Widows & Suspiria

A double bill for this post, with a review of both Widows and Suspiria. Enjoy!

Widows

Director Steve McQueen has taken an interesting route in his career, having started making films like Hunger and Shame before heading towards Oscar territory with 12 Years a Slave and now into genre filmmaking with Widows. The film was advertised as a heist movie, so be warned that - although the very basic premise is that four thieves wives finish of heist after their husbands are killed - this is not a heist movie. There’s a whole lot going on here: political tensions, class tensions, racial tensions, all set to the backdrop of Chicago. When the film first finished I was satisfied with the result, I had enjoyed the ride. Upon further thinking I realised that there was a lot of stuff in the film that either didn’t make sense, or just didn’t add anything to the story. This film almost has too much going on, it wants to say too much and in doing so, certain elements feel like they have been dropped in order to be topical rather than add anything to the story. We spend large chucks of time with characters only for them disappear for forty minutes and then reappear later. I felt like the widows themselves didn’t actually become the protagonists of the film until halfway through and even now I would argue this was presented more as an ensemble piece. Performances are fantastic; with the stand outs being Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Kaluuya and Colin Farrel. Though I feel like I rarely found out anything about the characters, Farrel seems to the only one with any sense of history. Debicki is the only character with an arc because we have no idea what kind of person Davis’s character was before the events of the film and despite how good Kaluuya is, his character just ends up being a footnote. McQueen obviously knows what he’s doing; there are shots and angles in this film that would never have been done by someone less artistically inclined with this kind of script. Despite the great cinematography and brilliant performances, this film just doesn’t hit all the high notes it sets out to reach.

3.5.5

Suspiria

It’s been a few days since I saw this film and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, but I’ll try. It’s a remake of the 1977 Italian film of the same name - I liked the original but didn’t love it. I came to it late and although it looks gorgeous, certain elements felt dated and I had a hard time investing in any of the characters. The 2018 remake has the same basic premise but is more Suspiria in vibe and atmosphere than name. It completely sucks you in with its cold yet beautiful scenery, slow pace and hypnotic score composed by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. There’s no mistaking it as Suspiria; it might not be brightly coloured but the experimental camera movements that catch you off guard create that eerie vibe and the creativity that comes with the visual elements really go against everything you expect. It’s a horror film that really unsettles you, something feels off in every scene but not in a bad way. For the long running time I was completely enthralled, totally mesmerised. I only remember one or two moments when I wanted the film to hurry up a bit - not bad for the two-and-a-half-hour experience. My favourite addition to this film was the emphasis on the dance scenes, this time they are staples of the film. The witchcraft is fully on display as they usually depict two scenes at once - one mesmerising, one horrific - they are a marvel to watch and are the best moments in the film. It takes the original and makes it more polished, gives it more to say and leaves the audience with more to think about. You can tell everyone involved is working their hardest to make this film worthy of the original. Director Luca Guadagnino oozes creativity into the narrative whilst his cast work wonders on the performances. If you thought the Fifty Shades series would ruin Dakota Johnson then think again, she’s never been better than in this. Tilda Swinton better get some Academy recognition for playing what could have been most of the characters in this film and just being utterly incredible. The film is absolutely nuts at points but is an absolute blast to watch; it will leave you in a state of confusion as you try and process what you’ve just witnessed but I think I loved it...

5/5

What did you think of the films? Love them hate them, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!