Luca’s “Suspiria” left me speechless. The horror presented in this film felt unlike anything I’d ever encountered before. It stood apart from what major studios like Columbia, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Disney typically produce. Director Luca Guadagnino shifted from the LGBTQ+ drama adaptation "Call Me By Your Name" to create an avant-garde psychological study based on Dario Argento's famed 1977 film “Suspiria.” Horror movies don’t usually frighten me anymore. Many contemporary horror films rely heavily on excessive gore and predictable plots, featuring a rotating cast of actors delivering somewhat shallow performances. However, Luca’s "Suspiria"—a horror movie from 2018—didn't scare me in that way; it deeply unsettled me. The film built slowly with mounting tension, yet also captivated me through its raw intensity, culminating in a nightmarish sixth act and an epilogue. Argento’s “Suspiria,” released in 1977, feels remarkably fresh and modern even now. Its distinctive use of bright neon colors and gore, combined with the prog-rock score by Goblin, contribute to its unique feel. Dario Argento, however, didn't care for Luca's version, criticizing it as lacking spirit, fear, and music. He did acknowledge that Guadagnino’s design was beautiful, suggesting he got something right. Luca’s “Suspiria” is a movie unlike any other due to its sheer ambition. The film structures the narrative into six distinct "acts," ending with an epilogue. Its washed-out, bleak setting complements queer themes and unconventional visual storytelling. It explores brooding realism, mysterious witchcraft, and black magic through mesmerizing visuals, unexplained dialogue, deliberate camera angles, and restraint. The horror in Luca’s “Suspiria” goes beyond simple shocking imagery; the gore is infrequent but visceral, and nudity is exclusively female, with one male appearance. Politics and dance are essential to understanding the 2018 film "Suspiria." Dance conveys witchcraft and spells alongside powerful emotions, femininity, strength, and rawness. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the German Autumn of 1977, a time when Berlin was divided and marked by events like the Lufthansa hijacking and RAF faction activity. A reference to the Third Reich as a religion and delusion raises questions about what is real and unreal. There's something inherently dramatic about Luca’s “Suspiria.” Dr. Lutz Klemperer grapples with the loss of his wife, Anke, in the Holocaust; Sara mourns her friend Patricia; Madame Blanc begins to love her adopted daughter before regretting her actions. The three girls participating in a ritual wishing for death receive a motherly kiss before dying. Klemperer’s inability to prevent what he witnesses through psychotherapy leaves him helpless at the end. His memory is erased to absolve him of his guilt and the horrors he has seen. Dakota Johnson, known for her role in the "Fifty Shades" film trilogy, delivers a surprisingly unsettling performance as a feminine, sexual, maternal, and enigmatic character. Tilda Swinton portrays her counterpart, Lutz Ebersdorf, embodying both a matriarchal coven founder and a grieving widow who is also a skeptical psychotherapist. Chloe Grace Moretz plays a politically troubled, unstable, and paranoid woman. While the performances overall felt somewhat average, they grounded the film in reality. Thom Yorke’s music was well done. His score for Luca's "Suspiria" evokes the atmosphere of a 1970s prog-rock band with an inclination toward ambient synthesizers, experimental sounds and piano. It would have made a great Radiohead double album instead of a soundtrack. Of course, Thom Yorke’s score didn't always align with Luca's “Suspiria”; some scenes felt jarring due to the music, though in a similar way that Goblin’s score complemented Argento's "Suspiria." It left me deeply unsettled and subconsciously frightened—a film that made me feel depressed when it was meant to. A complex piece, Luca’s "Suspiria" serves as a powerful exploration of femininity and matriarchy; a movie without words.

Source on TMDB