Suspiria (2018)

Directed by

Luca Guadagnino

Genre

splatter film, thriller film

Country

Italy, United States

Runtime

2h 32m

Rated

R

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 2,786 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An American woman joins a prestigious dance academy in 1970s Berlin where the staff turns out to be a coven of witches. She gets caught up in their dark rituals and power struggles.

tensedisturbingdread-filledviscerally intensedarkslow-burnunnervingnightmarish

What happens

Suspiria is a 2018 supernatural horror film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by David Kajganich, inspired by Dario Argento's 1977 Italian film of the same name. It stars Dakota Johnson as an American woman who enrolls at a prestigious dance academy in Berlin run by a coven of witches. Tilda Swinton co-stars in three roles, as the company's lead choreographer, as a male psychotherapist involved in the academy, and as the leader of the coven. Mia Goth, Elena Fokina and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in supporting roles as students, while Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk and Christine LeBoutte portray some of the academy's matrons. Jessica Harper, star of the original film, has a cameo appearance. A remake of Suspiria was first announced in 2008 after Guadagnino had acquired the rights from the original film's writers, Argento and Daria Nicolodi. In September 2015, Guadagnino confirmed his plans to direct, describing his version as an "homage" to the original rather than a straightforward remake. A new screenplay was drafted by Kajganich, who had written Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash the year before. Kajganich set the film during the so-called "German Autumn" of 1977 to explore themes of generational guilt in that country during the Cold War. The film's other themes include motherhood, evil and the dynamics of matriarchies. Unlike the original film, which used exaggerated colors, Guadagnino conceived the visuals in Suspiria as "winterish" and bleak, absent of primary colors. The film incorporates stylized dance sequences choreographed by Damien Jalet, which form part of its representation of witchcraft. Principal photography took place in late 2016 and early 2017 in Varese, Italy, and in Berlin. The musical score was composed by Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who took inspiration from krautrock. The film is dedicated to the memories of Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, film director Jonathan Demme and Deborah Falzone. Suspiria premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2018. It was given a limited release by Amazon Studios in Los Angeles and New York on October 26, 2018, where it grossed over $180,000 in its opening weekend, marking the highest screen-average box-office launch of the year. It was screened on October 31 in some US cities before opening in wide release on November 2, 2018. It was released in Italy on January 1, 2019. The film was a box-office bomb and critical response was polarized; some praised the film for its visual elements and performances, while others criticized its historical-political setting as arbitrary in relation to its other themes. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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