Quentin Tarantino Defends Joker Sequel: ‘I Really, Really Liked It’

Quentin Tarantino expressed his support for Joker: Folie à Deux, the critically panned and commercially unsuccessful follow-up to the 2019 hit. Despite its negative reception, Tarantino praised the film’s direction, Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, and the bold artistic choices made by Todd Phillips.

Quentin Tarantino has publicly shown support for the critically maligned and commercially disappointing Joker: Folie à Deux. The director praised the sequel during his recent appearance on Bret Easton Ellis’s podcast, even though the Todd Phillips-directed musical scored a low 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“I really, really liked it, really,” Tarantino said. “A lot. Tremendously. I went in expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking but thought it might end up being an arm’s-length, intellectual exercise that didn’t fully work as a movie. But it was not just that. I truly got caught up in it.”

Tarantino added that Joaquin Phoenix delivered “one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in my life,” and he even described the film as the version of Natural Born Killers he “would have dreamed of seeing.” Notably, Tarantino’s original script for Natural Born Killers underwent significant rewrites when directed by Oliver Stone in the 1990s.

The Pulp Fiction director also praised Todd Phillips, saying, “The Joker directed the movie.” He elaborated that Phillips approached the production as if he were embodying the Joker himself, taking financial risks and defying expectations in a rebellious way. “He’s saying f*** you to all of them,” Tarantino said. “He’s saying f*** you to the audience, to Hollywood.”

The $200 million-budgeted film premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival to largely negative reviews, and its box office returns were underwhelming—making just under $60 million in the U.S. and $201 million globally. For comparison, the 2019 original grossed $335 million domestically and over $1 billion worldwide.

Joker: Folie à Deux received support from other major filmmakers as well. Francis Ford Coppola praised Todd Phillips’ bold approach, sharing on Instagram: “Ever since the wonderful The Hangover, he’s always been one step ahead of the audience, never doing what they expect. Congratulations to Joker: Folie à Deux.” Coppola himself has faced commercial challenges, with his recent film Megalopolis also struggling at the box office.

However, not everyone felt the same about the film. Paul Schrader, who wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver, a major inspiration for the original Joker, was less impressed. “I saw about 10 or 15 minutes of it,” he shared with Interviewmagazine. “I left, bought something, came back, saw another 10 minutes. That was enough.”