The Nature of Ritualized Suffering & the Catharsis of Female Rage in Suspiria (2018) and Midsommar (2019)

There exists, in examinations of horror films, many avenues of addressing trauma, grief, and pain in its many forms. Suspiria (2018) chooses to explore this through the undertones of class struggle, the duality present within a backdrop of a divided Berlin, and the evocation of pain amidst the community as a body. It also explores themes of generational guilt during the Cold War, motherhood, evil, and the dynamics of matriarchies. Midsommar (2019) explores this also through the lens of a breakup film which stresses the importance of community, especially its familial nature, to the main character. It also focuses on the never ending cycle of grief one can become trapped in, as well as pain that robs us of thought and of language, and the navigation of that through a community that seems to provide understanding and connection while simultaneously acting as a coping mechanism for said grief. Both films explore the working-through of trauma, the idea that through overwhelming trauma, we can reach a point of complete and total transformation, and the horror of endurance through the ever present and cyclic intersectionalities of human suffering.

Suspiria (2018) is a supernatural horror remake of the 1977 film of the same name that was directed by Dario Argento. It’s a film absent of primary colors and stylized dance sequences which is used, partly, to represent the ever-present witchcraft throughout the film. Suspiria consists of six narrative acts and an epilogue that follows Susie Bannon, an American dancer, who arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Company. As she climbs the ranks and lands as lead dancer, the woman she replaces accuses the company’s female directors of witchcraft.

Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar (2019) is a folk horror film that was originally pitched as a slasher film set among Swedish cultists. Ari Aster, the film’s writer and director, composed a screenplay that held some of these elements but explored through the lens of a deteriorating relationship between a severely traumatized psychology student, Dani Ardor, and her cultural anthropologist boyfriend Christian. The film follows them and a group of their friends who travel to Sweden for a festival that occurs once every 90 years, only to find themselves victims of a pagan cult.

At its core, Suspiria (2018) is a film about unprocessed emotions, the perversion of power, and the horror of endurance through ritualized suffering and dancing. Midsommar (2019) is a film on one woman’s journey (emotionally, mentally, and spiritually) towards emancipation from a toxic relationship and a study of grief, pain, betrayal, and trauma. Furthermore, there are structural similarities between the final ritual acts seen in both Suspiria (2018) and Midsommar (2019). This goes beyond the contrasting aesthetics, the differing cinematography styles, and the exploration of the multiplicities of identity. There’s an underlying exploration of the catharsis of female rage in film, particularly horror films, but the portrayal of ritualized suffering is seen as an ever-present reflection of human suffering. It’s an interesting topic because it clashes with earlier portrayals of women in horror films and gives us a new meaning, perspective, and feel of cathartic destruction. 

Both films are about a community that, at its core, has a familial nature. The community in Suspiria is based on a mother-daughter relationship. Originally, the mythology of the Three Mothers is a central plot point of both the 1977 original and the remake. The Three Mothers - Mother Tenebrarum (Darkness), Mother Lachrymarum (Tears), and Mother Suspiriorum (Sighs) - drive the story of Suspiria, as well as the original director’s, Dario Argento, sequels. The witch coven’s driving force is the continuation and restoration of Mother Suspiriorum and that force translates to themes of motherhood and sisterhood throughout the film. The coven, after all, is a matriarchy with Helena Markos behind the strange and horrific acts that occur at the dance company. Similarly in Midsommar, the Hårga women serve as the spiritual leaders of the community and lead a community that’s defined by its shared emotion and empathy. There is a primitive connection between woman and Earth that is extremely important to the cult as nature is seen as alight with female energy. They have a spiritual and community authority within the commune and function as a matriarchy with a woman as the head “wise woman” who guides all of the occurring events.

Suspiria (2018)

The horror of endurance is present within both films and presents a more terrifying fear than dying. The grief and pain that the characters in both films feel and undergo are, in a sense, never-ending as it haunts them through the acts of the film. This portrayal of grief, pain and other strong emotions are evoked through motions and breath. There are incredible portrayals of bodies in pain - whether it’s through Olga’s scene in Suspiria in which her talent, skill, and vital essence are driven from her body until she’s left deformed and paralyzed or the Ättestupa scene in Midsommar where two elders jump off a cliff to their death - that are inherently physical. There are also emotionally painful scenes - like Dani’s raw grief-filled screams at the beginning of the film - that capture the “so intense that it looks painful, dangerous even” description from Midsommar’s script perfectly. 

Sometimes, pain robs us of thought and language, and sometimes, pain is too much for one person to bear. In both films, there’s an understanding that beyond a certain point, it cannot be articulated through words. The characters and the films then articulate their pain (physically, emotionally, spiritually) through dreams, sighs, movement, and screams. The community is a body and neither of the characters experiences this grief and pain alone. Volk is danced by one body and as such, it expresses the feelings of both the creator and the body. In Midsommar, the community, in unison, takes on the feelings of the members in pain and dances or screams as one. The body is formed and made up of individuals who serve as its cells and organs. It expresses itself through motion, breath, dance, rhythmic exhalations as one instinctive force. 

The idea that we can reach a point of catharsis, of rapture, and of total transformation is a very enthralling concept. However, I think that the true horror of endurance is that life is void of absolution and ascension. There is no limit to the grief and pain you may feel in your lifetime. Horror movies, on the other hand, are structured. Eventually, the screen goes black and the film is over and there’s a comfort to be found in the resounding darkness.