Emerald Fennell’s second film after Promising Young Woman is yet another masterpiece. Having already received a well-deserved Oscar for original screenplay Fennell has now established her place as a director to watch with intriguing plots and memorising characters.
Saltburn, while different in content, is stylistsically similar to Promising Young Woman once; it is suspenseful and vengeful, showing the downsides of desire in completely different way. We have an incredible cast, fitting each character perfectly (with a cameo from Promising Young Woman’s star Carey Mulligan), and forming a deliciously humorous thriller. Fennell makes the perfect obsession, it is romanticised and debauched, but is also immoral and corrupt in ways that I did not expect.
The story follows Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) a young Oxford student who seeks out ostentatious hedonism as he observes the lives of his upper-class classmates, taking a shine to one, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) – the young actors dazzling us with their performances of these captivating characters. While Keoghan has been recognised as an incredible actor since The Killing of a Scared Deer in 2017, this is Elordi first ‘serious’ role since his performance as Nate Jacobs in Euphoria. After seeing him work so well with these already acclaimed actors, I am very excited to see him in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. Not to mention the fantastic coupling of Rosamond Pike and Richard E Grant as Elsbeth Catton and Sir James, the eccentric parents of Felix and owners of Saltburn, the mansion in which most of the film takes place. They are a hysterical embodiment of upper-class parents, so unaware of how gaudy their life is in comparison to the outsider, Oliver.
Oliver joins them at their summer at home after telling Felix that his father has passed due to an accident while on drugs, saying he doesn’t want to go home because his mother wasn’t even comprehensible on the phone, as she is also an addict. Felix takes him in, showing him the wonders of living as the rich do, including the tour of his crazy medieval mansion, the insane parties, and formal dinners. Oliver, when spending time with Felix, quickly adapts a Tom Ripley-type character which we see through his infatuation with the lifestyle and the people in the house, but it’s not entirely clear how obsessive he is until the story progresses.
The Catton’s confuse the 2006 setting of the plot, living their lives as if the prohibition had just ended, throwing big parties, and entertaining the Henrys (they’re not all called Henry, just a lot of them). It feels distant for a mid-2000s settings, but maybe that’s the point; people like the Catton’s transcending time structures and anything that could possibly weigh them down. Other than the mention of the phone, use of the tv, clothing and cars, this film feels like the post war days of the West Egg. The film is a call to the pleasures of the upper-class, desire and lust, but the darkens that loom in this, the dangers that come with desire.
Oliver Quick is an observant character. We watch his gaze linger on Felix, but aren’t entirely sure of his fascination until the story continues. At the beginning he takes the persona of Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby’s number one fan boy, the benign non-invasive character that the big shot, fabulous rich boys seem to like having around. As the film continues, Fennell cleverly, slyly, and seductively turns Oliver Quick from a Nick Carraway to a Tom Ripley. I’ll confess the plot isn’t the most unexpected, but there were certain details that took me by surprise, and I think for a story line that has been inspired and taken from many literary sources this was a great adaption.
Another thing that completely surprised me about this film was how funny it was; I don’t think I’ve laughed that much watching something since Fleabag. Saltburn feels very conscious of itself, with the jokes about the lavishly crazy lives that some families live being tastefully and humorously criticized. Being only her Fennell’s second film, I can’t wait to see what else she has to offer.
“Oxford University” by _Hadock_ is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.