On the surface, The People’s Joker seems like a super low budget parody film that somehow played at TIFF, but it’s so much more than that. The People’s Joker is the my favourite film from TIFF this year and it’s for much deeper reasons than just how the film was. That’s not to say that the film is bad because it’s very good. The film just struck a chord with me that made this the most personal film that I ended up seeing at the festival.
The night of the screening was something of legends. It’s an event that everyone who was there and everyone who missed it will remember for the rest of their lives. Our screening only had about 300 or 400 people despite Vera Drew and Peter Kuplowsky pushing everyone to go to the screening. Little did we know that this was gonna be the only screening that this film would ever have. We were in line eagerly anticipating the film as Vera came down the line and gave us stickers, which I still have in my possession at this moment. We were let into the theatre and we were ready to view this mysterious Joker parody film, when my friend Jaime Rebanal alerted the group that the film got an angry letter from Warner Bros themselves asking for Vera to not play the film. We were unsure if they were actually going to go through with the screening and luckily enough they still showed the film. We sat down in our seats ready to see what was waiting for us and after an interesting intro, we witnessed the greatest hour and a half of queer indie cinema i’ve ever seen.
The People’s Joker as many of you know is a very queer superhero parody film about a trans woman who finds her true identity as a joker as she tries to succeed at comedy in a very strange and quirky version of Gotham City. This film is probably the best example of indie filmmaking that i’ve seen in a while. The film’s budget was crowdfunded and much of the movie uses green screen and animation to bring the world to life. This film fits in a very special category for me, that one being films that use unique techniques to tell their stories because of a limited budget. That concept is simply the definition of real indie filmmaking. Vera stated at the premiere that the film was made with the help of 100 or 200 different artists from many different places. The film has an amateur aesthetic that to some would look cheap, but in my perspective makes me like the film even more.
The film in question is one that is very different from anything I saw at TIFF this year or anything that I have seen in a while. The way that i’ve been describing it to people is a “full length Adult Swim project”, which is very fitting as Vera Drew has worked on many Adult Swim projects including a few with Tim Heidecker. If you’re a fan of shows like Tim and Eric, Steve Brule, Eric Andre or anything of that certain aesthetic, this film would be right up your alley. It has a very loose and unpredictable structure that leads to some truly unexpected moments that were highlights of the film. One of the best running jokes was a show that existed in their world called “Suicide Cop”, which didn’t really have a big impact on the story as a whole but it had the audience rolling every time it appeared. It has that “random access humor” aesthetic that many would tie to Adult Swim projects and much of the comedy found on modern platforms like Tik Tok. The comedy is not for everyone, but it was sure as hell for me.
The performances are pretty solid for the size of the film as many of these actors are regulars in this type of comedic content. I was surprised how the performances immediately dragged me into the film including a pretty satisfying supporting performance by Adult Swim regular David Liebe Hart. Because of the size of the film, I wasn’t expecting anything Oscar worthy, but I left feeling super satisfied with what the actors gave me.
The film itself in terms of the way its presented and the pacing is bonkers. If you’ve seen any of her other work, Vera likes to infuse a supersonic pace into her projects that could be hard for some to follow. I didn’t have any issues but it definitely was a rush. The film follows the basic plot of a supervillain’s rise (more specifically 2019’s Joker) but it also sends the audience on a ride that feels like you mixed Red Bull and acid or mushrooms to feel the “ultimate trip”.
One of my favourite elements of this film is the visual aesthetic. Like I stated before, there are a lot of green screen and animation that I found super creative in their execution. One scene specifically is seen in the trailer, and it’s the moment that includes Joker falling with a background that feels like a pure acid trip. Another scene that stood out to me was one that had Joker narrating her upbringing in some sort of cgi wasteland with her speaking to the audience in a mirror. There were so many creative presentation points that might have not been achieved if this film didn’t have to work around a smaller budget.
The story was a very personal one also especially for Vera as it was her way of telling the story of her coming out in feature film form. She uses this super villain arc format to explain how it was to fully embrace her transness in this modern era. This element of the story is definitely a focal point of the film and not something that is deeply buried in the narrative for only a few to find which I appreciate. The film has many personal elements throughout that ties into the story and the real life feelings of Vera equally that strengthened the film as a whole. The film is an hour and a half of pure chaos that just makes sense to me.
Now is when i’ll talk about what I mean by the title of the article. I’ve always been someone who has known that I was different, but for a while I didn’t know how to label it. In high school, I tried out the idea of me being gay and that led to some understanding but it didn’t fully take away that element of longing from my life. When I graduated high school, I started to wonder other things about myself. Thanks to some very important trans representation in media at that time (most importantly Jules on HBO’s Euphoria), I started to question the gender part of my personal equation. Now looking back, everything was pointing to this but at those early moments I wasn’t fully aware of myself.
One notable element that ties back to this film in a major way is how i’ve always related to female characters in media even when I was super young. The big character that made me realize that was specifically Harley Quinn since I saw Suicide Squad in 2016. At that period of time, I thought that I was just attracted to her, which is still true because who isn’t. As time went on and Birds Of Prey was released, I realized that the connection was much more deeper than just a fandom for a character. I related to her in a way that I never felt for a character before which has led to her being my favourite DC character. She is probably the first character that triggered this chain reaction to me fully accepting myself as the girl that I am now and have always been.
The way that The People’s Joker ties into this is the fact that this film hit me on a personal level that helped me finally become open about myself. It was a concept that I was debating internally since I graduated (even more when I moved to Toronto) and this film helped me finally come to terms with the facts. I remember being seated in my chair and having the thought come into my mind “I am a woman” about fifteen minutes into this film and it’s something that I appreciate this film for. The turning point was definitely caused because I got to see a super successful and happy trans woman who was also a filmmaker right before my eyes. Many people, some even in the Marvel and DC fandoms are against the idea of representation in the films and shows, but from my experience, I can confirm that representation matters. Vera Drew talked about the fact that this genre isn’t filled with as many LGBTQ individuals and that there should be more of a push for inclusively and I couldn’t agree more. The idea of having more inclusive voices in every sector of art, including these smaller pockets like fandoms should be something that we are pushing for. It took me seeing someone in a similar situation as me happy and working in my field to finally be comfortable with myself and I have maintained in that comfortable space since that night.
This film is currently one that is battling the big guys for the ability to release. This is a film that I genuinely believe is important and would help other people figure out things about themselves like it did for me. As I have been already, I will be fighting for this movie to come out on social media because if It worked for me, it will work for so many people as well. Thank you to Vera Drew and co for making this film because it was the final domino that helped me come to terms with myself. This new found freedom that I have found in myself is in part due to my viewing of this film and i’ll never forget that.
The Rating:
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