‘Worst film ever made’ becomes unexpected hit after dropping on Netflix
A divisive comic book flick starring a 16-time Grammy winner and an Academy Award recipient, which fans said was ‘unfairly judged and criticised’, has finally landed on Netflix.
In late 2024, War Dogs and The Hangover director Todd Phillips, 55, teamed up with Warner Bros. Pictures to release his second film starring a plethora of iconic DC Comics characters.
Despite the hype, the movie, which premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, was considered a box-office bomb.
It was later nominated for seven Golden Raspberry awards, winning the Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and Worst Screen Combo gongs.
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Although it grossed just $208 million at the box office, the jukebox musical legal drama now has a cult following online.
And excitingly, some fans are only just watching it now following its upload to the Netflix library in some territories.
Of course, we’re talking about Joker: Folie à Deux, the follow-up to 2019’s Joker.
If you missed the controversial sequel in cinemas, catch the trailer below:
Joker: Folie à Deux saw Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Arthur Fleck/Joker while Lady Gaga, who worked with Phillips on 2018’s A Star Is Born, came into the fold as his love interest, Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel.
The pair were joined by Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, and Steve Coogan, as well as Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie.
Despite the success of its predecessor, critics and fans alike gave Joker: Folie à Deux a low 31 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with one viewer calling it ‘nothing more than a bad joke’.
“If you loved the first one, I would honestly avoid this,” typed someone else, while a third remarked: “Another tried and true example of style-over-substance filmmaking.”
Despite the backlash, the ‘worst film ever made’ has been picked up for streaming by Netflix in South America, Canada, the Bahamas, and Jamaica.
And fans are seemingly obsessed, with FlixPatrol claiming it is the 10th most-popular movie worldwide on the streaming service, as per Metro.
“The Joker 2 Folie à Deux is a good film that's unfairly judged and criticised,” wrote one Reddit user who watched it after its dismal cinematic release.
Another commented: “It’s a bad film intentionally made to be a bad film to troll the studio. And that’s why it’s pretty damn genius. Like, I don’t love it, but I respect it.”
“I loved Part Deux. Loved loved loved. Gaga was brilliant and so was Phoenix,” a third said.
“The idea of a musical and using the mental illness of characters to subvert the traditional comic book movie was genius. I view it as a kind of anti-comic book movie. It left room at the end for a traditional DC-type of denouement.”
They went on to say that they didn’t ‘understand the hate’ for the project and that perhaps people went into it ‘expecting a comic book and not art’.
Unfortunately, Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t available to stream on Netflix in the UK.
However, anyone with a Now TV or Sky Cinema subscripton can watch it now.
It can also be rented from £4.99 via Apple TV+, Prime Video, Rakuten TV, and the Sky Store.
Topics: TV And Film, Entertainment, Celebrity, Lady Gaga, Netflix
Ella Scott