Did Dakota Johnson have a mental meltdown because of Suspiria? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Forget Fifty Shades of Grey—Dakota Johnson’s absolute mental meltdown came courtesy of Suspiria. The 2018 psychological horror remake was so intense it straight-up wrecked her mind. No joke, she needed therapy to recover. “No lie, [it] f**ked me up so much that I had to go to therapy,” Dakota spilled in an interview with Elle. And no, it wasn’t the witches or the buckets of blood that did her in—it was the set itself.
Picture this: an abandoned hotel on top of a mountain in northern Italy. Sounds dreamy. Nope. The Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori had been empty since the ’60s and was as creepy as it sounds. Cold, dry, and haunted vibes. “It was cold as s**t and so dry,” Dakota recalled. Throw i0 telephone poles pumping electricity through the building, and you’ve got nightmare fuel on steroids.
And then there’s Suspiria itself. A remake of the cult 1977 horror classic, the film follows Dakota’s Susie Bannion, a ballet student who stumbles into a dance academy hiding very dark secrets. The school was led by Tilda Swinton (in full powerhouse mode) and was more about blood sacrifices than pliés. Toss in Thom Yorke’s eerie soundtrack, and you’ve got a twisted fever dream of a movie.
Director Luca Guadagnino wasn’t playing around. He described Suspiria as a dive into the “relentless, unsentimental idea of femininity.” Translation: it was a brutal emotional rollercoaster. For Dakota, it wasn’t just acting—it was full-on mental warfare.
But that wasn’t the only storm Dakota was weathering. During the pandemic, she got honest about her long-time battle with depression, saying, “I’ve struggled with depression since I was 15 or 14.” Heavy stuff, right? But instead of letting it take over, she’s been all about a simple but powerful mantra: “being kind to your body and your brain.” Honestly, after Suspiria nearly sent her spiraling, that’s some next-level survival wisdom.
Haunted hotels, witchy madness, and personal demons? Dakota faced them all. Sure, Suspiria almost broke her, but if there’s one thing Dakota Johnson does, it’s bounce back—more robust, sharper, and ready for whatever comes next.
