Synopsis:

In the bleak, unforgiving heart of Gotham City, Unhappy follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) as he struggles with the aftermath of his violent outburst and growing notoriety. Confined within the walls of Arkham Asylum, Arthur finds himself withdrawn from the chaos he ignited, yet haunted by visions of an uprising outside that he feels responsible for. Amidst the eerie routine of the institution, Arthur meets a mysterious woman (Lady Gaga), another patient, whose life has taken dark and tragic turns. Drawn to each other by shared experiences of pain and isolation, the two form a volatile and deeply emotional connection. As their bond intensifies, so too does their descent into a shared delusion—unhappy—that blurs the lines between reality and their darkest fantasies. Together, they embark on a twisted journey through the shadows of Gotham’s underbelly, challenging societal norms and fuelling each other's worst impulses. In this dark, psychological exploration of love and madness, Unhappy questions the limits of human connection and the consequences of unrestrained chaos.

Intentions:

This film has the potential to be one of the year's biggest misfires, but there’s a stronger story hidden beneath its surface. My intent with this re-edit is to strip away the jarring musical numbers and clumsy singing that detract from the film's core darkness, revealing a narrative more grounded in psychological horror. By focusing solely on Arthur's tragic spiral and removing any glimmers of hope or redemption, I aim to create a version that’s relentlessly bleak, allowing the audience to feel the full weight of his despair. This reimagined Folie à Deux will be a grim character study that offers no escape for Arthur—or the viewer—from the depths of Gotham's shadow.

Change List:

• Insert MRDb Vintage Cassette Fanedit warning. • Add R rating - Violence notice. • Remove Cartoon intro (While I loved the fact they brought back this classic style animation, it didn’t really add to the story in which I’m creating here. • Add Retro Warner Bros intro logo from the original • Remove score from intro (I wanted to just start the film with room ambience and the prison slowly opening up. • Add black out screen to build anticipation for the audience. • Fade in room ambience sound fx (I really enjoyed rebuilding a lot of this edits surround sound channel, in order to remove the music). • Add “A Movies Remastered Fanedit” to the opening credits • Remove “Joker” opening logo • Add freeze frame on Arthurs close-up • Add “Unhappy” opening logo • Add “Pew” sound to Lee. (There was no sound for this in the original so I used the same sound Sophie did in the original). • Add CamCorder recording screen overlay to VHS shots. (I’m surprised they didn’t use this in the original as I feel it adds depth to the scene). • Cut Arthur singing “For once in my life by Stevie Wonder”. (Absolutely no reason for him to break out in song here. It’s just distracting and adds run time). • Use audio crossfade to hide above cut • Remove Lee singing “If they could see me now by Sweet Charity”. (I’ve left a little part of the song lyrics at the start to show that both characters use the power of music as part of their therapy but I’ve no idea why Gaga deliberately sings so badly in this movie so I removed it). • Fix audio to hide the cut above. • Cut around Gaga singing and lips moving. (My aim was to have the audience feel the song is in their heads). • Fix audio to hide the cut above. • Fade out score from the above scene into the following shot. • Allow instrumental to play out in full 5.1 surround • Remove Lee singing again before they limb the gate. • Fix audio to hide the cut above. • Increase the volume of the instrumental track to drown out the sound of the paparazzi • Fade back in the centre dialogue just before Lee scream “Get the F*** off me!” • Add reverb to last note of previous song to allow a seamless transition into dream sequence. (I just this technique a lot these days as it really helps blend the scenes well). • Remove Lee singing “Folie a Deux – Lady Gaga”. (I can understand their trying to show Arthur drifting off into a dreamlike mindset but this scene is just too long and distracting). • Time map the final dance shot (Keeping this and slowing it down by 50% gives us all the dreaming we need to know where Arthurs mind is at). • Add Luma and Gaussian blur to above scene to make it dreamy • Change timing of score so the first note hangs a lot longer. (This adds to the dreamy effect). • Change timing of score so the last note hangs a lot longer. (This adds to the dreamy effect). • Crossfade both scores for a seamless transition • Cut Arthur kissing his Lawyer (I thought this was badly places and out of character for Arthur so I removed it). • Remove Arthur singing “Bewitched by Frank Sinatra”. (Another pointless song breakout that adds nothing to the story). • Remove shot of Steve looking confused after is breaking out in song. • Cut to Steve saying “Don’t you think it’s all a little too much?” • Add extreme room reverb to above audio as it cuts to prisoners watching the interview. • Add extreme room reverb to surround channels to create atmosphere. • Insert close-up of Arthur watching TV • Remove score from following scene of Lee about to smash the window. • Add wet city at night ambience sound fx (I’m having to rebuild the entire audio channels for this edit as the score takes over every channel) • Add night traffic sound fx • Add busy street ambient sound fx • Add breaking glass window sound fx • Add Burglar alarm ringing sound fx. • Add stepping on broken glass sound fx • Add brushing off glass sound fx • Add mumbling crowd sound fx • Add lifting object sound fx • Add breaking cable sound fx • Add plug hitting the ground sound fx • Add subtle footsteps sound fx • Fade in audio saying “We’ll be back with more from Arthur Fleck…” to continue scene to finish. • Remove Lee singing “That’s entertainment” from centre channel • Remove chorus from above song completely • Remove vocal from centre channel (This now makes the song a lot more subtle, as if it’s in Lee’s head. Giving it a much softer feel). • Add flashbacks to Arthurs child abuse from Mysterious Skin 2004. (We never really got to see what Arthur's childhood was like so I've added a few haunting scenes to allow the audience to have more sympathy for him at this point of the story). • Add eerie score in 5.1 to boost atmosphere of above scene • Add dip to black as Arthur closes his eyes. • Add extreme reverb to room ambience to fade out scene to black • Cut cringe “Harley & Joker show” scene (This was just pointless and awful in every way). • Have no sound while in darkness to create a slight level of unease. • Insert shot of Harley holding Gun to Joker • Fade in audio from silence. • Add luma and gaussian blur to above scene to make it dreamy • Dip to black as Arthur closes his eyes in the court room. • Cut “Joker is me!” sequence. (This felt oddly placed and yet another jarring choice). • Insert Sophie coming to talk to Arthur at the door from the original movie. (I’d removed this scene in Happy but I feel it works well here as it shows that Arthur is still delusional about her and dreams of her one day loving him. This also plays in well with Sophie saying Arthur is delusional and lives in a fantasy world as she talks to the court). • Add extreme reverb to last note of score. • Crossfade both scores for a seamless transition into above scene • Add extreme reverb and echo to “Happy and you know it” song to show Arthur waking from his day dream about Sophie. • Hard cut back into court room to shock the audience from jarring flashback. • Add extreme reverb to last note just before “We’re gonna build a mountain kicks in”. • Cut Harley singing “We’re gonna build a mountain”. (While this is the best Gaga sang in the entire movie. I felt it still wasn’t needed and didn’t fit the tone of this edit. • Remove entire Harley & Joker getting married sequence. (just stop!). • Add long pause to back to allow an awkward transition • Fade in roaring crowd sounds as Arthur breaks from his daydream. • Add brutal VFX to Arthur’s aftermath of the shower scene. (While I know this will extremely uncomfortable and upset a few viewers. I wanted to make it abundantly clear how brutal the guards were to him). • After Harley’s entrance. Remove Arthur looking broken in the court room. (I will use this later). • Extend the final note to the eerie score in order for a seamless transition. • Insert “The Joker is me!” sequence. (This replacement position works here as it shows Arthur daydreaming in court again and showing the audience what he’d like to do as Joker. Placing this scene, her also shows the death of The Joker straight after the rise of Harlequin). • Add inhale and exhale smoking sound fx as this scene slowly unfolds. • Add extreme reverb to gun sound fx for transition. • Cut to Arthur waking from daydream in the courts. (A little detail not connected to the previous scene in the original but you can now see Arthur snapping out of his Daze, of wanting to kill everyone in the court room. Making this scene a lot more powerful). • Shorten Arthur singing “If you go away by Dusty Springfield” (While this choice will annoy many people, as Arthurs singing is so bad. I wanted to mirror Arthur serenading Lee, as she did him in prison to show his undying love for her). • Add crossfade to hide above shortening of score • Hard cut to black before lee shots • Add gun shot sound. (While the original movie left this ambiguous. I wanted to show the audience just how mentally unstable Lee really was and have her kill herself). • Add gunshot reverb to surround audio channel • Remove Arthurs final “If you go away” lyric. (This helps to transition into court scene scene with an emotional instrumental. Giving the scene more weight). • Add ear ringing sound fx. (While this is subtle in the original. I really wanted to make the audience feel uncomfortable in this scene as to feel the bomb went off in their head too). • Add VFX of Lee fading out as she walks up the stairs. (This shows the audience that Arthur is still delusional and he’s allowing his mind to make things up to ease the blow of reality before heading back to prison with the abusive guards). • Remove final singing sequence of Joker singing to Harley in the TV studio. (This scene is a little too uplifting. I wanted to have Arthur have a way more sad and lonely death). • Remove score from Arthur hitting the wall. • Remove clean audio in the prison to hide above score. • Add the stabbers laugher as Arthur falls. • Repeat laughter to show how deranged the murder is. • Crossfade back into original audio and score. • Add “Fanedit by Movies Remastered” to the end credits. • Add MR Vintage outro video. • Color grade the above shot to match the film’s yellow tones. • Insert MRDb Vintage Cassette.

Additional Notes:

The reason why I'm launching this edit on November 17th is due to that being the same day the murders happened in the movie. Releases only on MR Discord to initiate members who own a digital version or the original Blu-ray. Invite link here: https://discord.gg/EBdQVXhDUh

Other Sources:

I rebuild a lot of the audio from scratch using sound effect libraries and samples from YouTube.

Special Thanks:

Hear_everything for helping with audio isolation Alleyvoid for helping with VFX