joker

The flip side of the movie is part courtroom drama, part character study, but the focus and tension from the original are missing here. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, Joker: Folie a Deux is a poor sequel that fails to capture the greatness of the original and does a lackluster job of blazing its own path.

Traditional storytelling relies on a coherent linear plot that ends with a satisfying conclusion -- ideally leaving no questions for the audience. However, the ambiguous storytelling offered by an unreliable narrator often leaves an audience with a lot more to think about, examine, and analyze.The execution of an unreliable narrator can vary; however, an unreliable narrator’s story is never trustworthy.

In examining the daunting reality we face every day, we consider the journey of the monster who perpetuates it. And when we consider the journey of this monster from beginning to end, we see how the nightmare unfolds. It’s common for us to see someone like a psychopath (Jojo Rabbit) or a sociopath (The Irishman) and trace their history back to a point or a series of points of trauma. Without this confluence of events, they may not have turned out to be as destructive as they are. They experience hardship at an early, tender time, and thus their worldview is tainted from then on.

Parasite is the best movie of the year, and Joker is a close second. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Academy resisting Quentin Tarantino’s exquisite plunge into 1969 Hollywood. The movie is catnip for voters. Plus, Parasite is destined to get its due in other categories. The screenplay for Parasite is one of the greatest original scripts in recent memory. It has a dazzling, Shakespearean depth. Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay is flawed (especially that unacceptable ending, which flirts with canceling out the significance of everything that leads up to it), but the vision he expressed on the page merits recognition.