Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) is accepted to an elite dance studio in 1977 Berlin, during the middle of the flight 181 hostage crisis. She is told that a previous student (Chloe Moretz) had run away, possibly because of her political leanings, and there is an undercurrent of unrest among the other dancers stemming from a schism of leadership. Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) takes a personal interest in Susie, believing her to be a good candidate for strengthening their coven. Meanwhile, an investigator (Tilda Swinton) looks into the missing girl, uncovering something far more sinister than he anticipated.
I don't really like films that are Just Vibes so I appreciated the addition of structure to Argento's framework. The focus is very much on the troupe (and shows actual dancing) with a background of actual historical events, known as the German Autumn. There is a lot of subtext and it's worth reading the Wikipedia articles about the Red Army Faction, German Autumn, and the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. That last one you've probably heard of. It's where you become aware of a thing and then suddenly notice it everywhere. Like when you buy a certain color of car and then see it all the time.
Same thing here. There have always been witches in the dance troupe. You just never noticed them before. But now that you have, you can't see anything else.
There's also the obliqueness of Things We Don't Talk About. Susie's past, Madame Blanc's attempted coup, the lack of prosecution for high-ranking Nazis in the years after the war leading to a far-left terrorist group conducting assassinations and bombings. Things like that. No one likes to be reminded of unpleasantness, but you have to clean out a wound before it festers and rots you from the inside.
So if Argento's Suspiria was Spooky Feels, No Thought, Guadagnino's Suspiria is You Come Back Here and Think About What You've Done.
It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
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