As an avid thriller movie watcher, specifically in the psychological realm — my familiarity with the genre didn’t matter while being in the audience of Saltburn. Shocking, twisting, and dark is an understatement for adjectives that could come even close to describing the content of this film. Even while seeing and being excited for the trailer that came out over two months ago, the movie was unlike how I expected it at all. With uniquely fascinating characters, dialogue between adversaries with strong charisma and chemistry, and overall shocking plot twists, Saltburn kept me on the edge of my seat for every second, every setting change, and every character’s decision.
Heartthrob of 2023, Jacob Elordi, plays Felix Catton, a typical snobby, socially unaware nepotism brat who attends the esteemed Oxford University in England, just because he can. He comes from old money that dates back to every King Henry with a number behind it, which is what he is known and flocked upon for at school. While away from his summer home and sanctuary called Saltburn in the English countryside, Felix Catton spends his time drinking, partying, hanging out with his clique of other rich Oxford students, and hooking up with countless amount of girls. Felix is somewhat more caring than his friends and cousin Farleigh. And his closest friend at the moment happens to be the quiet, restrained, and exceptionally smart bystander, Oliver Quick.
Oliver Quick, portrayed by the impressive Barry Keoghan, although mostly seen in the shadows throughout the beginning of the film, quickly inserts himself into Felix’s lavish life. He watches and preys upon Felix and his lifestyle by being the quiet nerd that no one personally knows. It only takes Oliver days before he knows he wants Felix. A friendship blossoms between the duo, especially after Oliver informs Felix of his unkempt and stressful living situation. He also somehow attends one of the most expensive and pretentious schools in the world purely by scholarship. Stressed, afraid, and now saddened by his father’s gruesome death, Oliver refuses to return home for the summer, elucidating to Felix just how disgraceful his family is. Being the bare minimum of a caring and considerate spoon-fed ingrate that Felix so happens to be, he kindly offers Oliver a humble room in his family’s sprawling estate, Saltburn Castle.
This tale is one filled with desire, desperation, greed, and lust that demonstrates Oliver’s shameless addiction to none other than his best friend, Felix Catton. The poisonous relationship only escalates when Felix and Oliver find themselves more secluded in the English countryside, surrounded only by Felix’s parents, Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike) and Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), his sister Venetia Catton (Alison Oliver), cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe), and the staff of the estate, including its meticulous butler, Duncan (Paul Rhys). While Felix is living his normal, carefree life, indulging in the lack of pressure from grades at school, he realizes this is an entirely different world for Oliver with his poor junkie parents.
This story will make you laugh, cry, gasp, scream. Oliver’s character is a complex one, depicting the meaning of obsession, blurring the lines between insanity and love, and displaying what lies can do to a relationship. The question I think most people have after watching the film is, “Did Oliver really love Felix?” Personally, I think the answer to this question all depends on your definition of the word love, and what it really means to be loved. Love is subjective, in the sense that to one person, it could mean everything that Oliver did to and for Felix, and to others, it may be the exact opposite.
Emerald Fennell, known actress-turned-writer and director of Saltburn, did an amazing job of making a movie that perfectly depicts desire and passion. The scenes of summer in the English countryside and autumn at the Oxford University campus in the early 2000s made for a beautiful backdrop for the movie. Bright and saturated warm colors for summer opposed by cool and dark blues and browns in the fall create a unique and beautiful contrast that allows the film to show the audience rather than tell them the time or setting throughout the non-linear storytelling; Fennell’s choices in color grading guides the audience to these conclusions. The evolution and use of a timeline were shown through costume and makeup making it very easy to follow. While there were abrupt actions and insane twists throughout the film, it wasn’t hard to follow the movie’s dialogue itself. Casting was also beautifully done, specifically between the dynamic of Felix and Oliver. Felix is played by the stunning Jacob Elordi, an immensely attractive and well-known actor, acting in films such as The Kissing Booth trilogy and Sofia Coppola’s amazing new film, Priscilla. Elordi starring across the massively successful and talented Barry Keoghan, seen in award-winning films like Dunkirk and The Banshees of Inisherin, seems almost random, but the film proves they work great together. Even with their characters’ complexities, the paradox of Keoghan playing a character that is nerdy, reserved, and unpopular, but also being the widely feared antagonist of the film, was a wonderful and refreshing contrast that I really enjoyed.
One aspect of a film that can either make or break it which is a wildly underrated portion of filmmaking, is the score and soundtrack. This soundtrack was as vicious and interesting as every scene. The 1900s classical sound in the scenes of Oliver and Felix at the Saltburn estate was well-timed and honestly made the movie more enjoyable. I think the Saltburn score and soundtrack created magic. Arguably the best, and my absolute favorite part of the film, was due to a song on the soundtrack: the final scene in which Oliver is dancing to the incredible song, “Murder on the Dancefloor,” by British pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. It was a simple scene, yet so captivating and perfectly encapsulated the meaning of the film.
A five out of five-star rating of this film still seems almost wrong, in the sense that I think this film deserves more. A film that makes me think and feel betrayed as if I was an actual character in the film, makes me go home and contemplate everything I could’ve missed, and watch all the interviews with the cast, will automatically earn a high ranking in my long list of movies I’ve seen. I feel as though it’s easy for thrillers to miss the mark, simply because the genre has been done so many times and can sometimes feel repetitive. However, if I’ve ever been shocked by a film, it’s been by the deeply dark, twisted, and passionate story of Saltburn.