Joker (2019)

Joker (2019) Full Recap

Gotham City is buried in garbage. The trash strike is in its 18th day, and the radio says even the nice parts of town look like slums. Now, in a crowded dressing room, a thin man named Arthur Fleck sits in front of a mirror in clown makeup. He hooks two fingers into the corners of his mouth and pulls them up into a smile.

Then he pulls them down. A tear runs through the paint on his cheek. Arthur works as a clown for hire. Today he's out on the sidewalk in a green wig and big shoes spinning a sign for a store that's going out of business. A group of teenagers snatches the sign and runs. Arthur chases them through traffic and into an alley.

One of them turns around and smashes the sign right into his face. Then they kick him while he lies on the ground. Arthur sits in a small office with a social worker. She asks if he's keeping up with his journal. He says he uses it as a joke diary, too, because he wants to be a stand-up comedian.

She flips it open and finds a line he wrote. He hopes his death makes more sense than his life. Arthur says he felt better back when he was locked up in the hospital, and he asks her to get the doctor to raise his medicine. She reminds him that he's already on seven different medications.

On the bus home, a little boy turns around in his seat and stares at him. Arthur makes funny faces and the boy smiles. His mother snaps at Arthur to stop bothering her kid. Then it happens. Arthur bursts out laughing loud and painful and he can't stop. He covers his mouth with one hand and gives her a small card with the other.

It explains that he has a condition that makes him laugh at the wrong times. He climbs a long, steep stairway home to the run-down apartment he shares with his mother, Penny. She asks if any mail came for her. Nothing did. For weeks, Penny has been writing letters to a rich family she worked for 30 years ago.

Sure, they'll help her. She says the man of that family would make a great mayor. Arthur sits with her in her room. Then she calls him over because her show is starting. Every night they watch the same talk show host, Murray Franklin. Arthur stares at the TV and drifts into a daydream.

In it, he's sitting in Murray's studio audience. Murray picks him out of the crowd and asks his name. Arthur tells him he lives with his mother and takes care of her because his father walked out. Murray calls him down to the stage and hugs him. He says he'd give up all of this fame for a kid like Arthur.

At the clown agency, the other clowns have heard about the beating. One of them, Randall, says the city is full of animals. He pulls out a paper bag and hands it to Arthur. Inside is a revolver. Arthur says he's not supposed to have a gun. Randall tells him to take it anyway and pay him back some other time.

Another clown tells Arthur the boss wants to see him. The boss, Hoy, says the store owner complained. Arthur never brought the sign back. Arthur tells him he got jumped, but Hoy doesn't believe it. He says the money will come out of Arthur's paycheck. He adds that the other guys think Arthur is weird.

That evening, Arthur gets into the building's creaky elevator with a young mother and her little girl. The woman's name is Sophie, and she lives down the hall. She says the building is awful. Then she puts two fingers to her head like a gun and pulls the trigger. Arthur watches her the whole way up.

Back home, Penny asks again about her letters. She tells Arthur not to worry because the man will help them. Arthur says he's not worried and that his standup is almost ready for the big clubs. Penny gives him a look. She asks him if a comedian doesn't have to be funny. Later that night, Arthur dances around the living room with Randall's gun.

It goes off by accident and blows a hole in the wall. When Penny calls out, Arthur yells that he's just watching an old war movie. The next day, Arthur follows Sophie. He watches her with her daughter. Then, he trails her across town, staying a few steps behind. That night, he sits alone at a comedy club called Pogos.

While a comic works the crowd, Arthur takes notes. He laughs at the wrong places, and he doesn't laugh where everyone else does. Then there's a knock at his door. It's Sophie. She asks if he was following her today. Arthur says yes. She laughs and he invites her to come see one of his shows.

She says she could do that. His next job is at a children's hospital. Arthur is dancing and singing for the sick kids when the gun slides out of his pants and lands on the floor. Everyone sees it. From a pay phone, Arthur calls Hoy, who fires him on the spot. Randall told Hoy that Arthur had tried to buy a gun from him.

Still in his makeup, Arthur rides the subway home. Three drunk men in suits are bothering a young woman. One of them keeps pushing French fries at her. Then Arthur's laugh kicks in. The men turn around. One of them walks over and asks, "What's so funny?" They grab him and push him around.

Arthur tries to tell them he has a condition, but they knock him to the floor and kick him. Then Arthur pulls out the gun. He shoots two of them right there in the car. The third one runs out at the next station and Arthur follows him onto the platform and shoots him too. Then he runs.

He runs into a filthy public restroom and slams the door. He stands there breathing hard. Then he starts to move. He raises his arms and dances slowly and calmly like he's hearing music no one else can hear. After that, he walks straight to Sophie's door. At the agency the next day, the clowns are talking about the subway killings.

The papers say the killer was a clown. The guys tease Arthur about bringing a gun to the children's hospital. Arthur says they should ask Randall because it was his gun. Randall acts like he has no idea what Arthur means. On his way out, Arthur punches the time clock right off the wall.

At home, Penny calls him to the TV. The rich man she's been writing to is on the news. His name is Thomas Wayne. The three dead men worked for his company and he says he's thinking about running for mayor. He calls the killer a coward who hides behind a mask. Then he says people like that will never be anything but clowns.

That's not funny. Meanwhile, Arthur feels different. At his next meeting, he tells the social worker that for his whole life, he wasn't sure he even existed. Now people are starting to notice him. She has bad news. The city has cut its budget and her office is closing. This is their last meeting.

Arthur asks how he's supposed to get his medicine now. A few nights later, Arthur gets his chance on stage at Pogo's. The host calls his name and he walks up to the microphone. Before he can say a word, the laugh takes over. He stands there laughing for a long time. Then he tells his joke about hating school.

His mother said one day he'd have to work for a living. No, he won't. He told her. He's going to be a comedian. Sophie is in the crowd smiling at him. Around town, the papers are full of the clown killer. Arthur and Sophie walk past news stands with his drawing on the front page.

People are wearing clown masks now. To a lot of poor people in Gotham, the killer is a hero who stood up to the rich. When Arthur gets home, Penny hands him her newest letter and tells him not to forget to mail it. This time, Arthur opens it. He reads it slowly. In the letter, Penny tells Thomas Wayne that Arthur is his son.

Arthur goes to her room. Penny tells him through the door that she and Thomas were in love. She says she signed some papers and could never tell anyone. The next day, Arthur takes a train out of the city. The paper on his lap says Thomas Wayne is running for mayor. Arthur walks up to the Wayne family's mansion and stops at the tall iron gate.

A little boy comes to the other side of the gate. His name is Bruce. Arthur does a magic trick with fake flowers. Then he reaches through the bars and pulls the corners of the boy's mouth up into a smile. The family's butler rushes over and pulls Bruce away. Arthur says he's Penny Fleck's son.

The butler says Penny was a sick woman and that there was never anything between her and Thomas. Arthur grabs him by the neck through the bars. Then he lets go and leaves. When he gets home, paramedics are carrying Penny out to an ambulance. At the hospital, two detectives are waiting for him.

They came to ask him about the subway killings. When they talked to Penny, she got upset and collapsed. The doctor says she had a stroke. They know he got fired for bringing a gun to the children's hospital. Arthur says it was a prop for his act. Then he walks away. They said I wasn't funny enough.

That night, Arthur sits by Penny's bed with the TV on. Murray Franklin is on. Murray says he has a video of a guy who thinks he's a comedian. It's Arthur's set from Pogos. Murray plays the clip and laughs along with the audience. When Arthur says, "No one's laughing now," Murray answers, "You can say that again, pal." Arthur stares at the screen.

The news shows angry crowds in clown masks marching against the rich. They're planning a huge protest at Wayne Hall, where Thomas Wayne will attend a fancy event. On TV, Thomas says there's something wrong with those people. He says he's their only hope. Arthur walks right through the protest and slips into the building.

Inside, the rich crowd is watching an old black and white comedy and laughing. Arthur wears an usher's red jacket so nobody notices him. When Thomas Wayne gets up and walks out, Arthur follows him to the men's room. Arthur tells Thomas who he is. Thomas says he's not his father. He says Penny adopted Arthur while she worked for them and she was later locked up at Arkham State Hospital.

Arthur doesn't believe it. He says all he wants is a little warmth. Then he starts laughing. Thomas punches him in the face and warns him to stay away from his son. Back home, Arthur pulls everything out of the refrigerator, climbs inside, and shuts the door. Later, the phone rings.

One message is from the detective. The other is from the Murray Franklin show. People loved his clip, and Murray wants Arthur on the show as a guest next Thursday. Arthur says yes. Arthur takes a bus to Arkham State Hospital to see his mother's records. A clerk finds Penny's file and reads from it.

She was found to have delusions and she was found guilty of putting her own child in danger. The clerk says he can't release the file without her signature. Arthur grabs it through the window and runs. In a stairwell, he reads it all. The adoption papers are real. Years ago, a doctor questioned Penny about one of her boyfriends who hurt her and her little boy.

Police found Arthur tied to a radiator in her filthy apartment, hungry and covered in bruises with a serious head injury. Penny tells the doctor she never once heard him cry. He was always such a happy little boy. In the stairwell, Arthur laughs and cries at the same time. He walks down the hall and into Sophie's apartment and sits on her couch.

Sophie comes in and freezes. She asks what he's doing there and she asks him to leave because her daughter is asleep in the next room. That's when the truth comes out. Arthur remembers the comedy club, the walk through the streets and the hospital. Sophie was never there. He was alone every time.

Arthur gets up and leaves without a word. The next morning, Arthur goes to the hospital and sits by Penny's bed smoking. He tells her she always said his laugh was a condition. He says he used to think his life was a tragedy. Now he sees it's a comedy. Then he picks up a pillow and presses it over her face until she stops moving.

At home, Arthur rehearses for his big night, practicing how he'll walk out on Murray's stage. He looks at an old photo of his young mother, reads the note on the back, and crumples it up. Then he paints his face white and dyes his hair green. There's a knock at the door. It's Randall and another clown from the agency.

They heard his mother died. Randall says the cops are asking questions about the subway murders and he wants to make sure their stories match. Arthur attacks him and kills him. The other clown is too scared to move. Arthur tells him he can go. The man can't reach the lock on the door, so Arthur opens it for him.

He says this man was the only one who was ever nice to him. Arthur puts on a red suit and heads out. At the bottom of the long stairway, he climbs every day. He dances his way down step by step. The two detectives spot him at the bottom and chase him through the streets. Arthur jumps onto a subway train packed with protesters in clown masks.

He grabs a mask and disappears into the crowd. The detectives push through the car looking for him and a fight breaks out. The angry crowd turns on the two detectives. Arthur slips out at the next station and walks away smiling. Backstage, Murray meets Arthur. He gives him a couple of rules.

No cursing and nothing dirty. Arthur asks one favor. He wants Murray to introduce him as Joker because that's what Murray called him on the show. Then Arthur dances out onto the stage. He sits on the couch next to Murray's other guest. Murray asks about the clown look. Arthur says it isn't political.

He's just trying to make people laugh. Then Murray asks if he has a joke. Arthur flips through his notebook and tells a knockk knockock joke about the police coming to tell a mother her son was killed by a drunk driver. Murray stops him. He says that's not funny. Arthur says he's sorry.

He says it's been a rough few weeks ever since he killed those three Wall Street guys. The audience goes quiet. Murray waits for the punchline. Arthur says there is none. He did it and he says it was because they were awful. Murray says Arthur is just making excuses. Arthur says that if he were dying on the sidewalk, people would walk right over him.

Nobody is kind to anyone anymore. Then he turns on Murray. He says Murray played his video just to make fun of him. Murray tells him there are riots in the streets and someone was killed today because of him. Arthur leans back and asks if Murray wants to hear another joke. Arthur pulls out the gun and shoots Murray on live TV.

Joker (2019) Ending Explained

The audience screams and runs. Arthur turns to the camera and says good night just like Murray does at the end of every show. Then the broadcast cuts out. Within minutes, every news channel is showing it and Gotham explodes. Police drive Arthur away in the back of a squad car. Through the window, the city is on fire.

People in clown masks are smashing windows and fighting in the streets. Arthur watches it all and smiles. He says it's beautiful. Then an ambulance comes out of nowhere and slams into the police car. Across town, Thomas Wayne hurries his wife and young Bruce out of a theater away from the riots.

They duck into an alley to get away from the crowd, but a man in a clown mask has followed them in. He shoots Thomas and his wife, and Bruce is left standing alone. Back at the crash, rioters in clown masks pull Arthur out of the wrecked police car and lay him on the hood. He doesn't move.

Then he wakes up. The crowd cheers as he slowly stands up on top of the car. There's blood in his mouth and he smears it into a wide red smile. He raises his arms and the whole street roars for him. Sometime later, Arthur sits in a white room at Arkham State Hospital in white clothes.

He can't stop laughing. A woman across the table asks him what's so funny. He says he was just thinking of a joke. She asks him to tell her. Arthur smiles and says she wouldn't get it. Arthur spent his whole life trying to make people smile, and the city laughed at him, beat him, and cut him off.

One by one, every person he trusted turned out to be a lie, even his own mother. By the time Gotham finally noticed him, the man behind the makeup was gone. Did Gotham make Joker, or was he always going to end up this way?