For anyone who might think, based on the ending, that it was all a dream or a made-up story, I would challenge that. Arthur was able to identify in his story when he was hallucinating / having delusional moments by his relationship with Sophie, if he was narrating the whole story itself. People with psychopathy and/or delusional disorder cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is not but can function/behave normally in other situations. If the whole story was a dream, the identification of the delusions would be highly unlikely in memory recall, able to distinguish what happened and what didn't.
Additionally, the dream sequence doesn't work for the DC story arc. If the whole thing was a dream or made up story, then the events of Thomas Wayne/Batman would never have actually happened, and that part of the universe would cease to exist. Unless you consider the whole Batman empire to be a "dream" as well.
Very powerful movie. I would say that because of my day-to-day community, mental health (and neglecting it) has framed a big part of how I view the world. Joker - while stylized - is almost a warning shot about what could happen when people fall through the cracks, combined with government austerity and social tension. I think many people would be surprised at how much more actually happens in our hospitals, clinics, and neighborhoods that you don't see with regard to mental health issues, or even the serious scale of people it affects.
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