Aside from a few sillier TV show and movie versions of the masked vigilante, Batman has a tendency of naturally being grimmer than most superhero stories. The story of Bruce Wayne, the loss of his parents and his journey to becoming the Dark Knight is meant to be tragic and tense. So if you’re a Batman fanatic or your kid is, you make think that because Batman has always been dark, they’ll be fine going to see the new Joker movie, but trust me, they are not.

Joker is a gritty movie that takes place in Gotham City in the 70s and it tells the origins story of the Joker. Aside from a few scenes that connect the Joker to his greatest adversary, the Batman, you and your child will be greatly disappointed if you’re expecting to see the two battle it out in their normal fashion. If you think that you’re going to see a comical story about a man who is already an enterprising criminal that falls into a vat of chemicals and becomes the Joker, you are wrong.

The movie does tell you about how a man, Arthur Fleck becomes the Joker, but it does so in an incredibly humanizing way that sheds new light on why the maniacal criminal is always sent to Arkham instead of prison. It is a story that raises the issue of mental illness and how people who are in desperate need of help are neglected and often overlooked in this country and it addresses the effect of growing wealth disparities between the rich and the poor.

The story of the Joker is not one about a goofy criminal with funny punch lines but rather a story about how all of these dynamics together can lead to chaos and disaster.

Is Joker Appropriate To Take My Child To See?

If all of that is not enough to convince you NOT to take your child to see Joker, you should know that this movie is more of a psychological thriller than a graphic novel and that there are disturbing scenes of violence that many adults may not be able to process, let alone a child of any age. If your child is insistent on going to see Joker, remember that you are the parent and if you wouldn’t take your child to see a movie like American Psycho or Silence of the Lambs, you shouldn’t take them to see this one either.

READ NEXT: 10 Things To Consider While Deciding If A Movie Is Appropriate To Show Your Young Child