IsJoker: Folie à DeuxOK for Tweens? What Parents Need to Know About the R-Rated Sequel

Mar. 15, 2025

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’.Photo:Niko Tavernise

Niko Tavernise

Joaquin PhoenixandLady Gaga’s new movie is rated R for a reason.

Does the movie make for appropriate viewing for kids, tweens or teens? Read on for what parents should expect before letting their children seeFolie à Deux.(Note: There are some spoilers ahead.)

Joker: Folie à Deuxis almost as violent asJoker

Folie à Deux, per the MPAA, is rated R “for some strong violence.” Phoenix, 49, returns as the titular Batman villain whose psyche is disturbed enough to cause all manner of physical and psychological harm. As fellow Arkham State Hospital patient Harleen “Lee” Quinzel a.k.a. Harley Quinn, Gaga, 38, is similarly volatile.

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in the ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ trailer.Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube

Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube

In the new movie Gaga’s character does pull and fire a gun, and Phoenix’s character wields various items in a courtroom to beat people unconscious, for example. But such moments happen during the film’s lavish musical numbers, which are fantastical projections of the two main characters’ inner psyches.

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Profanity, sex and nudity make appearances

The movie’s R rating includes “language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.” Parents worried about exposing kids to profanity and sex should steer clear.

Arthur and Lee have a conjugal visit in an Arkham cell, a scene that does not feature nudity. While the intimate moments between Arthur and Lee are consensual, the former does plant two non-consensual kisses onCatherine Keener’s Maryanne Stewart, his lawyer. Elsewhere amid the brutal conditions at the hospital, characters in the nude can be glimpsed.

Also worth noting for those sensitive to the depiction of cigarettes: characters smoke in nearly every scene ofFolie à Deux.

The movie’s final scenes feature disturbing content

Joker: Folie à Deux, which costars Brendan Gleeson, Leigh Gill, Zazie Beetz, Sharon Washington and Steve Coogan, is in theaters now.

source: people.com