Joker cinematographer answers the movie’s biggest mystery: did Arthur kill [SPOILER]?

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Joker
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The cinematographer for the Joker movie has opened up about one of the movie’s biggest talking points – whether Joker killed a certain someone during the movie’s final act. No spoilers until after the jump, but you’ll be pleased to know we finally have a definitive answer…

Spoilers for Joker follow…

So, are the five people who haven’t seen the movie gone yet? Good. Now: did Joker kill Sophie, the villain’s part-imaginary girlfriend? Speaking to SlashFilm, Lawrence Sher said: “Some people have asked me, ‘Was she killed?’ Todd makes it clear she wasn’t killed. Arthur is killing people who’ve wronged him in a certain way, and Sophie never wronged him.”

That clears that up. Arthur’s final scene with Sophie involves the failed stand-up comedian trespassing into her apartment before being asked to leave. You never see what happens, though many fans discussing the Joker ending over the last few weeks were theorising about what happened to Zazie Beetz’s character and whether she met a grisly end.

One thing that isn’t so cut-and-dry, however, is which parts of the movie are figments of Arthur’s imagination and which are actually happening. Sher revealed that there are visual clues: “Things that are there I’ll never talk about… In terms of what we did visually to play with the real and not real, there are callbacks and scenes that mirror each other. We leave hints using imagery or way we covered scenes similarly between scene. Outside of that, I like that people can have the conversation and come to their own conclusions.”

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.