Joker (2019)

US 122m, Colour
Director: Todd Phillips; Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy

The Joker is easily the best origin story for any comic book villain, and perhaps any superhero. A box office monster, the success of the Joker is in large part due to Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the title character, and the film’s dark screenplay. As a portrait of a broken and disenfranchised man, Arthur Fleck’s life spirals out of control after a series of traumatic events that eventually define his persona as The Joker (Klaus Ming January 2020).