As I sat in the theater awaiting the start of the movie, I quickly found myself up close with Joaquin Phoenix’s face in an eerie scene that immediately sets the chilling tone of the movie. A much skinnier Phoenix is seen painting his face in front of the mirror, as a lone black tear streams down his face. There is pain in his eyes as he draws up the corners of his mouth into a forced smile. Not too long after, his obnoxious, uncontrollable laughter bounced off the walls of the theater.

The biggest movie of Oct., and arguably 2019 thus far, “Joker”, offers a darker take on Hollywood’s most famous villain. Todd Phillips reimagines him into a psychotic monster that is wildly unlike the ones portayed by Jack Nicholson in “Batman”, Heath Ledger in “The Dark Night”, or Jared Leto in “Suicide Squad”. It is an origin story that follows failed comedian Arthur Fleck and his breakdown into “Joker” who kills several people and starts an uprising in Gotham City.

The psychological thriller starts by portraying the bullying Fleck faces in his day job as a party clown. He gets severely beaten up by a gang in an ally, and attacked by three men on a subway. He accumulates abuse from society and deals with mental struggles, on top of a persisting condition that makes him uncontrollably laugh at inappropriate times.

When he is given a gun from his coworker following an attack on the job, Fleck goes through a metamorphosis as he falls into a cycle of violence and self-destruction. The movie has been deemed a lament for outsiders, as Fleck is painted as the paragon of someone kicked to the curb by society.

The movie is set in the 1980s in a Gotham City riddled with crime. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. The ones facing increasing poverty want to stop Thomas Wayne (Batman’s father) from being elected as city mayor. Fleck and his dark-spirited clown disguise – think green hair, paper white face, thick, extremely chalky and exaggerated red lips – become the symbol of the uprising. The final scene is one of the most outrageous I’ve witnessed in a while. It is a catastrophic mix of fires, guns, flying shards of glass, and of course, clowns.

It is no question that Phoenix delivers one of the best performances of 2019 that is sure to win himself an Oscar nomination. The emotional depth in his acting is astonishing and clearly rooted in his commitment to the role. He lost weight to appear skinny and desolate, and honed in on the uncontrollable laugh that comes out in inappropriate times.

Forbes’ Mark Hughes was truthful in claiming that Phoenix’s performance comes close to exceeding Ledger’s. He summed it up perfectly by equating Fleck to “a man aware that a psychotic monster is violently clawing its way out of him and he struggles to contain it.” It’s a painful buildup in which the viewer can see the incessant clawing of this psychotic monster within him waiting to be released. When it finally is, Phoenix is able to contort his body in such a way that mimics a feral insect; he flails his limbs as he dances with a gun, and slinks around city streets with his wild green hair.

His gritty performance is one of the most in depth I have seen in a while, and was definitely the highlight of the movie. I remain unsure of where I stand on the heated controversy surrounding the buzzworthy film, but I can confidently say that Phoenix fully inhabits the character and offers a much more liberated take on “Joker” that surpassed all of my expectations.

Known for directing cult comedies, most notably “The Hangover” trilogy, Phillips’ step into the drama realm was a successful one. He drew inspiration from critically acclaimed director, Martin Scorsese, specifically pulling from Mean Streets and King of Comedy. I appreciated the fact that Phillips didn’t adapt any particular comic because it presented a much more culturally relevant take on a classic character. While there are scenes that mimic infamous Batman moments and include characters that pay homage to past interpretations, Phillips was able to construct a compelling and darker story. The strength is in Phoenix’s Oscar-worthy performance that I did not expect. “Joker” is at times excessively violent and gritty, but it’s also a chillingly relevant story that features some of the best performances and writing of the year.