The bathtub scene. The grave scene. Jacob Elordi. Barry Keoghan. You may have seen these names and phrases whispered about on your social media feeds in the past few weeks and could be questioning what about them could possibly be so buzzworthy. The answer lies in director and producer Emerald Fennell’s new film Saltburn, a dark and eccentric drama surrounding the aristocratic lives of Britain’s elite — and the dark underbelly of their lifestyles.
Warning: mild spoilers ahead!
Saltburn follows Oxford student Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan) and his friendship with his wealthier classmate Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). After hearing about Oliver’s unfortunate home life, Felix invites Oliver to his family’s estate, Saltburn, for the summer. Oliver accepts, and quickly becomes infatuated by Felix’s quirky and affluent family. This obsession quickly turns sinister, though, as Oliver infiltrates his way into the Cattons’ family dynamic and causes problems between family members. The resulting tension comes to a head on Oliver’s birthday, when Felix finds out that Oliver has been lying about his past and Oliver consequently kills Felix at his own birthday party. The tragedy rocks the Cattons, but no one suspects Oliver of the crime. Their vulnerable but oblivious state makes them the perfect target for Oliver to inflict more harm onto the family until they are entirely destroyed, and Saltburn is ultimately left to Oliver.
Saltburn is both twisty and twisted, and keeps its audience captivated with its drama and graphicness. The plot twists were unpredictable, but the viewer can still sense the ominous undertones of Oliver’s actions throughout the film and understand that something is not quite right. Despite its vulgarity, the film still deeply respects its characters and is deliberate in giving them fully fleshed-out personalities, as conveyed through the performances of Keoghan and Elordi. Alongside Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe — who play Felix’s mother, sister, and cousin, respectively — Keoghan and Elordi truly dive into their roles and are able to reveal different layers of their characters through subtle mannerisms and seemingly insignificant conversations.
These performances also provide a subtle commentary on classism, as Oliver has to pretend to be much poorer than he actually is in order to gain the sympathy of the Cattons, among other moments where the class disparity between Oliver and Felix’s family is obvious to the audience. My one critique of the film is that I wish it had been a bit more forceful with this messaging, as I feel like it would add a sense of depth to the movie and make it a more thought-provoking watch.
Saltburn is available to stream for free through Amazon Prime Video.