Joker: Folie à Deux - run time, age rating, synopsis and what have reviews been for Lady Gaga’s performance?

• After months of teasers and trailers, Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in UK cinemas this week (October 4 2024.)
• The follow up to Todd Phillips 2019 film Joker, the sequel sees Joaquin Phoenix return as the character, with Lady Gaga his co-star on this occasion.
• Here’s the run time and age rating in the UK for Joker: Folie à Deux, along with early reviews so far for the film.

It is quite possibly the biggest movie release of 2024, and if not the biggest certainly one of the most hyped - Todd Phillips follow up to 2019’s Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux.

The hype comes not only because of the success of the 2019 film starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, with the film becoming both a box office blockbuster and a critical darling amongst film reviews, but the addition of Lady Gaga in the sequel.

Gaga is set to take on the role of Harleen Quinzel, but in a fashion wholly different than the version portrayed by Margot Robbie in both Suicide Squad and it’s much-more well received requel, The Suicide Squad.

Rather than portray the “psychopathic” love interest of Joker as unhinged straight off the mark, the film instead will detail how Harley Quinn and Joker met inside Arkham State Hospital and what leads the character down the dark path.

The film title being a French expression, “the madness of two,” which is a rare psychiatric condition that occurs when two or more people in a close relationship share the same or similar delusional beliefs, seems to indicate that while Arthur might be on the path already, Harley Quinn might also be enabling him, though through the shared delusion they are revolutionaries.

So, with the film opening this Friday (October 4 2024), how long will you be spending in the cinema to watch Joker: Folie à Deux and will young adults be able to see the film or is it exclusively for those 18 years and over?

What is Joker: Folie à Deux about?

The official premise for the film reads: “Two years after the events ofJoker (2019), Arthur Fleck, now a patient at Arkham State Hospital, falls in love with fellow inmate Harleen Quinzel (a.k.a. Harley Quinn).”

“As the two experience life as a musical through their linked insanity, Arthur's followers start a movement to liberate him.”

Who stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux?

Though the film has essentially been billed as the Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga show, the movie has a very strong ensemble cast including Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Steve Coogan.

• Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker
• Lady Gaga as Harleen "Lee" Quinzel / Harley Quinn
• Brendan Gleeson as Jackie Sullivan
• Catherine Keener as Maryanne Stewart
• Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond
• Harry Lawtey as Harvey Dent
• Steve Coogan as Paddy Meyers

What is the run time for Joker: Folie à Deux?

IMDB lists the run time for Joker: Folie à Deux as 138 minutes - or in other words, a running time of two hours and 18 minutes. So prepare for a nearly 2 and a half hour experience at the cinema including trailers.

What is the age rating in the UK for Joker: Folie à Deux?

The British Board of Film Classification has rated Joker: Folie à Deux as a 15, due to “strong violence, language [and] brief sex.”

In their summary for the rating, the BBFC explained: “A criminal awaiting trial for a series of murders becomes infatuated with a fellow inmate in this brooding musical drama. Exploring themes of mental health and abuse, there are occasional moments of impactful violence.”

What have early reviews for “Joker: Folie à Deux” been like so far?

While there have been some polarising reviews since the film undertook the film festival circuit, it’s still certified “Fresh” at Rotten Tomatoes currently, with a score of 63% based on 49 reviews.

Of the more critical reviews, Flicks reviewer Rory Doherty stated that “It is not that this version of the Joker is inherently wrong, but it is uninteresting. Please let us be done with this,” while Tim Grierson of Screen International explained “where the original Joker remains a stunning exception — that rare blockbuster with emotional shading, grownup themes and a genuine sense of grandeur — this sequel fails to stay on the beat.”

Of the positive reviews though, Popmatters felt that “Fans will hopefully appreciate Phillips’ brave denouement and the points he makes about the absurdity of fighting in the realm of the symbolic, but it’s sadly unlikely the average viewer will leave the cinema thinking more than “that’s entertainment”.

Metro.co.uk gave the film a glowing review, stating that “Folie à Deux achieves two remarkable things. It updates the movie musical, using the genre in an inspired way that shouldn’t frighten fans who don’t like them. It’s also that rare sequel that meets – if not surpasses – the quality of its predecessor.

Joker: Folie à Deux opens in cinemas nationwide on October 4 2024, including Vue and Odeon. The film is part of Odeon’s MyLIMITLESS membership, allowing for unlimited access to see films for a monthly membership fee. For more information, visit Odeon’s MyLIMITLESS webpage.