The “Joker: Folie à Deux” is wild.

The title’s phrase, “Folie à Deux” (pronounced “foe lee a do”), is translated roughly as “madness between two people” or “a delusion or mental illness shared by two people in close association.”

Moreover, folie à deux is defined as a “shared psychosis or Shared Delusional Disorder (SDD), a psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief are transmitted from one individual to another.”

Simply put, folie à deux is “shared madness,” or “madness for two.”

Sounds like love to me.

Or war.

Or hate.

To paraphrase an ancient proverb: “Crime and love, beneath the earth, they go hand in hand.”

To put a true crime spin on it, an example of folie à deux are Doug Clark and Carol Bundy, “The Sunset Strip Killers,” of the late 1970s. A documentary film series was made in 2021.

There’s also Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow, the serial killers who held up banks during the Great Depression in the United States. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway starred in the 10-time Oscar-nominated 1967 movie.

In the movie “Badlands” (1973), Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as Kit and Holly go on a killing spree in South Dakota’s Badlands.

Movie-goers love anti-heroes.

Not so much with “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

Movie-goers didn’t share the love for “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

The movie, a musical sequel, stars Joaquin Phoenix, reprising his role as Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, and adds Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, a version of Harley Quinn, who idolizes Joker.

“Joker: Folie à Deux,” with a budget of $190 million, opened domestically with an estimated ’$37.8 million, and worldwide with $121.1 million, which was less than expected. The film grossed $7 million in its second weekend, a drop of 81 percent, said to be the biggest second weekend drop of a DC Studios film.

The first film, “Joker” opened at $96.2 million, grossing $335 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide, highest grossing R-rated movie until “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024).

“Joker: Folie à Deux” might be a victim of social media drumbeat backlash. The film is actually quite good. It’s audacious, highly-original and boasts fantastic performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.

The appellation of “Joker: Folie à Deux” as a musical is derived from the fantasy musings of Joker when he imagines himself singing and dancing with Lee. Lee has similar fantasies. All are depicted in the retro glory of 1970s’ TV variety shows, ala “Sonny and Cher” and Golden Era Hollywood movie musicals.

Which brings us back to “Joker: Folie à Deux” and the film’s title.

The premise of “Joker: Folie à Deux” is that Joker is on trial for the on-air killing of TV talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), depicted in “Joker,” and for killing at least four other persons. The film brutally depicts his doing time in the fictional Arkham State Hospital and bizarrely depicts the courtroom trial. Joker’s defense is “dissociative identity disorder.”

The movie’s storyline pertains to Lee’s love, if it can be called that, for Joker. Is it real or not?

This gets to the heart of the brilliance of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Joker and Lee probe, dismantle and deconstruct numerous well-known numbers from the Great American Songbook. The key to this is a scene for the song “That’s Entertainment” from the movie “The Band Wagon,” a splashy 1953 MGM musical starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray, Ava Gardner and Oscar Levant.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” posits that the mass media, the culture of pop celebrity and the cult of personality has embraced “That’s Entertainment” to the point of societal mental illness.

The screenplay sends up the dysfunctionalism of American popular song: sad lyrics with a happy melody. The songs themselves are presented as a sort of sickness, a folie à deux, if you will, between the song’s performer and listener, and moreover, with a hit song, a kind of mass psychosis.

By definition, people with psychosis typically experience delusions (false beliefs) that people on television are sending them messages or they are having hallucinations regarding movies or songs. It’s as if Taylor Swift is really singing about your dating game. Or as if Bob Dylan inspired a protest movement (“You don’t need a weatherman ... ”). Or that Charlie Manson heard messages in The Beatles’ song, “Helter Skelter” (1968).

Hildur Guðnadóttir (composer “Joker“; “Tár,” 2022) provides a jarring score emblematic of the mental states of Joker and Lee, as well as blowing up Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” (1966) recording. Lady Gaga sings a version of the song over the end credits.

Todd Phillips (nominated for three Oscars for “Joker,” 2019; director, “The Hangover” films, 2009, 2011, 2013) co-wrote the screenplay for “Joker: Folie à Deux” with Scott Silver based on the DC Comics characters.

Phillips takes a lot of risks with the film in plot, characters and visualization. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher (Oscar nominee, cinematography, “Joker”) is extraordinary.

Joaquin Phoenix (Oscar recipient, actor, “Joker”) is mind-bogglingly brilliant in reprising his role.

Lady Gaga (Oscar recipient, original song, “Shallow,” “A Star is Born,” 2018) is terrific.

Memorable in supporting roles are Brendan Gleeson as a prison guard, Catherine Keener as the defense attorney for Joker, Zazie Beetz as a former neighbor of Joker, Steve Coogan as a TV personality, Harry Lawtey as Harvey Dent, the district attorney; Leigh Gill as Gary Puddles; Ken Leung as a psychologist, and Jacob Lofland as an inmate.

Don’t listen to all that you hear or read on social media, or what critics tell you.

With “Joker: Folie à Deux,” see for yourself. And maybe with a friend.

“Joker: Folie à Deux,” MPAA rated R (Restricted: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.) for some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity. Genre: Psychological Thriller; Run time: 2 hours 18 minutes. Distributed by Warner Bros.

Credit Readers Anonymous: “Joker: Folie à Deux” opens with a Looney Tunes title sequence, with the Warner Bros logo surrounded by rings and Joker’s face. A Looney Tunes style cartoon opens the film.

At The Movies: “Joker: Folie à Deux” was seen in the Dolby Theatre at AMC, AMC Center Valley 16.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Weekend Box Office, Oct. 25-27: “Venom: The Last Dance,” starring Tom Hardy, opened at No. 1 with $51 million in 4,131 theaters, giving the kiss-off to the one-week No. 1 run of “Smile 2,” dropping to No. 2 with $9.4 million in 3,624 theaters, $40.7 million, two weeks.

3. “The Wild Robot” dropped one place, $6.5 million in 3,427 theaters, $111.3 million, five weeks. 4. “Conclave,” starring Ralph Fiennes in the Vatican intrigue film, opening, $6.5 million in 1,753 theaters. 5. “We Live In Time” stayed in place, $4.8 million in 2,968 theaters, $11.7 million, three weeks. 6. “Terrifier 3” dropped three places, $4.7 million in 2,720 theaters, $44.5 million, three weeks. 7. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” dropped three places, $3.2 million in 2,874 theaters, $288.7 million, eight weeks. 8. “Anora” moved up 10 places, $867,142 in 34 theaters, $1.6 million, two weeks. 9. “Piece by Piece” dropped two places, $721,000 in 1,298 theaters, $8.8 million, three weeks. 10. “Transformers One” dropped two places, $720,000 in 1,422 theaters, $57.9 million, six weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Oct. 27 is subject to change.

Unreel, Nov. 1:

“Here,” PG-13: Robert Zemeckis directs Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the drama. A time-traveling story about generations of families reunites the director and stars of “Forrest Gump” (1994). It’s based on the graphic novel of the same title by Richard McGuire.

“Blitz,” PG-13: Steve McQueen directs Saoirse Ronan in the Action Drama History War film. Stories about Londoners during the Nazi bombing of World War II are told.

“A Real Pain,” R: Jesse Eisenberg directs Kieran Culkin and himself in the Comedy Drama. Cousins visit Poland to honor their grandmother.

“Absolution,” R: Hans Petter Moland directs Liam Neeson in the Crime Drama Thriller. An aging gangster attempts to reconnect with his children.

Movie opening date information from Internet Movie Database as of Oct. 27 is subject to change.

Four Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes