© Mark Lambie / El Paso Times
(New York, NY) – Fans dressed up as the film, “Joker: Folie a Deux” hit theaters on Friday, October 4th. It features the return of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, who’s joined by love interest Harley Quinn played by Lady Gaga. The movie was filmed in New York City (Gotham) and at the shuttered Essex County Isolation Hospital in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. The New Jersey location is pivotal to the script since that’s where the Joker and Quinn meet as it stands in for the infamous Arkham Asylum.
Built in 1932, the Essex County Isolation Hospital, in the Soho section of Belleville, carries us back to a time when infectious diseases like tuberculosis, polio, and typhoid spread rapidly through the population. The now vacant facility sits on top of a hill, where it kept the infected away from the general public.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” is a musical sequel to 2019’s “Joker,” for which Joaquin Phoenix won the Academy Award for best actor. .
