Directed by Todd Phillips, the 2019 film “The Joker,” a gritty reimagining of the Batman villain as a psychotic outcast played by Joaquin Phoenix, was an unexpected success The tedious and boring sequel, “The Joker”: however, was a failure both with critics (a mere 33% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (a rare D-rank on the polling service CinemaScore)

Arthur Fleck, played by Phoenix, is committed to a mental institution awaiting trial after a murder and has a heart-to-heart with a fellow patient, played by Lady Gaga as Batman villain Harley Quinn Phillips performs a half-hearted musical number that wastes Lady Gaga's talent, but “Folie a Deux” is as much a courtroom drama as it is a musical, and there is no conviction committed to any particular approach

If you are one of the many moviegoers disappointed by “The Joker”: If you are one of the many moviegoers disappointed by “Folie a Deux,” here are five better films with similar themes and ideas instead

Bradley Cooper's directorial debut is another music-filled drama about a doomed romance starring Lady Gaga, but with more emotion and better musical performances This is the fourth version of the story of an older male star mentoring and falling in love with an up-and-coming young woman, and Cooper's interpretation of the subject matter is a tour de force He plays Jackson Maine, a grizzled singer-songwriter who finds Gaga's Allie performing at a bar and falls for her talent, beauty, and charm

Jackson falls into depression and alcoholism while Allie becomes a superstar, and their romance is marred by diametrically opposed personal and professional trajectories The unfolding tragedy has weight, and the original songs sound like real hits, lending credibility to a film that explores the pitfalls of showbiz

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Milos Forman's Academy Award-winning drama, based on Ken Kesey's novel, is a grimmer, more realistic (but funnier) look at life in a mental institution Casey spent some time working in an actual mental health facility and drew on his real-life experiences to tell the story of a rebellious patient who revolts against a tyrannical nurse

Jack Nicholson (who would later play a very different version of the Joker) stars as Randall McMurphy, a prisoner who manipulates the system to allow him to serve out his sentence in a less restrictive setting Surrounded by residents who are actually mentally ill, McMurphy soon begins to cause trouble, especially with the stern Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) The film explores the inhumanity of institutionalization, interweaving moments of anguish and despair with small triumphs

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Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier is known for his relentless misery for his often hapless protagonists, as is certainly the case with 1960s naive factory worker Selma (Bjork) and she is slowly going blind thanks to a genetic disorder

She escapes the gradual torture of everyday life by loving musicals The sadism of the story is tempered by the musical numbers Musical numbers may be sadism in and of themselves, but at least Selma is allowed some agency, however internal Even as the world seems to conspire to destroy her and her loved ones, Selma continues to sing

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The occasional snippet of song does little to enliven the dull courtroom drama of “The Joker”: but the film version of this hit Broadway musical directed by Rob Marshall knows how to combine crime and musical numbers He knows how to combine crime and musical numbers Like Arthur Fleck, accused murderer Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) is a media sensation whose trial attracts attention, which she uses to fuel her ambitions for stardom

She is aided by flamboyant lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), but when Roxy begins to attract media attention, fellow client Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) becomes jealous “Chicago,” set in the 1920s, is the story of Broadway legends It is a stylish spectacle with classic songs and frenetic performances created by Broadway legends John Kander and Fred Ebb It reminds us that musicals about murder and deception don't have to be dull and dour

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Lady Gaga's Lee Quinzel did not meet Arthur Fleck by chance While “Joker: Folie à Deux” takes place in a pre-social media era, the idea of stalking and entering someone's life is essentially the same as what the title character in “Ingrid Goes West” does with various online influencers [Aubrey Plaza is one of the few actors who could easily play both the Joker and Harley Quinn, although her Ingrid is deranged as she goes to unusual and unhealthy lengths to befriend Instagram star Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), strangely sympathetic Ingrid Goes West is funnier than The Joker and a sharper poke at celebrity: a funnier and sharper portrayal of celebrity than For a Do

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