Major spoilers for Joker: Folie à Deux follow.
Joaquin Phoenix has weighed in on the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux, explaining how he managed to find some warmth in a shocking moment.
Co-written and directed by Todd Phillips, the follow-up to 2019's Joker sees Phoenix's Arthur Fleck being admitted to Arkham State Hospital and embarking on a whirlwind romance with Harleen 'Lee' Quinzel (Lady Gaga) as he awaits trial.
In the final scenes, Arthur renounces his Joker persona and is found guilty of first-degree murder. After fleeing court and being apprehended by police, the former Joker is brought back to Arkham where he has a violent encounter with a younger patient.
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"There's a warmth in that scene, which is nice," Phoenix told IGN.
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"That's all that I was thinking about that I was after, is here's this young man who's telling me a joke, and he's nervous to tell me the joke, I can tell that he's nervous, and I'm going to hear him out. And it's a pretty good setup."
The patient, played by Connor Storrie, begins to tell Arthur his joke before repeatedly stabbing him and proceeding to carve a Glasgow smile on his own face.
"I think Arthur has found peace with the idea, with the struggle that it's okay to be yourself. And that's really what he's always struggled with, you know what I mean?" Phillips said.
"I like to think he died at peace in a way being himself. The kid says to him, 'You want to hear a joke?' And even though he thinks maybe it's (Lee) downstairs. We don't even know what's downstairs, but that sort of optimism that Arthur has, that's still in him.
"He's like, 'Well, yeah, okay, of course', because he knows that feeling of wanting to make somebody laugh. So he gives the kid that moment, right?"
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For the filmmaker, the laugh right before Arthur's death is an unmistakable sign of his optimism.
"Obviously it goes bad because, again, everything goes bad for Arthur, but I always think that's such a beautiful moment where it's like Arthur still has hope," he said.
"I think Joaquin is so beautiful in that scene. It's such a small nothing. I mean, beyond the death thing.
"That moment where he's looking at the kid and he's kind of giving the kid a polite laugh in the setup. He's showing appreciation for the comedy and appreciation for putting yourself out there. You know what I mean? Something nobody ever did for him in the first movie in some ways."
Joker: Folie à Deux is now out in cinemas.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
