The Movie That<em> </em>Pulls Harley Quinn Out From Behind the Joker’s Shadow

Harley, however, hasn’t been able to embark on such a narrative journey in film. A dedicated Margot Robbie played her to scene-stealing perfection in the 2016 DC Extended Universe entry Suicide Squad, but her arc focused on her devotion to the Joker (played by Jared Leto). Indeed, the Joker looms too large in pop culture to afford Harley much breathing room: He’s such a lucrative draw for Warner Bros., the studio delivered a stand-alone take on the character starring Joaquin Phoenix only three years after Leto delivered his over-the-top version in Suicide Squad. Even offscreen, he poses a challenge for Harley: Phoenix is likely going to win an Oscar for playing him the same weekend the Harley-centric film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) hits theaters. The Joker, it seems, will always get the last laugh.

But Birds of Prey, out today, aims to finally build Harley her own big-screen legacy. It’s a tough task: Directed by Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) and written by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), the film must not only condense almost 30 years of Harley’s character development into two hours, but also weave a tale explaining Harley’s new life without having the Joker’s lingering presence overwhelm the story. The film succeeds on both counts by neither dismissing her abusive past nor drowning in it, and by leaning into Harley’s insecurities as seen through her own eyes.

The film relies on her voice and perspective (she narrates the saga). Gone is the dour, self-serious tone of Suicide Squad; in its place is a rowdy, rollicking adventure drenched in glitter, vibrant mayhem, and Harley’s signature style. In a nod to her TV beginnings, it opens with a quirky animated sequence to catch the audience up, during which Harley reflects on how the Joker’s actions made her feel small. Yan examines the way Harley is trying to cope with her years of service to the Joker but doesn’t show him—only the back of his head appears in a brief clip from Suicide Squad—nor does the director dwell on his violence toward Harley.

Birds of Prey wisely delves into why Harley became so obsessed with him in the first place and why she struggled to leave—a crucial piece of the story that Suicide Squad skated over and treated with a derisive tone. (“Talk about a workplace romance,” one character snarked in the 2016 film.) To do so, Hodson injects shades of the Joker’s most notorious qualities into the primary villain, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor). Roman could be considered the Joker 2.0: He’s possessive, immature, terrifying, and ensconced in a possibly romantic relationship—at least, it’s been defined as such by the actors—with his top henchman, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina). Roman treats Harley as her ex did, taunting her with language that could have been pulled from the Joker’s dialogue: “You know you can’t stand on your own,” he sneers at Harley. “You need me.”

In one scene, he slaps her repeatedly across the face. As he does, she enters into a fantasy sequence inspired by “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” In her head, Harley recasts Roman not as the aggressor but as a gentleman simply asking her for a favor. Before she can make it through the song, though, she shakes herself out of it, realizing she’s retreating into a delusion—behavior she once used to cope with the Joker, the film implies. Harley may be free of her ex, but freeing herself from the unhealthy coping mechanisms she cultivated while she was with him is much harder to accomplish.