Suspiria doesn’t so much nail the Bechdel test as set fire to it and then do a naked victory dance around the flames. This is a film entirely about women and their bodies and their relationships, but that’s not why you should see it. You should go and see Suspiria – because along with Hereditary – it’s one of the most shocking horror movies of the year. Every second is calibrated to keep you rigid with suspense, tugging you further and further into its world of dance and the occult so skillfully that you reach the spectacular climax in what feels like mere minutes, despite the two hours and 30 minutes running time. It’s the story of innocent Susie – the sort of innocent you can only be when you’ve grown up in a sheltered religious family in Ohio – who follows her dreams and travels to Berlin in the ‘70s to dance at the Markos Dance Academy. At the same time, another American, Patricia Hingle, is telling her psychotherapist that the academy is run by witches, and terrible things are happening there. While the posters and buzz around the upcoming movie have focused on Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton is the conductor at the center of the film, directing its dark melody with her performances. As the dance instructor Madame Blanc she’s as magnetic as she is unnerving – like a beautiful but venomous insect that could sting at any moment – and as the old man Josef Klemperer she’s… [Read full story]
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