Why Saltburn Is and Isn’t What You Expect
After meeting during their time at Oxford, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) invites Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) to stay at his family’s elaborate estate for the summer. As unsettling events unfold, Oliver’s true history comes to light, revealing a disturbing pattern of behavior that ends with devastating consequences in Saltburn.
While the main draw for many young folks in the film is Jacob Elordi’s leading role, his character and performance was a bit lackluster. He was clearly used more as empty eye candy and a symbol for class and wealth. I do believe this was intentional since we are experiencing these events through Oliver’s narrative, as he put Felix on this pedestal of superiority in terms of class, wealth, popularity, and looks. Elordi’s character is supposed to feel like this untouchable archetype of high class people at the time.
The real standouts of the film were Barry Keoghan and Rosamund Pike. Barry plays the unreliable narrator so well that you really don’t know why he is doing the things he is doing until the very end. His maniacal actions are erratic and surprising, while showing a deep level of troubled emotion. Rosamund Pike’s performance as this high class mother figure was equally as compelling and hilarious. She is so clearly out of touch with society that it is almost comical to watch her attempt to engage with someone of a lower class, making her dynamic with Barry one of my favorites.
Director Emerald Fennell herself has said that the film was made to be watched in a theater full of strangers reacting together to what was happening on screen. True as that may be, for someone who watched in a theater of about six whole people, the audience reaction wasn’t a big part of my viewing experience. Much of this film was in the realm of psycho-sexual thriller, but there were multiple laugh out loud moments that brought you out of the constant suspense that didn’t seem to resonate with my fellow viewers. I may or may not have been the only one laughing.
There has been much discourse over the more sexually unsettling scenes in the film. Though there are only a few, including a disturbing shot in a bathtub, they don’t seem to add much to the storyline other than shock value. It is clear that this is the intent as each of the scenes tend to last far too long for comfort. They also tend to pull away from the main throughline of the movie, being the wealth disparity and obsession with obtaining higher status.
Watching the trailer, you really don’t know what to expect from this movie, which I think for the genre is a fair move. However, one of the main elements that was constant was the obsession with money, status, and class. For much of the movie, there seems to be this idea of gross wealth disparity and exploring how an impoverished boy gets his shot at living a big life. After it is revealed that his entire past was a lie, it leans into the angle of how unsatiated people can be when it comes to money in a time where that is valued above everything else. The film really misses the mark in attempting to divulge in the conversation of wealth disparity in order to fit in moments of shock and sexual desire.
Though I have some disagreements with certain elements of this film, no one can disagree that it is a beautifully shot and produced piece of work. From the peculiar aspect ratio to the visuals and sets, it is a spectacle to watch. Fennell really leaned into the 2006 aesthetic in not only style but hair, makeup, nails, and home decor.
Though the movie will not be a favorite of mine, Saltburn is a compelling and visually beautiful piece of work that may end of being one of the most controversial and talked about films of the year.
