the only Joker performance capable of outshining Joaquin Phoenix.

8

Taxi driver

One of Joker’s biggest inspirations

It can’t be said that Todd Phillips doesn’t wear his influences on his sleeve joker, As the film takes incredibly clear cues from two of prestige cinema darling Martin Scorsese’s most important films. Taxi driver is one of the best films (not to mention one of the first) to create a character arc similar to Arthur Fleck’s – an overlooked and disgraced member of society who violently snaps. Travis Bickle serves as Arthur’s role model, a Vietnam veteran and taxi driver looking for an outlet for his latent rage.

in truth, Taxi driver Is basically the better version of joker, Presenting a more disturbing character study of a subject far more terrifying than Arthur Fleck. Unlike Phillips, Scorsese does not work to keep Travis sympathetic, making him a more complex and textured personality who is ultimately praised for his violence. The original model Joker mimic, Taxi driver is a must-see for fans of the independent comic book villain origin story.

7

The king of comedy

Scorsese’s misunderstood masterpiece

The second obvious inspiration for Joker To come out of Martin Scorsese’s filmography is easy the king of comedy Another abrasive character-driven tale. Unlike much of Scorsese’s other work, The king of comedy was a critical and commercial failure, only recognized for its brilliance years later. The movie follows Robert De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring stand-up comedian who longs to become a peer of his long-time idol, Jerry Langford, a famous late-night TV show host.

If Arthur Fleck’s latent rage and troubles as an outcast are best represented by Travis Bickle, his sense of stage presence and longing to be adored by the public is clearly evocative of Rupert Pupkin. Just like ArthurRupert is obsessed with the manufactured love of the audience and the razzle-dazzle of show business surrounding it, and becomes deeply disturbed and increasingly fanatical when his hero does not make his dreams come true. The film also ends on a similarly bleak note, condemning celebrity worship in American media culture.

6

Nightcrawler

Gets even darker than Joker

Drama-thrillers about awkward subjects like Joker They are always intriguing, but the great lengths Todd Phillips goes to ensure a proper amount of empathy for his Joker can sometimes get in the way. Enter knight warrior, A film whose protagonist has no morals, which is only to further his own agenda at the cost of everyone around him.

Nightcrawler Has all the slippery wetness and griminess of Jokers visual design, not to mention the strange perspective of a genuine psychopath. The difference in Arthur Fleck’s breaking point and Lou’s relentless pursuit of his own goals is night and day, however, serving as two sides of the same disturbing psychosis. The lengths Lou goes to in securing his new career dives even deeper into this sort of grim refuge of morality. Joker.

5

Action Club

Goes all-in on Joker’s toxic masculinity

It is safe to say that the same fanbase that enjoyed Joker For its dissection of trauma, anxiety, and alienation would feel right at home in a screening of Action Club. The film follows an unnamed protagonist, disillusioned by his life as a wage slave office drone, whose world is turned upside down when he meets Tyler Durden, a radical revolutionary who starts a no-holds-barred underground fighting ring simply called Fight Club. skirting around similar themes, Action Club is famous for its following that shares much in common with that of joker, Self-identifying with a violent character.

Wow Action Club Truly beautiful is in its commitment to Edgar Norton’s unreliable narration, much like that of Arthur Fleck in joker, Both of which end up having critical consequences on the story. The rejection of traditional structures Joker Explored is practically the thesis statement of fight club, which thrives in an examination of counter-culture. The film works so well as a supplement to the character of the Joker that Action Club is often theorized to be a Joker origin story of his own.

4

One hour photo

Shares a creepy fantastic lead

One aspect of Joker What often gets insufficient attention is Arthur Fleck’s fantasies centered on Zazie Beetz’s Sophie, not an idol or a celebrity, but a normal person with whom he has a simple pleasant interaction with whom he wants to stretch into a relationship. A similar premise serves as the basis of one hour photo, Which further dissects this sort of dissociative obsession. The movie stars Robin Williams as Sy, a lonely photo developer who harbors a secret obsession with one of his repeat customers, a nuclear family that may not be as idyllic as they seem.

Sis’s loneliness is even more desolate than Arthur Fleck’s, which makes his puppy-dog loyalty to the Yorkin family all the more heartbreaking. His trauma is also only vaguely removed, which keeps the narrative from beating the viewer over the head with the point it’s trying to make while still getting across that Sy suffered prior to the events of the film. Robin Williams is shockingly great as such a disturbed character, sharing the fantastical tendencies of Arthur Fleck, creating his ideal world as a coping mechanism.

3

American Psycho

Discovers that society can still neglect the rich and powerful

Few films live up to the original Joker Genre-wise and stylistically as tight as American Psycho. Straying further into horror territory than its thematic ancestors, American Psycho Starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a successful business executive whose life is completely surface-level and obsessed with appearances, harboring a dark desire for violence on an astonishing level. The film follows Batman’s murders as he struggles to make sense of reality and his own inner demons.

American Psycho Offers a similar critique of American culture through the other end of it, examining the empty and obscure lives of supposedly successful people like Patrick Bateman. The film also uses some similar tricks as to the unreliability of Batman’s perspective, as the relentless killer happens in reality through his own tenuous sanity. of American PsychoThe incredible soundtrack to its gut-wrenching depictions of violence, the film stands the test of time as the premiere screening of Jokers own topics.

2

A Clockwork Orange

Examine a similar story through the lens of youth

One downside to Joaquin Phoenix’s casting as Arthur Fleck is his age, which lacks an opportunity to disenfranchise him from the world around him through inexperience on top of everything else. A Clockwork Orange tells a similar story to joker, Only essentially the opposite, describing how a cruel system can beat down a showy murderer and psychopath to haphazardly forge a productive citizen. The film centers on Alex, a violent youth who is captured by the dystopian government of the film’s world and forced into aversion therapy to mold him into a model member of society.

Alex’s reversal of Arthur Fleck’s arc (which ultimately ends in futility) provides a fascinating topic of discussion about how far correction can morally go in “fixing” the inherently uncooperative. If a Joker can be pressure-cooked into existence by the callous, anchoring nature of an individualistic world, so too can an Alex be unethically reformed by the unrelenting pressure of a homogenous social structure. in this way, A Clockwork Orange is a brilliant chaser to Joker which simply moves in the opposite direction.

1

He loves me…he doesn’t love me

Goes all-in on delusional romanticism

It is firmly established that stories with unreliable narrators are the best analog movies to surround a Joker viewing. But still Joker: Folie à Deuxs Failing to promise to explore the same themes through a more romantic angle, one may be left for a similar story that fulfills the same niche. Look no further than he loves me…he doesn’t love me Also known by its original French language title, À la Folie… Pas du Tout. The film follows the escapades of a mentally unstable fine art student who develops a dangerous romantic obsession with a married cardiologist.

Rather than simply implying unreliable narration, He loves me…he doesn’t love me Shows the full effects of it, tells the same events twice from two perspectives. He loves me…he doesn’t love me is comparable to fellow French-made film Emily, Only with a much more disturbing psychological thriller Bent that puts it on the same dangerous level as Joker. with Joker: Folie à Deux‘‘s promise of erotomania that leaves many fans wanting, À la Folie… Pas du Tout May be the experience to try next.

Upcoming DC movie releases