This remake of 1977’s Suspiria, also set at a German dance academy that doubles as a coven of witches, manages one thing that the original does not: it takes the dancing seriously. In fact, it takes many things seriously. The first Suspiria is a psychedelic sensory experience, but it didn’t really mean much. The remake, written by David Kajganich and directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), tries to bring too much meaning to its horror conceit, incorporating references to the Holocaust; the 1977 hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181; flashbacks to one character’s Mennonite childhood; infighting among the coven; and an extensive subplot involving a Berlin psychiatrist who is treating one of the dancers while grieving over the loss of his wife. (The movie needs an additional hour of running time to fit all of this in.) Unfortunately, these ambitions and ideas never coalesce, especially as they relate to the coven itself. It almost doesn’t matter, thematically, that these are witches. That leaves the dance sequences, choreographed by Damien Jalet, and thankfully they’re captivating—convulsive modern movements that double as curses and spells. The only reason I made it through the Grand Guignol climax—which includes, among other horrors, a slimmed-down variation on Jabba the Hutt—is that it’s partly staged as an elaborate production number. With Dakota Johnson as the American ingenue who may know more than she’s letting on and Tilda Swinton as one of her instructors. (Swinton also contributes in other ways that I’ll leave for you to discover, if you dare.)
