‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ ending explained: Do Arthur and Lee end up together?
Joker: Folie à Deux is finally in cinemas, but do Arthur Fleck and Lee Quinn end up together by the end of the film? Read on for the full breakdown.
The sequel to 2019’s Joker was released on October 4, after receiving its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last month. It catches up with Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, while he is a patient at a mental health facility after the events of the first film, where he falls in love with Lady Gaga’s Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.
The film has had a rough opening at the box office, drawing $40million domestically, well short of expectations. It has also earned a ‘D’ score on CinemaScore, the first comic book movie ever to be rated so low.
Much has also been made of the film’s embrace of the musical genre, with director Todd Phillips‘s decision being hailed by Gaga as “a very big swing”, while she also praised the film’s “audacity and complexity”.
The star was so taken with the film’s musicality that she recorded a companion album named ‘Harlequin’, which was released on September 27. Nick Cave also makes an appearance on the film’s official soundtrack, performing a medley of ‘Slap That Bass’, ‘Get Happy’ and ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’.
In a four-star review of Folie à Deux, NME wrote: “As with the original movie, the film looks gorgeous throughout, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher making strong use of colour and conjuring up some beautiful images – highlights include an overhead shot of some umbrellas (referencing Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg) and a stunningly lit frame of Arthur lighting a cigarette in his prison cell that resembles a lovingly illustrated comic book panel.
“In short, Phillips and Silver have delivered the last thing anyone expected: a socially responsible Joker movie that finds an intriguing way to explore the consequences (both on and offscreen) of the first film. Joker fans shouldn’t cry too hard though – Warner Bros. have cleverly found a way to leave the door open a little for the franchise to continue, should the need arise.”
Joker: Folie A Deux ending explained: Do Arthur and Lee end up together?
**Warning: Spoilers Ahead**
In the film, we see Arthur Fleck fall for Lee Quinn, but after one fleeting sexual encounter, she is apparently released from Arkham State Hospital, while Arthur is detained in solitary confinement, awaiting his trial.
Arthur’s lawyer Maryanne Stewart informs him that Lee has been misleading him about her identity and backstory, and when Arthur confronts Lee about it, she confesses, saying she had only wanted to get close to him. She also informs him that she is pregnant with his child and has moved into his apartment.
Arthur, now representing himself in court, takes full responsibility for the murders from the first film, which enrages Lee and she storms out of the court. Thanks to a bomb outside the courthouse, Arthur is able to escape, however, and meets Lee outside his apartment.
When he asks her if the pregnancy is true, she simply sings him the refrain from ‘That’s Entertainment’. Arthur is arrested and taken back to Arkham, where he is stabbed repeatedly by a young inmate that had been a follower of Arthur’s.
It appears clear from the film that Arthur will die, and that Lee had concocted a tissue of lies to fool him into allowing her into his life. When Arthur disowns the Joker character in court, it shatters Lee, but she appears to continue to embrace her Harley Quinn character. Whether or not she is pregnant, she remains at large, with Arthur’s assailant perhaps destined to inherit the Joker’s cult following.
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Max Pilley
NME
