The People’s Joker: The critically lauded trans ‘Joker’ film coming to UK cinemas
Other characters protrayed in the film include a closeted gay Batman and Poison Ivy as a nonbinary aspiring comedian
By Gary Grimes
The People’s Joker, a parody superhero film which centres around a trans woman as the Joker, is finally coming to cinemas in the UK and Ireland next month.
The film, which was originally brought to film festivals in 2022 but had to be pulled from screenings due to copyright issues, stars Vera Drew as the titular Joker. Drew also co-wrote and directed the film, which has received glowing reviews, holding an impressive 95% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Drew’s film is an unofficial parody of the characters from the Batman universe and pop culture writ large. Other characters protrayed in the film include a closeted gay Batman and Poison Ivy, as a nonbinary aspiring comedian.
The Penguin, Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Bane are also featured in the film.
At the time of the film’s initial release, Drew reported that she received “an angry letter” from “a media conglomerate” pressuring her not to screen the film. Many assumed the conglomerate in question to be Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company to DC Comics, though this has never been confirmed.
The film, which also stars Tim Heidecker and Bob Odenkirk, is described as “a hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham to make it big as a comedian, joining the cast of government-sanctioned sketch show UCB Live, in a world where comedy has been outlawed.”
“We’re thrilled to be able to finally bring The People’s Joker to audiences across the UK and Ireland,” said Megan Mitchell, of Matchbox Cine, the film’s distributor. “Matchbox Cine’s exhibition activities have always been about uplifting the orphans, outcasts and outliers of cult cinema and Vera’s quintessential cult midnight movie is the perfect fit as our first new release title.”
A film critic for The New Yorker described the film as “the best superhero movie I’ve ever seen”, whilst Polygon called it “a blasphemous Molotov cocktail of a movie, with a unique and valuable point of view. And it’s hilarious, too.”