The People’s Joker – REVIEW

Vera Drew in The People’s Joker

Boy, did this have a rocky road. I remember reading articles about The People’s Joker, actress/director/co-writer/editor Vera Drew’s low-budget, punk rock, mixed media comic book parody of various DC properties, and how it was hit with a cease-and-desist at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2022 by Warner Bros. itself. It wasn’t until April of this year when it finally received a small theatrical release, and I’m kicking myself for not making the time to see it in a theater. At first, I thought I hadn’t seen anything that Drew has worked on, but after looking over her credits, I saw that she edited An Evening with Tim Heidecker, an hour of comfortably unfunny stand-up that’s practically anti-comedy. The People’s Joker lays claim to the term “anti-comedy,” and this Joker runs wild with it. For its characters alone, it’s a surreal remix of what Batman fans and DC fans in general know that feel almost nonsensical. Ra's al Ghul isn’t the head of the League of Assassins, he’s a cast member of UCB Live, which is Gotham City’s censored live comedy run by an animated Lorne Michaels. Getting into all of the juicy details would ruin the surprise (and the fun) of what’s in store, but that’s just the icing on the cake to where The People’s Joker shines: Vera Drew herself. Outside of Drew being the architect of this playground of a film, the titular Vera is the beating heart of the project. On a more personal note, I’m bisexual, and at this point, I’ve known that about myself for a while. The coming-of-age story is also a trope that will never not win me over, but seeing Drew seemingly take her own life story, fuse it with one of the most iconic characters in fiction, and cover it with, for lack of a better term, digital vomit? That is some pretty fearless stuff that we don’t get often. The only thing I could see getting in the way is that there’s a lot going on, specifically when it comes to the visuals. The style, or “digital vomit,” will make or break how much you could take of The People’s Joker, but if you can take it, it’ll welcome you with open arms.

Ryan’s Grade: B+