Saltburn (2023)

Review: written Feb 2024

Scabrous satire on the privileged classes

Emerald Fennell’s latest is a curious film, in equal parts engrossing and off-putting. A movie that finds ugliness in the superficial beauty of the upper class and their trappings, it’s the ultimate “Is the grass really greener on the other side?” story. You may find that in its unravelling of the ugliness of lust and desire for what you don’t have, your own stomach could be somewhat churned.

The first act doesn’t take place in the titular grand house at all, but rather at Oxford University. Oliver Quick (a bravura performance from Barry Keoghan) is the boy from humble beginnings who makes it to Oxford – but after befriending the sprauncy, attention -grabbing Felix (Jacob Elordi), finds himself in a different social strata than he has hitherto been exposed to. This lands him an invite to Saltburn for the Summer, the family home of Felix, and an introduction to his family and other guests within the family’s orbit. Time spent with Felix and his family seems to change Oliver, and the movies puzzle to solve is just who is manipulating who, and what is it they really want. The Saltburn residents seem to admire Oliver (in as condescending way as possible) .. “He’s so Real!” says one of the family, explaining Oliver’s appeal as a guest. And on the other hand, Oliver is clearly starstruck by the manifest wealth of Felix and his family. But in the end, motives are not always as clear as you might at first think, and the film often lets you read between the lines to make up your own mind.

The cast are excellent, and the photography presents Oxford and Saltburn in a warm dreamlike hue, but with a clarity that never glosses over mess where it exists. Rosamund Pike gets some of the movies best lines.. (“I used to be a lesbian, but it was all too wet for me in the end. Men are so lovely and dry”), and the tone of the movie is often like that – salacious without being sexy, with bodily fluids and the reaction to them actually becoming pivotal to the scenes subtext.

Lauded by many critics as the years definitive black comedy psychological thriller, I found that the fact that the characters occasionally said things that made me laugh out loud, did not make this a comedy, and the exaggeratedly flamboyant characters meant that calling it a psychological thriller seemed to be implying a larger sense of mystery and ‘thrill’ than it actually provides. No, the taste left afterwards is of the ugliness of desire, of a world where wealth is synonymous with morally bankrupt, but what’s more , the people that desire it are no better. Which is fitfully fun to watch, but ultimately more of a downer of a tone than the ‘comedy’ label had me believe.

I liked the beginning, and I loved the very end – but have to say the non stop out-manipulating, misuse and deceit between equally unsympathetic characters left me somewhat turned off in the middle. I found this well made and terrifically performed, but that wasn’t enough to make me glad I watched it. A beautifully shot curio, rather than a perennial – If Oscars are won, I’ll feel it’s well deserved – and yet I’d be hard pressed to recommend it, unless someone is looking for something offbeat, clever but not necessarily likeable.