Warning: Spoilers Ahead

By Kevin Johnson

Amazon Prime’s new film Saltburn is one the most bizarre movies I have ever seen. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, Saltburn follows Oliver Quick, played by Barry Keoghan, through his struggle to find himself at Oxford University. As soon as he steps on campus, Oliver becomes obsessed with Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi, and his aristocratic lifestyle. Felix befriends Oliver after Oliver lends him his bike. After learning of the recent death of Oliver’s father, Felix invites him to stay at his large family estate, Saltburn, for the summer. They have a summer filled with adventure and mystery at the wealthy Catton residence. Oliver doesn’t fit in, but he becomes close to all the members of the family. His relationship with the members quickly becomes weird, and Oliver’s motives start to come into question.     

Promotional poster for Saltburn. Photo credit: Netflix.

I feel that most of the strength of the movie comes from its cast. Keoghan’s performance as Oliver is brilliant. From pity to resentment, Keoghan took me on an emotional roller coaster. Kevin A. Ranson, of moviecrypt.com writes, “Barry Keoghan is the star of this film, and he damn well knows it.” Though he stood out, Keoghan the movie wasn’t a solo act. Every member of the cast held their own. Elordi has now become a household name, and his performance as Felix shows why he deserves all the hype. His character felt authentic and organic. He exhibited the comfort and kindness of Felix’s character. 

My favorite performance of the movie came from Rosamund Pike in her role of Elspeth Catton, the matriarch of Felix’s family. Though I didn’t know who she was coming into the film, I now have an appreciation for her acting. Pike truly embodied her character, and her performance was believable. She was funny, pretentious, and charismatic. Any time she was on screen, she was prevalent. 

The other strength of the film is the cinematography. From the first shot, Fennell sets up the aesthetic well. The lighting is, in a useful way, kind of dull, almost soft.The best shots of the movie come when the audience is taken to Saltburn. The Saltburn mansion is beautiful, on an estate filled with greenery. The house is like a classical museum, filled with art work. 

A scene that stood out to me was when Felix was introducing Oliver to the house. As Felix is giving Oliver the tour, I noticed that shadow was used as a way to represent Felix’s character. Some of the most extravagant pieces of art were shadowed off, like they were an afterthought. To most people, these art pieces would be notable, but to Felix they are just irrelevant. The film definitely has some hits, yet some would argue its weaknesses detract from its strengths.        .    

The real struggles of the movie comes from Fennell’s attempted use of shock value. Around the middle of the movie, Fennell starts to get ambitious. She starts to incorporate some uncomfortably odd scenes. For some, these unusual sex scenes don’t necessarily to deter them from the movie, like Hailee, an audience reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes, who called the movie “disturbing but intriguing at the same time.” However, for me and other average watchers, these scenes were unnecessary. Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab said they felt excessively “gratuitous.” Some of the scenes were not only graphic, but they lacked relevance to the plot of the movie. Adam, a Rotten Tomatoes audience reviewer, felt the same, saying it reminded him of “a comedian cussing as much as possible to try and be funny.” It was obvious that Fennell just wanted to shock the audience to keep them entertained. Some of the scenes just didn’t land, pushing away some of the audience rather than keeping them intrigued. 

Fennell’s attempts at shock value also ruined the end of the movie for me. I’m not talking about the bizarre naked dance at the end, but the plot twist ending to the movie, that Oliver has been after the Catton fortune all along. He devises a master plan to steal their money, solidifying the film’s “eat the rich” agenda. It is true that the Catton family is comically and pretentiously ignorant, but that kind of behavior doesn’t seem deserving of such a harsh reaction, and Fennell only scratched the surface with her social commentary. 

A dynamic I felt that Fennell could have elaborated on instead was the relationship between Farleigh, a friend of Felix’s played by Archie Madekwe, and the Cattons. Farleigh is one of the only Black characters in the film. Fennell starts to show some of the turmoil between him and the Cattons, yet it just falls flat, leaving an ambiguous and confusing message. 

Overall, Saltburn is an intriguing film. The acting was quite strong, with incredible performances all around. The cinematography was beautiful, with insane shots of the landscape and greenery. However, I can’t overlook the excessively graphic scenes in the film. The scenes were mostly unnecessary and downright disgusting. Also, the end just fell flat, and the plot twist didn’t work for me. Nevertheless, everything leading up to it was worth the watch. I recommend the movie to anyone who thinks they can handle the graphic scenes.