Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips says the ending will leave you with a “very unsettling” feeling

The first reviews of Joker: Folie à Deux have hinted that audiences may find the ending a little divisive, and director Todd Phillips is all too aware of how some fans will react.

“For the people that have seen this movie in general … at the end, they sit and they don’t move for about three to five minutes,” Phillips said during a Q&A (via /Film). “Then they text me, the ones that know me, or email me and go, ‘I need a minute to process the movie.’” Phillips added, “I think it’s going to leave you with a very unsettling … I think it’s unsettling.” Certain outlets appear to have outright spoiled the ending for Joker: Folie à Deux in their reviews, so the reason for this potential reaction is easy to find, but I won’t be sharing it here.

It remains to be seen if Joker: Folie à Deux will be as successful as the first movie (which was the first R-rated movie to gross over $1 billion), but you shouldn’t keep your fingers crossed for Joker 3 as Phillips doesn’t intend on returning. “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies,” Phillips said last month, “but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.“

Although Arthur and Lee (Lady Gaga) frequently break into songs such as Get Happy, For Once in My Life, and That’s Life, Phillips has avoided labelling the sequel as a full-blown musical. “Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue,” Phillips said. “It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.” Phillips added, “I just don’t want people to think that it’s like ‘In the Heights,’ where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out onto the street, and the police are dancing. No disrespect, because I loved ‘In the Heights.’“

In addition to Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, Joker: Folie À Deux also stars Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey. Zazie Beetz also returns to reprise her role as Sophie Dumond from the first movie, a love interest for Arthur. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s been said that much of the sequel will take place within Arkham Asylum, which is where we left Arthur in the last film. Joker: Folie à Deux will hit theaters on October 4th.