(Vera Drew, 2022, USA, 95 minutes)

Notoriously showing just once at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival before seeing the rest of its screenings canceled due to “rights issues,” Vera Drake’s The People’s Joker, a DIY trans coming of age story set in the Batman universe, has finally broken out of movie jail and is ready to enter the general population. Writer/director/editor Drew herself also plays Vera, a/k/a Joker the Harlequin, a comedian struggling to find her voice on a government-sanctioned late night sketch show. As her act grows more pointed, she attracts the attention of both the city’s fascist caped crusader as well as a love interest, Mister J (Kane Distler, in his film debut). Featuring cameos from Bob Odenkirk, Tim Heidecker, Maria Bamford, and more.