The People’s Joker – A Resonant Indie Achievement

The People’s Joker is an absurdist autobiographical-inspired dark comedy about a painfully unfunny aspiring clown named Joker the Harlequin (Drew) who grapples with her gender identity while unsuccessfully attempting to join the ranks of Gotham City’s sole comedy program in a world where comedy has been outlawed. Uniting with a ragtag team of rejects and misfits, Joker the Harlequin forms an illegal anti-comedy troupe that puts her on a collision course with the devious caped crusader. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in the midnight madness section. After one screening, the film was withdrawn from the festival and all subsequent screenings were cancelled including ones set to premiere at future fall festivals. Now, nearly 2 years later, Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker is finally seeing the light of day and being released to the world which is fantastic news for creatives everywhere and a bright day for cinema.

No matter what one’s feelings on The People’s Joker may be, whether they be positive or negative, it’s hard not to appreciate and respect Drew for both getting it crowdfunded, made, and finally released into theaters. It is a queer coming of age/romance film at its core, it uses Batman characters, mythology, and lore to help tell that personal story. Drew tells this story in such a creative way, creating a one of a kind experience unlike anything audiences have ever seen in a comic book film (despite being technically be more of a parody than the traditional superhero/villain story. Meanwhile, the film also tackles such timely and important themes as self acceptance, and self love in a way that will surely resonate and strike a chord with audiences.

As a parody of Batman and DC films, the film is a lot of fun too with a lot of big laughs throughout. The animation style gives it even more of a unique feel and the animators deserve credit for what they pulled off. Admirably recreating Gotham City, it, at the same time, gives it a complete makeover to make it feel like its own world. In front of the camera, Drew is pretty damn great as Joker the Harlequin. It’s easy to see how much this film, her character, and story means to her in every scene. She pours her heart and soul into every frame, and hopefully, it will open a lot of doors for her in Hollywood and give her the freedom to keep making movies as queer and original as this. The rest of the cast, including some fun surprise appearances, all do well with what they’re given, especially Nathan Faustyn as The Penguin who’s responsible for some of the film’s biggest laughs.

It should be said, it is incredible what the filmmakers and production team have pulled off with its lower budget and while this isn’t meant to be a shot at the overall film, it needed a much bigger budget and could have benefited considerably from it. It never feels like it’s missing anything or that Drew had to cut corners and compromise her vision, but it can be almost distracting at times with how low budget it feels especially when digital effects are used, and it becomes a lot more noticeable as it goes on. The story also starts to drag quite a bit in its third act despite barely being only 90+ minutes, and the longer it goes on, the less interesting it is. Ultimately, it is simply amazing that this film exists and that it’s as enjoyable as it is, however, is also one that is not the most conducive for rewatches.

It’s a small miracle that a film like The People’s Joker exists and is currently playing in theaters for everyone to see (now in a limited run in the US followed by a limited run starting this Friday in Canada). It might not be perfect, and certainly suffers at times due to its low budget, but it is incredibly hard not to appreciate what Vera Drew has pulled off here, Hopefully, she becomes an even bigger talent after this. In the end, it is a tough one to recommend because audiences have to be on its wavelength or know to expect going in to enjoy it, but its exploration of resonant themes will hit countless audiences hard make it worth a watch, so overall, this comes recommended.

still courtesy of Altered Innocence

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/