Cinema Scholars reviews Emerald Fennell’s provocative thriller, Saltburn. The film screened as the opening night selection for this year’s Austin Film Festival, with Fennell in attendance for red-carpet interviews as well as a Q and A with the audience following. MGM and Amazon Studios will release Saltburn in select theaters on November 17 with a nationwide release on November 22.
Introduction
Fascination with society’s upper class is nothing new. Just look at the insane popularity of reality shows featuring lavish ways of life. While there are always exceptions, most people would jump at the chance to dip a toe into the decadence and excess of the ultra-wealthy. Whether it’s a beachside mansion in The Hamptons or a Hollywood Hills estate, the allure of the lifestyles of the rich and famous isn’t going away anytime soon.
Within this elite subset, old money still belongs to an echelon all its own. Perhaps none more so than the vestiges of England’s aristocracy. The wealth of some noble families has carried down to current-day members who did little to earn their estates other than being born, married, or bequeathed. While this concept can be maddening for the other 99%, the fact remains that most people would trade their daily grind for a life of leisure in a heartbeat. In Emerald Fennell’s latest stunner, Saltburn, the writer/director explores these hierarchical themes and more in a story about a young man after his own piece of the peerage.
![[L-R] BARRY KEOGHAN AS OLIVER AND ARCHIE MADEKWE AS FARLEIGH IN SALTBURN. IMAGE COURTESY OF MGM AND AMAZON STUDIOS.](https://i0.wp.com/cinemascholars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SaltburnOliverFarleigh.jpg?resize=690%2C518&ssl=1)
Synopsis
It’s 2006 in England. Smoking is still allowed in pubs. Social media is in its infancy. And no one has heard of #metoo, much less a hashtag. Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) makes his entrance at Oxford, ready to put his meager beginnings behind him for a prestigious education and a better life. Soon, however, Oliver faces the realization that the unwritten rules of the class system funnel down to university as a different c-word. Cliques. It turns out the offspring of titled families stick together outside of the events and functions they’ve grown up attending with one another.
Originally scoffed at for his efforts to assimilate with the cool kids, Oliver finds an unexpected ally in the big man on campus, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Though Felix seems sincere in his affection for his new friend, Oliver is continually reminded of his otherness among his new cronies. Despite their socioeconomic differences, Felix invites Oliver to escape his tumultuous home life and join him for the summer at Saltburn, his parent’s estate. As Oliver navigates a new world among the upper crust and all the insufferable personalities that come with it, he starts to envision how he might fit into the hierarchy himself.
Discussion
Fennell knows how to capture a gorgeous frame. Beautiful scenes of quintessential Oxford dorms and ivy-covered walls evoke notions of a social class system still in full effect. Later sequences featuring the glory of the English countryside and grand summer homes perfectly capture evocative regency-era nostalgia. Even a bathroom feels enchanting and strangely terrible through Fennell’s lens. Like living in a sort of Disneyland, the writer/director uses the gilded veneer to hint at something lurking under the glamour.
Terrifically entertaining throughout, Saltburn is equal parts pithy commentary and adulation of the aristocracy. Fennell keenly uses Oliver’s fish-out-of-water perspective as an entre into the elusive world. As the audience relates to the struggling student’s plight, it gradually becomes apparent that underdogs aren’t exempt from questionable scruples. Indeed, a thread of casual depravity weaves its way throughout the film in more ways than one.
Intriguing Dynamics
While Fennell certainly doesn’t shy away from jaw-dropping lewdness, she also smartly contrasts such antics with a much more sinister perversion. The ultra-rich play savior to people they deem worthy and then cast them out once that worth is diminished. You never know when fun time is over and you’re the one quietly escorted out the servants’ entrance.
Along with all the uneasy pomp and circumstance, the various dynamics between friends, family, and love interests are the crux of the film. Does Felix care for Oliver, or is it merely pity? Is Oliver leveraging his backstory to win Felix’s favor or does he secretly love him? How far will desperate friends or kin go to retain their position in the family? Among all the questions Fennell posits in Saltburn, one answer emerges. Some people are hard-wired to protect their own self-interests, and the most savvy will go to great lengths to do so in this twisted tale.
Lead Cast
As Oliver, Barry Keoghan gives another incredible award-worthy performance. Keoghan easily wins over the audience early on with painful realism during the indignity his character endures. A gradual transformation from a meek college lad into a cock-sure blue-blood tourist showcases Keoghan’s admirable range and eventual audacity in portraying such a complex character. Though he gets the award for most shocking scenes in Saltburn, it’s the quieter moments when you can practically see the wheels turning inside that are most impressive.
Jacob Elordi shines as the golden boy, Felix Catton. Adored by family and friends alike, Elordi creates a character that everyone wants to be around. Girls want to sleep with him and guys want to be him. Though Felix takes full advantage of this rare charisma, he might be the only moral compass of the story. Even when his friendship with Oliver feels a bit patronizing. To play a character that everyone wants to be friends with takes a certain charm, and Elordi certainly understands that assignment. But the talented actor also injects a convincing dose of compassion and humility in Felix that makes it more clear why people want to bask in his glow.
Supporting Roles
Along with captivating leads, Fennell shows just as much love for her supporting characters. Alison Oliver nails the role of bored socialite, Venetia Catton, Felix’s devoted sister. Though mostly coy and mischievous, she eventually makes a surprisingly devastating turn while remaining unsympathetic.
Archie Madekwe plays Felix’s American cousin Farleigh with biting antipathy toward Oliver. Not quite British, not entirely American, Madekew’s careful performance represents the volatility at the fringe of the family. His dynamic with Oliver proves to be one of the most fascinating of the film as the two vie for favor and repeatedly undermine one another. As a result, Madekwe’s performance is one of the most comprehensive in Saltburn.
Kudos also go to Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pike as Sir James Catton and his wife Elspeth. Mostly vapid and relatively carefree aside from the latest cause célèbre, both actors aptly convey the oblivion of the leisure class. Grant casually evokes the only true power among the various players, through his character’s title and checkbook, while Pike’s Elspeth is a perfectly gullible mark amid all the drama and manipulation unfolding around her.
Conclusion
Saltburn is a delightfully deranged story about “haves” and “have-nots.” But it’s also a dark character study about entitlement, greed, and manipulation. Though all this sounds heavy, and it is, Fennell wraps the twisted tale in a blanket of irresistible exclusivity that is utterly captivating. Then she dashes that intense beauty with moments of pure cringe or the elation of counterintuitive comic relief. With Saltburn, Emerald Fennell has once again knocked it out of the park with another treatise on wicked intrigue.
