Trailerblazing -- Suspiria

Suspiria -- November 2, 2018 -- directed by Luca Guadagnino -- starring Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Lutz Ebersdorf, Angela Winkler, Renée Soutendijk

  

As was the case with many a horror fan, I was not too keen on the remake of Dario Argento's wonderfully atmospheric and deliciously ominous classic. Enter Luca Guadagnino, a filmmaker whose rich vision corresponds with the unspoken horror of a ballet academy that no one would ever wish to attend... or maybe they would, to each their own. The trailer shows Guadagnino's usual lush aesthetics muted and darkened in equal measure, with angst, witchcraft, menacing glances and THOSE costumes colliding. Radiohead's Thom Yorke's oppressive-yet-stirring score is on full display here, following the brilliant cast through their trials and tribulations and looming into crescendos that remind us that we are pretty much not in Kansas anymore. Dakota Johnson's star is on the rise, while Tilda Swinton adds charisma and mystery to every work that she is in. I am also loving Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's cinematography, which is already making me want to open all the windows and feel the sun on my face. The new Suspiria looks like an effective remake, one that finds new details to add to a previously filmed story and one that might even be an award contender. I am looking forward to falling for its melancholy.