Disclaimer: Similar to another user review, I have to confess that I am EXACTLY the audience for this movie. I love Tilda Swinton, genre films, dance, anti-fascism, and Gothic horror. So take what I say with a grain of salt, I suppose.
"We need guilt, Doctor, and shame."
The scariest thing in the world (to me) is a person with no sense of shame. It's remarkably easy for some people to decide, 'I'm not responsible, I don't care if I hurt people or if people are hurt in my name, as long as I'm comfortable. As long as I don't see it. As long as I can justify in my head why those people deserved it. As long as I get to sit here, sip my tea, and not think about the bodies.'
Such is the poison that consumes the Helena Markos Dance Academy, where the matrons who run the school prey upon their students. They put on a protective, motherly front to manipulate and destroy the young women who come through their doors. The youth believe the celebrated academy will help perfect their dancing capabilities. This lie masks a secret, nefarious plot - one the coven will gladly kill to protect.
Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria has a lot on its mind - the German Autumn, modern dance, motherhood, witchcraft, psychotherapy - but everything comes back to a struggle with shame, especially as it applies to those with power. The witches at the academy were victims of the Third Reich, and have since devolved into their own form of fascistic groupthink. Fear of discovery drives the coven to commit atrocities. We are shown in grueling, bone-crunching detail the cruelty they are willing to inflict on dissenters, and then we see how shockingly happy and contented they are with what they've done. Evil is banal, and it does not occur to (most of) the matrons that they should feel even the slightest semblance of guilt.
The only other authority figure in the film is Dr. Klemperer (played by the endearing "Lutz Ebersdorf"), a psychologist who survived the Holocaust. While his intentions are more noble than those of the witches, he still fails to take action when it counts and pathetically denies the blood on his hands. The message may not be subtle, but that doesn't make it any less palpable: We are all culpable when we allow unjust regimes to flourish. Shame can help save humanity.
Guadagnino is more concerned with character psychology than Dario Argento was in his 1977 original. Every character actively pursues an agenda, and their individual journeys interlock in interesting ways. It's difficult to say there is only one main protagonist; we closely follow the progress of so many people. Guadagnino also shows way more compassion for his characters than Argento did. The sisterhood that develops between Susie (Dakota Johnson) and Sara (Mia Goth) is genuinely touching. So is the intense, symbiotic bond between Susie and her instructor, Madam Blanc (the incomparable Tilda Swinton). And of course, there's Klemperer on a mission to find and rescue his missing patient, a dancer tormented by the academy (Chloe Grace Moretz). Because there is sincere, deeply felt love for each of these characters, the terror visited upon them is all the more distressing.
Many of the film's stylistic choices can be quite jarring, particularly in the VFX and editing departments. It's also 2.5 hours long and slow paced in sections. It's not for everyone, but then again, neither is the 1977 original. Guadagnino pays tribute to the free, punk rock spirit of Argento in his own unique way. Thom Yorke's music is also very surprising; singing on a horror movie soundtrack is a bold move. Yet nothing here feels out of place. The world of this film follows a well-defined, if unorthodox and challenging, aesthetic logic - in that regard, it matches the success of the original, which critics described as "A movie that makes sense only to the eye."
The new Suspiria makes sense on a deeper level. For all its intellectual obsessions, the movie is first and foremost an emotional experience. We watch, helpless, as characters we care for are neglected, lied to, and murdered by their elders. With age and trauma, the adults have lost touch with their humanity, and now they commit selfish crimes whilst hiding behind a wall.
People who say this movie "doesn't know what it wants to be" couldn't be more wrong.
