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Joker of Todd Phillips might be the most deeply disturbing and unsettling movie to hit wide screens in 2019. The movie is unconnected to Warner Bros. ongoing DCEU franchise, as well as is instead the one-off story of Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Joker sees Fleck grow step by step out of touch with reality over the course of the story, which leads to murderous results.

Earlier this year, Joker premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where the film made headlines by earning the prestigious Golden Lion. However, amid all of the widespread praise for Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in the title role, it has also arrived in theaters under a cloud of controversy which its portrayal of and perceived sympathy towards Arthur Fleck can inspire real-life copycats. This issue has dominated headlines around the movie in the months that lead up to its release, and would prove contentious enough for Joaquin Phoenix to walk out of an interview as being asked about the controversy. Moreover, the fears of Joker acting as a potential societal powder keg might be enough of an unexpected issue which Warner Bros. ultimately felt compelled to release an official statement.

It is fair to say that Joker is quite arguably 2019’s most controversial movie. However, that has done nothing demonstrably to harm its box office performance. However, what is true is that no 2019 movie has proven to be as dark and disturbing as Joker itself. While it is shocking that a movie focusing its attention on The Clown Prince of Crime would go out of its way to unnerve audiences, it is impossible to deny that Joker has accomplished that aim more than any other movie released this year.

Joker has seen several previous big screen incarnations, but none have positioned the character in the same vein as does Joker. Batman of Tim Burton might offer a closer point of comparison than others by the fact that the overconfident mobster Jack Napier, by Jack Nicholson, is the only other character’s cinematic version with a clear backstory. However, Joaquin  Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is truly his own Joker, a man having experienced a lifetime’s worth of mental deterioration. Particularly, his frequent bouts of involuntary laughter makes him subject to everything from disparaging stares to beatings from perfect strangers, and his condition results in him being unable to relate to almost anyone around him.