Joker ending explained · Cinespective

What happens

Arthur kills Murray live on air, riots take over Gotham, and Bruce Wayne's parents are shot. Arthur then sits in Arkham, laughing at a private joke, and later leaves bloody footprints as he is chased. He has fully become the Joker.

The last image

Arthur, now in the asylum, walks away down a corridor leaving bloody footprints behind him as he is chased.

Three readings

1 · Real or imaginedThe Arkham scenes may be Arthur's fantasy, as unreliable as his romance with Sophie.

2 · A joke he ownsThe refusal to explain shows Arthur finally keeps something to himself, unseen and unmocked.

3 · Society's creationThe riots suggest Gotham made the Joker, and he is only its symbol.

What it says

The film ends on Arthur's private laugh because it never settles who is to blame, the city or the man. His joke stays locked inside him, and the film leaves you to decide what you made of the looking.