Although this is an “origin” story, Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is a volatile party clown well before he adopts that fabled moniker. But there’s a key difference: He’s a victim, more sinned against than sinning. Oh, what a litany of injuries: In the first scene, a group of teens steals the sign he carries for a Going Out of Business sale and bash it over his head when he gives chase, after which — insult to injury — his boss accuses him of stealing the sign and deducts the cost from Arthur’s wages. A colleague gives him a gun and then — when the weapon clatters to the floor during a party for sick kids — denies it. An attractive single mother (Zazie Beetz) in his rundown apartment building can barely keep from grimacing in the face of his greasy leering. Social services are being cut to put money in the pockets of Gotham City’s wealthy — among them Thomas Wayne, soon-to-be-murdered father of Bruce, who’ll go bats — which means Arthur no longer has easy access to his meds, which means he could provoke still more scummy thugs with his Tourette’s-like tendency to break into laughter in moments of stress. Sure enough, he’s attacked on the subway, this time by drunken yuppies who happen to work for Wayne. A popular talk show host, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), cruelly ridicules his attempt to be a stand-up comic at an open-mic event. Add to this an overbearing, sickly mother (Frances Conroy) and a history of childhood abuse — is it any wonder the outcast/victim sees only two possibilities: suicide or assuming the guise of a supervillain? You have to admire Arthur for his self-actualization. It sure beats impotence — or nonexistence, which is the ultimate impotence.

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