2019 psychological thriller directed by Todd Phillips — starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck — an origin story for the DC villain Joker — depicting the descent of a mentally ill, socially marginalized man into nihilistic violence — the highest-grossing R-rated film at the time of release.
Creates the prestige art-house superhero character study — Joker strips the comic-book villain of franchise logic and reimagines him as a Scorsese-inflected social realist tragedy (heavily indebted to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy); Phoenix's performance is the most acclaimed villain portrayal in contemporary superhero cinema.
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