Quentin Tarantino made headlines earlier this year when he came to the defense of ‘Joker: Folie à Deux.’ Now John Waters has joined him in calling the much-maligned sequel one of the best films of 2024.
During an October interview on the The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino raved about ‘Joker: Folie à Deux,’ stating that Joaquin Phoenix “gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Meanwhile, Waters ranked the film sixth on his annual top 10 list for Vulture and ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ came in sixth place.
“Finally, a love story I can relate to,” Waters writes. “So insane, so well thought out, so well directed, so much smoking! It’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ meets Busby Berkeley with a 9/11 ‘That’s Entertainment!’ ending that will make you shake your head in cinematic astonishment. Stupid critics. Gaga so good. Joker so right. Die, dumbbells, die!”
Waters’ list was topped by Kristen Stewart’s thriller ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ and also included several Oscar contenders such as ‘The Brutalist,’ ‘Emilia Perez,’ ‘Hard Truths,’ and ‘Queer.’ Despite Waters’ praise, the Joker sequel stands out as the most divisive entry on his list.
‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ earned mostly negative reviews and flopped at the box office, grossing $58 million domestically and $206 million worldwide—a stark contrast to the 2019 original, which earned over $1 billion globally.
These defenses of the ‘Joker’ sequel are rare. Even some actors involved in the production have criticized the film. Last month, comedian Tim Dillon, who had a brief role as an Arkham Asylum security guard, went viral for slamming the sequel as “the worst movie ever made.”
