JOKER is continuing to stir controversy on its opening weekend, after some audiences stormed out of theatres around the world saying the movie is too disturbing and “triggering”.
The R-rated supervillain flick smashed October opening-day box office records after taking home US$39.9 million in US domestic ticket sales on Friday, and is on pace to take in an eye-watering US$92-million weekend total.
But not everyone is embracing the dark, ultra-violent film, which sees Joaquin Phoenix portray Arthur Fleck, the embattled clown who later transforms into Batman's most iconic nemesis.
One fan wrote on Twitter: “Literally just walked out of a screening of Joker. Way too terrifying to be there with… the way the movie glamorizes gun violence and mental health issues.”
Others have gone as far as calling for the movie to be banned from theatres, saying that it promotes violence and could even inspire a mass shooting.
Thus far on opening weekend, there have been no reports of violence at screenings, after police across the nation went on high alert and beefed up security at theatres.
There have been isolated disruptions at screenings, though nothing so serious as an actual shooting.
In New York City, police responded to a screening after one audience member sparked fears by spitting on others and clapping loudly every time the Joker killed someone.
Fearing he had ill intentions, police escorted the man out of the theatre. A witness reported that the man had poured a bottle of tequila into his slushie before the movie began.
“S**t was scary - like a 4-D movie experience,” the witness tweeted.
Some fans unprepared for the movie's dark intensity took to Twitter to reveal that they had walked out of screenings.
Twitter users wrote: “Just walked out of #Joker. Haven't been that anxious in a movie theatre since GOOD TIME. F**k man...”
“I walked out of this movie #Joker BAN THIS MOVIE!! It's a psychological approach on the mind! I was rooting for him until s**t got real... Oh man...”
“By unanimous decision, the four of us walked out of the Joker movie. I haven't walked out of a movie in years... I have never walked out of a theater more uncomfortable than I am right now walking out of Joker...”
Both Phoenix and director Todd Phillips have defended the film, with the actor saying he trusts audiences to know the difference between right and wrong.
Phillips recently revealed he was surprised by the criticism of Joker, because he took measures to instill “real-world implications” of violence not often found in cartoon films and television shows.
The 48-year-old director revealed during the New York Film Festival on Wednesday night that his depictions of violence were a needed departure from the glorification found in other action movies.
Phoenix portrays Fleck as a bullying victim who – after living on the outskirts of society – snaps and begins to take revenge on those who have wronged him.
“That's the surprising thing to me,” he said at the movie's east coast US premiere. “I thought, isn't that a good thing, to put real-world implications on violence?”
Despite receiving critical acclaim, social media monitoring FBI agents in the US have warned it could inspire screening attacks from incels – a term which refers to men who are “involuntarily celibate” and blame their situation on women. – Daily Mail