- Release year: 2024
- Director: Daniel John Lerch.
- Producers: Max Fischer and Vivian Owen.
- Screenplay by: Daniel John Lerch, Julia Nilsen, and Darrell Szarka Workman.
- Cinematography by: Max Fischer.
- Music by: Claudio Simonetti.
Synopsis: a girl who just lost her parents enters a sadistic boarding school with a dark secret.
Shotgun Commentary: Suspiria (1977)’s flip-side.
Review
Saturnalia is bold, unapologetic, and slightly deranged. A low-budget movie with a fixation for colours and style. It may not look as polished as other boarding-school-themed films, but it is definitely an interesting adventure to follow.
Intro
The feature is protagonised by Miriam Basconi (Sophia Anthony). She is the heiress of a fortune and, for some reason, she is forced to study in that particular boarding school until she is of age. Nobody dwells too much on this. Not even when you receive what is an okay explanation at best. But the thing is, it’s not really relevant. The point is that Miriam is there, and she can’t leave. Not because she’ll be poor if she does, which is what she thinks, but because she will be killed if she tries. A fatal decision whose outcome we know from the very first sequence of the film.
This opening sequence is bathed in shadows and boldly coloured lights. Contrasting colours paint whatever the shadows can’t hide with electric blues, purples, oranges, bold reds, yellows… It gives the opening murder scene an appeal that serves to hook you before anything actually happens. Sadly, the vibe doesn’t keep its intensity for long, although it does remain dormant until Miriam begins to have nightmares. These strange Suspiria-like dreams are also bathed in cold lights and shadows, showing Miriam visions of the dark forces in the school and their influence over staff and students, including her.
Ensemble
The character of Miriam is a rebel, the new student in the boarding school whose spirit the headmistress is determined to break. She is supposed to be from a wealthy family despite being incapable of using a fork and a knife properly, but that is part of the charm.
The whole film has a translucent layer of camp underneath a coating of thrifty-posh. A combination of moods that make a truly unique atmosphere in which only a character like Miriam could thrive. She is rich, but only on script, and she is defiant, which is always likeable, regardless of how caricaturesque the villain is.
The rest of the characters follow this pattern of not really acting as what they are supposed to be. Not due to a lack of actoral talent, which is mostly alright for a film of this budget, but due to incongruences in the characters themselves. Whether those are in their looks or their actions, most of them are walking contradictions, which only makes the story more delightful.
Final thoughts
As for the story itself, Miriam suffers abuse after abuse from her headmistress, reaching ridiculous extremes not even Dolores Umbridge dared achieve with Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007). While this takes place, students around the school get killed, some more understandably than others.
Both the headmistress and the deaths seem to be connected to Miriam’s fever dreams about a cult-like reunion that culminates in a cheaper version of Suspiria. While the narrative is not the most original, it is still interesting to follow, if only to learn the extremes that the characters will reach with their chaotic mindsets.
All in all, Saturnalia has everything you could possibly want from a boarding school mystery film: a loathsome head of the school, a rebel protagonist, a cocky but slightly embarrassing sidekick, deaths, masks and a lush, old-looking building. Sure, this might not be the most impressive or intricate of mysteries, but it is entertaining.
Saturnalia is part of the Raindance Film Festival 2025 programme, taking place in London now. Find all the info here!
Advice to take from this movie:
- When you stab someone in the heart, they can… spring right up and attack you?
- Sometimes being extra is exactly what you need in life.
- Hierarchy won’t save you against a knife.
What’s your take? Have you watched Saturnalia? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀