Saltburn (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – A student at Oxford University finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, who invites him to his eccentric family’s sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.

My Take – Joined the ever growing “eat the rich” batch of films is this sophomore effort from the writer, director, producer and actress Emerald Fennell, who previously won an Oscar for her shocking tale of vengeance, Promising Young Woman (2020).

Framed as a beguiling tale of friendship and seduction, her latest is an immensely twisted tale of obsession and excess that starts off as a black comedy but eventually goes into much darker territory. Resulting in a bold, provocative and hilarious feature that is buoyed by a cast that completely understand the assignment and deliver gloriously.

Yes, while it can feel more like an exercise in style over substance, being a social satire, an obvious one, with easy targets, yet it’s thoroughly entertaining and takes unexpected risks, most of which do pay off. At times it’s bizarre, amusing, sexy and intriguing, and at times it’s just plain weird. It simmers away for the most part, until the last fifteen minutes or so, when it transforms with a jaw dropping twist.

Radiating an aura of darkness and mystery, with a narrative that is as seductive as it is intriguing and shocking, the film embraces its provocative nature but gives its characters purpose as well as beauty that shines through.

Indeed, this is one of the best films of the year, mainly as director Fennell manages to take one of noir’s most iconic tropes and turns it on its head, which very few filmmakers have been successfully able to do. Sure, it doesn’t always work, but watching Barry Keoghan turn the screws definitely keeps you involved and on your toes.

The story follows Oliver (Barry Keoghan), an awkward Oxford student who can’t seem to find his place. He’s there on scholarship, something the students funneled from old money families don’t rely on, and a circumstance that makes him a pariah amongst his classmates. However, his fate turns when he stumbles upon Felix (Jacob Elordi) with a broken bike.

Felix is the darling of the English effete; tall, handsome, ungodly rich, who of course, takes a shine to Oliver, and as the two get closer, Oliver begins to reveal some of his past and demons related to issues with his parents and his home life. Telling Felix he doesn’t want to ever go back up, he is instead invited to stay over at, Saltburn, Oliver’s home for the summer.

A massive estate, decorated with a smattering of royal heirlooms, a place where Oliver feels entirely out of place. Particularly after he is introduced to the family stereotypical English aristocrats: a vague mother (Rosamund Pike), a mad father (Richard E. Grant), a nymphomaniac sister (Alison Oliver), and an American cousin (Archie Madekwe). Finding himself further thrust into the world of the ultra-rich, things quickly get horny, lustful, and dark.

Without a doubt, I was captivated from start to finish, as this one is truly one of the most unique and original films that I’ve seen for some time. Imagine coming from a humble background, and being dropped into a world of luxury and abundance, where aristocrats live their lives detached from reality.

While the film sets itself up to be the type of film that focuses on class struggles and the typical poor versus rich dichotomy that we see all too often in these cases, along with the vast differences in lifestyle between what Oliver is used to and what the families at Saltburn are used to, the rest of the story upends everything we have come to expect from the genre.

Reminiscent of The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), the film does stand on its own two feet, principally because Oliver’s motives are ambiguous and there is a vein of comedy throughout. That’s the thing with director Fennell, she wants to push buttons, and there are plenty pushed here.

Her characters are almost all liars, manipulators, egotists. They won’t even blink if they want to get rid of a friend or family member, there is no soul to narcissism. I also appreciated that the film avoids the reverse-discrimination trap of making rich folk exclusively nasty but instead shows that aristocrats have feelings too! Felix, especially, is sympathetically-drawn.

Sure, there are several scenes of sexual lust and pure primal hedonism that may make some audiences squeamish, especially the bathtub scene. Yet for all of that, the twist in the story is one that in the very beginning was so subtle that by the time it hits you on the head with a sledgehammer, you are still caught off guard. Also, the ending might not stick with some, as it includes some convoluted twists, but as we learned from her 2020 work, subtlety is not director Fennell’s forte.

Performances wise, Barry Keoghan bears it all in more ways than one. Keoghan, who is slowly but surely turning into A-list acting talent, tackles his character head-on, a nasty mind covered up by a costume of innocence. Jacob Elordi is enchanting throughout, a far cry from his turns in Priscilla (2023) and the HBO series, Euphoria. Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant dial it up to eleven and get some of the best laughs.

Alison Oliver is given some tough material to work with and she sells it well. Archie Madekwe makes his character truly despicable. Paul Rhys is at his creepy best. Even the ever brilliant Carey Mulligan makes her small role work. On the whole, ‘Saltburn’ is a deliciously twisty tale that is throughout wickedly dark and engrossing.