Wondering whether this crime drama sequel is suitable for older teens? Find out everything you need to know before you head to the cinema.
What is the age rating for Joker: Folie à Deux?
We rated Joker: Folie à Deux 15 for strong violence, language, brief sex. This means that no one under the age of 15 may see the film in the cinema. Find our content advice on the film and its themes below, or for a quick glance you can check out our handy visual guide to the age rating and the film’s content here.
alcohol and smoking
Scenes of smoking occur throughout, sometimes with extended focus.
discrimination
There is use of the term 'retard', and a person with dwarfism is mocked. People show callous attitudes towards those with mental illness.
flashing/flickering lights
This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.
injury detail
People are left bloodied and bruised following scenes of violence.
language
Strong language ('f**k', 'motherf**ker') occurs throughout, alongside milder terms including 'shit', 'bullshit', 'ass', 'asshole', 'God', 'damn', 'moron', 'Jesus' and 'Christ'. There is also use of middle finger gestures.
suicide and self-harm
During a fantasy sequence, a man takes his own life. There are also verbal and visual references to suicide.
violence
People are stabbed and bludgeoned, resulting in bloody detail. Others are injured in a large explosion, and prisoners are choked, beaten and abused by prison guards. There are occasionally detailed verbal accounts of acts of violence.
theme
References are made to mental health and mental illness, and a man experiences violent fantasies and visions.
threat and horror
A man becomes distressed when faced by a person whose violent acts left him traumatised. People are threatened with violence.
sex
There is a scene of strong sex, featuring implied penetration, thrusting and orgasm.
sexual violence and sexual threat
Verbal references are made to child sex abuse. A man is forcibly stripped by prison guards during a beating, potentially implying intended sexual violence. A man kisses a woman without her consent.
Joker: Folie à Deux at a glance
Joaquin Phoenix returns to his Oscar-winning role as failed-clown-turned-murderer Arthur Fleck in this sequel to 2019’s Joker. Reuniting with director Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux begins shortly after the events of the first film as Fleck anxiously waits to stand trial for his crimes. While incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital, he meets the beguiling Lee Quinzel (Harley Quinn) played by Lady Gaga, a young woman enamoured with Fleck’s violent alter-ego, Joker. As Fleck struggles to reconcile his identities and desires, the pair develop their own way of communicating - through song.
What can I expect from Joker: Folie à Deux?
BBFC classification decisions take into account the tone and impact of a film. In our guidelines, we state that: ‘While the presentation of specific issues, such as sex and violence, may not be problematic at a particular category, a bleak or unsettling tone may result in a higher age rating. Other tonal considerations that influence classification include the extent to which the content presents a despairing view of the world, or the extent to which transgressive or harmful behaviour is condoned or normalised.’
Tonally, Joker: Folie à Deux is very similar to its predecessor, with Fleck’s experience of the world and the confines of Arkham being grim, bleak and despairing. His trial focuses on the question of whether he is mentally ill, with questioning and profiling exposing his history of being abused as a child. Returning characters from the first film also exhibit distress and trauma when recalling Fleck’s actions, which makes for harrowing and challenging scenes.
However, Joker: Folie à Deux is also a musical, with Fleck and Harley regularly singing to one another and escaping into colourful fantasy sequences that alleviate some of the film’s downbeat moments. Some of the stronger moments of violence also occur within these dream-like visions, distancing them from reality and ensuring they are containable at 15.
At 15, our guidelines permit strong violence, but ‘there should not be sustained focus on the infliction of pain or victims’ suffering’, while ‘prolonged sadistic violence is unlikely to be acceptable.’ Joker: Folie à Deux includes moments of sadistic violence, but these are not prolonged. Thematically, the film often explores the effects of violence on people, and rarely glamorises violent acts.
The strongest moment in the film is a particularly brutal stabbing. It occurs in a realistic environment, making it more impactful. However, it is carefully shot not to emphasise injury detail or gore, and the context in which it occurs has narrative justification within the film’s wider themes. Unlike a similar scene in the first film, it is not enacted by the titular ‘hero’, and is neither sadistic or comic. Within our guidelines, therefore, the scene is containable at 15.
There is also a scene of strong sex, in which a man thrusts into a woman against a wall in a moment of passion that exceeds our standards at 12A, wherein sex should only be ‘portrayed briefly and discreetly’, but is acceptable at 15.
Finally, the film features strong language (‘f**k’) throughout, which is well within our standards at 15, and so we classified the film accordingly.
You can read more about how we classify violence, language, sex and more in our BBFC Guides.
