In Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux,” conservative comedian Tim Dillon has a very brief cameo as one of the guards at Arkham Asylum. It’s almost literally a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, and Dillon has even admitted that, when he finally watched Phillips’ film, he didn’t see himself.
The reason he didn’t see himself is because he was on his phone, posting on social media how much the film sucked. Dillon hated it that much.
Dillon, for those unfamiliar, is a queer standup comedian who is perhaps best known for mocking Millennials and Gen-Z for being whiny and privileged. He also, however, pokes fun at Boomers for “refusing to retire” (squarely giving him a classic Gen-X disaffected tone) and pals around with right-wing pundits and bro-doggs like Joe Rogan, having described himself as right-leaning (although Dillon claims he has become too bitter to vote). Beyond that, Dillon has been doing standup comedy professionally since the early 2010s and released his first special, “A Real Hero,” in 2022. His latest special, “This Is Your Country,” was put out by Netflix in 2024.
His role in “Folie à Deux” is practically a walk-on, but Dillon was eager to see the film. Afterward, he was invited onto the questionable “Joe Rogan Experience” interview show, and he was happy to say that it was the worst movie ever made. Not just a bad DC Comics movie, or a bad movie in general, but the literal worst. This is a bold statement, seeing as DC Comics has also provided the world films like “Black Adam,” “The Flash,” “Catwoman,” “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” and “Jonah Hex.” In Dillon’s eyes, this one out-stunk them all.
Tim Dillon thinks Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t merely bad, but the worst movie of all time
Dillon, of course, remembers the discourse surrounding the first “Joker.” Some might recall that Phillips’ original film was feared before its release, as it seemed to be — judging only by its advertising — an apologia for violent loners and self-pitying incels. The film ended up being far more toothless, telling a rather simple story of a city’s lack of mental health infrastructure leading to supervillainy. It was then wrapped in a Martin Scorsese-inspired aesthetic, and sold as something dark and deep. It wasn’t deep, but it was a hit.
“Folie a Deux,” however, is almost deliberately bad, ripping apart all the myths that the first film set up. The film demystifies the Joker, and, by extension, implicates superhero fans for engaging with a vapid, ridiculous fantasy. Quentin Tarantino loved its temerity. Dillon hated its premise, stating:
“It’s the worst film that has ever been made. It’s actually not ‘so bad.’ It’s the worst film ever made. I think what happened, after the first ‘Joker,’ there was a lot of talk like, ‘Oh, this was loved by incels. This was loved by the wrong kinds of people. This sent the wrong kind of message. Male rage! Nihilism!’ All these thinkpieces. And then I think, ‘What if we went the other way,’ and now they have Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga tap dancing, to a point where it’s insane.”
Dillon isn’t wrong. One might argue that it was the point of “Folie à Deux” to go the other way, as it were, but that didn’t necessarily make it entertaining to watch.
Tim Dillon thought Joker 2 would bomb, even when he was on the set
Dillon, of course, had a sinking sensation from the start. He recalls chinwagging with the other actors and extras who played the film’s Arkham Asylum guards, and agreeing that they were baffled as to the very plot of the film. The comedian continued:
“It has no plot. We would sit there, me and these other guys were all dressed in these security outfits because we’re working at the Arkham Asylum, and I would turn to one of them, and we’d hear this crap, and I’d go, ‘What the f*** is this?’ And they’d go, ‘This is going to bomb, man.’ I go, ‘This is the worst thing I’ve ever.’ We were talking about it at lunch, and we’d go, ‘What is the plot? Is there a plot? I don’t know, I think he falls in love with her in the prison?’ It’s not even hate-watchable. That’s how terrible it is.”
/Film’s own Bill Bria felt that the “Joker” sequel functioned well as a legitimate genre deconstruction, but most audiences felt the same way as Dillon, staying away from the would-be blockbuster in droves. The film has, at last measure, lost Warner Bros. anywhere from $125 million to $200 million, making it one of the biggest bombs of all time. It’s easy to dogpile on a movie that is critically mixed and already failing, and Dillon was happy to do so.
Dillon, of course, is a comedian, and the oafish host of “Experience” tends to speak in extremes, so it’s possible that Dillon was exaggerating his outrage. But it’s also possible that he truly feels “Folie à Deux” is the worst movie of all time.
As a critic, I would say that he should consider himself lucky if he hasn’t seen any films worse than “Folie à Deux.” There are so, so many films that are so, so much worse.
