Review of Suspiria (2018) by Joshua S — 05 Dec 2018

This one you probably didn't see coming. (Or, honestly probably didn't see at all.) Suspiria is a remake of a cult classic 1977 Italian horror film of the same name by Dario Argento. This time around it's helmed by Luca Guadagnino hot on the heels of his success from Call Me by Your Name. Both focus on a young American ballet student entering a mysterious European dance school that is really a front for a coven of witches. But as where the original was a vivid, colorful fairy tale turned nightmare, the remake is a cold, desaturated historical allegory set against the backdrop of the German Autumn of (you guessed it) 1977, during the doomed Red Army Faction uprising. It is very much a modern European art horror picture, and therefore, not for everyone.

Suspiria 2018 doesn't bother much with the mystery of the coven, nor is it interested in jump scares. Nope. This film is fully content to freak you the hell out with the PAINFUL things that it does to human bodies and what it does to our protagonist's mind. Hereditary made a splash for being a polarizing art horror film with disturbing imagery, but Suspiria honestly one-ups it completely on that front, though in a far messier fashion. In addition to centering around women, expressionist dance, and freaky supernatural shit, Suspiria also has a lot to say about the changing face of post-war Germany and generations of guilt. It's truly bizarre to go directly from violent street protests to a HELL of a witches' sabbath (that is somehow freakier than the one that ended The Witch) and not seem tonally inconsistent. Guadagnino manages that with finesse. Dakota Johnson has a lot going on in this unconventional role and the odd but rapturing back-and-forth with her obsessive mentor (Tilda Swinton) forms the true meat of the story. There are a lot of character actors doing God's (or someone else's) work here and I feel guilty not being able to do them justice. Either way, it's a shame it left theaters so quickly and it deserved better for the all the time and resources that went into it. Catch it on blu-ray or your preferred streaming service if you got the sand. All of them...witches.