The People’s Joker Stars Vera Drew
Review: Considering the controversy that circled The People’s Joker for months (and years), I’m glad to report that the movie succeeded well beyond my own expectations, and that its indie aspects and cheerful, whimsical nature blend for a stylistic romp with real heart. Vera Drew leads the way on all fronts with remarkable precision and fun.
The People’s Joker Movie Review
The People’s Joker is about as ambitious and unique as anything you’ll see in 2024. A hearty and raucous take on the original Warner Bros material (that the studio was not too keen on endorsing or allowing to be released) is used to explain and examine transgender identity and the various facets that are included in establishing your own character. The movie wears its heart on its sleeve, and writer/director/lead actor Vera Drew pulls off a singular vision that rightfully expands on material that is recirculated and regurgitated year after year after year.
And to call The People’s Joker a parody (as the opening title card does in order to reiterate its own purpose to avoid copyright infringement) feels degrading to a surprisingly emotionally potent anti-superhero film. Drew uses the iconography in great detail to examine counter culture and systemic oppression about as well and thoroughly as anyone this decade. The stand-in Gotham City characters, like television news anchors and the Caped Crusader himself, serve as obvious through-lines to real figures in media and government, and in turn are fascinating punching bags for a larger social rejection of transgender rights by the far-right agenda.
And while its hard to reflect on The People’s Joker without considering the transgender social politics at play that largely blanket the story’s narrative, on a purely filmmaking level, Vera Drew has a lot of talent that is easy to notice on first viewing. Without feeling like a broken record by calling another specific and idiosyncratic vision “Lynchian,” there is something about each individual scene that looks as if no one else could put this together; like its combining creepypasta, Gotham City, and YouTube new era culture into one nightmarish visual feast that looks as if it crash-landed into Earth from a distant planet.
It’s fantastic that The People’s Joker finally got a proper release and is readily available to audiences across the country because it is such a specific, interesting journey that viewers will surely find worthwhile because of the confidence and understanding of performance and style, with Vera Drew leading the way on all fronts with remarkable precision and fun. It never takes itself too seriously – always packing in an extra throwaway joke that you’ll catch onto moments later – and consistently understands the playful tone that makes it hum.
So considering the controversy that circled The People’s Joker for months (and years), I’m glad to report that The People’s Joker succeeded well beyond my own expectations, and that its indie aspects and cheerful, whimsical nature blend for a stylistic romp with real heart.
Score: 3.5/5
Genre: Comedy