He may think his life is comedy and not a tragedy, but there is no denying that this film is not a comedy! Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, Joker is a psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips. Joker is a standalone film which tells the origin story of Batman’s archenemy – and one of comics books’ greatest villains. The film has been a hot topic of controversy over concerns for its violent and disturbing content. All of that aside, Joker is very much a character study, with the performance by Joaquin Phoenix as Joker being the main drive for the film’s narrative. Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City in 1981. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the chaotic mastermind known as the Joker.