'Joker: Folie à Deux' Isn't Even the Best Movie About a Murderous Clown's Doomed Romance — It's This (2024)

The saddest clown you know just can't get a break. Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips' sequel to his original 2019 film Joker, has suffered disappointing box office returns and a torrent of negative reviews from fans and critics alike following its theatrical debut. The film follows the journey of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) through his trial, following the events of the original, when his life is upended by the arrival of Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga). Quinzel is a smart but twisted young woman inspired by Fleck's very public criminal misdeeds, but their growing relationship is tested by his increasing identity crisis over the Joker persona.

Surely the Joker sequel isn't the first doomed romance in Hollywood history, nor is it for either of these talented leads. Lady Gaga's last two movies, 2021's Ridley Scott feature, House of Gucci, and 2018's Bradley Cooper-helmed A Star Is Born both qualify in different ways, while Joaquin Phoenix's last film, Napoleon (also directed by Ridley Scott) also featured a complicated romance. However, what makes Joker: Folie à Deux feel different is the doomed romance specifically between the depressive, clown-themed hooligan, Fleck, and his theatrical counterpart, Quinzel. While that element is the film's most interesting claim to fame, the sad fact is that the film isn't even the best movie about a murderous sad clown’s doomed romance – that honor goes to Álex de la Iglesia's magnificent 2010 dark comedy thriller, The Last Circus.

'The Last Circus' Delivers a Tale About a Sad Clown in Love... Who Succumbs to Murderous Madness

The Last Circus follows the growing tension between the introverted sad clown Javier (Carlos Areces) and the violent and abusive happy clown, Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), over the love of Sergio’s girlfriend, trapeze artist Natalia (Carolina Bang). Javier and Natalia begin to fall for each other, but Sergio’s abuses mix with Javier’s frustrations, producing a conflict between the clowns that sends Javier to the hospital. Javier's sanity starts to erode, culminating in Javier savagely beating Sergio and fleeing. On the run, Javier lives like an animal in the forest, before his captured by hunters. After he has a vision where Natalia greets him and asks him to undertake a Day of Wrath as her Angel of Death, Javier escapes, disfiguring his face into a permanent clown visage, and goes on a deadly rampage against everyone who ever wronged him (while dressed like a Pope, no less). In the end, he doesn't get the girl. It's a true romantic tragedy with a complex array of parts —Natalia can't overcome her lust for Sergio's machismo-driven aggression, Javier's depressive tendencies keep him from being the right person for the situation, and his psychological fragility sets him up for a dramatic, murderous fall from grace.

'The Last Circus' Outshines 'Joker: Folie à Deux's Tragic Romance and Villainy

Joker and its sequel also set up another murderous sad clown with Arthur Fleck, whose rise to villainy is shaped by a lifetime of abuse and isolation. From his troubled childhood to violent encounters on Gotham's streets, his path ultimately leads to the deadly subway shooting of inebriated businessmen. He's a tragic figure whose laughter stems not from joy, but from a painful neurological condition. It's the public revelation that 'Joker' is a farce, just a mask for the weak and sad figure, Fleck, that ultimately dooms the pair's relationship in the film's final act. While tragic, the overall finale of Joker: Folie à Deux ends up as a boring misfire from a dramatic standpoint. When Fleck's trial is interrupted by an explosion, Fleck runs away from the would-be Joker acolytes who saved him, knowing it would send him back into police clutches. He fights to be inactive, tumbling over himself to avoid being the person Lee fell for, and to return to his prior state of nothingness. It's a pure dramatic celebration of mediocrity, and it lessens the tragedy of his destroyed romance, fizzling out instead of ending in anything remotely memorable.

By contrast, in The Last Circus, Javier's growing insanity is far more interesting and proactive. He still remains a sad clown even amid his rampage; when a child enters during Javier's most brutal assault, Javier kneels down, points a gun at the child, and says "you don't scare me," (don't worry, he doesn't shoot). Even at his most transformed, Javier's framework is, in terms of navigating the world through fear, just like Fleck's. Unlike Fleck, Javier isn't donning a clown visage as a painted on mask, he instead disfigures himself with chemicals and an iron into a permanent clown face. He goes on to attempt to keep Sergio away from Natalia (deluded as it was) — an active tragic protagonist, while Fleck fought to avoid being or doing anything dramatically interesting. From its more active protagonist to its increasingly bold plot choices and its thrilling final act, The Last Circus is a far better and more interesting showcase of a sad clown's fall into murderous lunacy and doomed romance.

The Last Circus

R

The Last Circus: Set against the backdrop of post-war Spain, a trapeze artist becomes entangled in a tumultuous love triangle with two clowns, Sergio and Javier. As she navigates her conflicting emotions for the volatile Sergio and sorrowful Javier, the trio is consumed by jealousy and madness, culminating in dramatic consequences.

Release Date

December 17, 2010

Director

Alex de la Iglesia

Runtime

106 Minutes

Main Genre

Horror

Writers

Alex de la Iglesia

The Last Circus is currently available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

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