PLOT: Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
REVIEW: We all have a fascination with the rich. The sordid lives of the aristocratic have always made for brilliant fodder in novels, television, and film. For her second directorial effort, Emerald Fennell has looked into the lives of a clan of rich Brits through the eyes of an outsider. Like Promising Young Woman, Saltburn begins as a dark comedy and an indictment of old money becomes a psychological thriller. With her trademark wit and a stellar cast led by Barry Keoghan in one of his best performances to date, Saltburn is a movie made to be recognized during awards season. The problem is that it is not as good as it should be. Far from being a bad film, Saltburn is missing the dive into the deeper levels of the characters and their motivations and instead relies on surface-level shocks and whipsmart insults that make it feel more like Downton Abbey crossed with Succession.
Set in 2006, Saltburn opens with the first day of classes at Oxford. We meet Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a scholarship student who has none of the social inroads of his legacy classmates. Relegated to hanging out with fellow outsider Michael Gavey (House of the Dragon‘s Ewan Mitchell), Oliver makes nice with Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) while making enemies with Felix’s cousin, Farleigh Start (Gran Turismo‘s Archie Madekwe). Felix, who is unfailingly nice to Oliver, invites his new friend to parties and eventually, after a tragic call from Oliver’s home, returns to his familial estate of Saltburn. It is at the titular home that Oliver meets Felix’s parents, Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), Lady Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike), and his sister Venetia (Alison Oliver). In no time, Oliver becomes entranced by the wealth and access that the Cattons possess, and it is only a matter of time before it transforms him and his ambitions.
Saltburn begins like an English take on The Rules of Attraction, Roger Avary’s debauched adaptation of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, in showing the cutthroat distinction between the haves and the have-nots. When the narrative shifts to the Catton home, the story enters the upstairs/downstairs world that has been a staple of British stories for decades. But, unlike PBS-friendly Masterpiece Theatre, Saltburn crosses boundaries of taste in every conceivable way, including one of the most shocking scenes of sexual penetration since Call Me By Your Name. There are homoerotic themes in abundance, as the relationship between Oliver and Felix constantly moves back and forth, much in the way the dynamic between Matt Damon and Jude Law pervaded The Talented Mr. Ripley. Much of this rests on the stellar performances of Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, as they own every scene they are in. The supporting players, especially Rosamund Pike and the always-reliable Richard E. Grant, are also very good.
The transition from comedy to thriller works here as well as it did in Promising Young Woman and proves that Emerald Fennell knows how to keep audiences glued to the screen. The problem comes from the fact that the message below the surface is never plied deeply enough to make you think. Promising Young Woman had a lot to say about the male-female dynamic as it relates to sexual assault, but Saltburn does not seem to have as much to say about class warfare as it thinks it does. There are certainly moments where it feels that Fennell will take things to a different level, looking into the rationale behind how status can impact how people interact with those less well-off. Still, instead, she opts to keep the dynamic between classes the same as we have seen many times before. This feels like a wasted opportunity that keeps Saltburn from being the indictment of the filthy rich that it desperately wants to be. This, of course, does not make it a bad movie, but it is not the one it should be.
This is a beautifully shot movie, benefitting from location shooting at an actual estate in England, which is a testament to excess in its own right, thanks to the lensing by cinematographer Linus Sandgren. The score by Anthony Willis and a top-notch soundtrack give Saltburn an aura that echoes the wealth of the characters, but there is something missing in Saltburn. The film’s first act feels imbued with experience as Fennell herself attended Oxford. Her first-hand experience at the revered school likely did not reach some of the same levels as we see here, but her personal history at the school lends authenticity to those sequences. When the story shifts to Saltburn, the crazy levels the story reaches begin to strain credulity. In Promising Young Woman, Fennell used crazy to her benefit, but in this film, some truly bonkers moments will make viewers gasp but never stick around as long as they should.
Saltburn is an accomplished visual film with some biting dialogue. As quotable as it is, Saltburn’s bite is all on the surface. The melodramatic performances from Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pike are quite good but contrast the more nuanced turns by Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi. Emerald Fennell knows her way around unlikeable characters whom we suspect we should hate but find ourselves drawn to. Keoghan dominates this film and elevates Saltburn from a potboiler to something much more. As good as his performance is, Fennell beautifully directs this movie that ventures from hilarious to depraved, often in the same scene. But when you dig a little deeper, there is not as much there as a production of this caliber should have. Saltburn is a solid sophomore effort from Fennell and cements that she is one of the most talented filmmaking voices working today, but it is not as balanced as her debut film.
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