“Saltburn” directed by Emerald Fennell follows Oliver Quick, a scholarship student starting his first year at Oxford, having trouble fitting into the upper-class mannerism. Oliver unexpectedly becomes friends with Felix Catton, a popular Aristocrat who also attends Oxford.
This movie truly takes its time through a slower pace, slowly peeling back all of the layers of each character scene by scene, until the audience is fully aware of what is happening.
This movie did catch many viewers off guard with a gruesome scene, catching the attention of many social media platforms. Fennel truly shows something that should be deemed “disgusting” and “revolting”, but by the nature of its artistry (aesthetics, performances and writing) it seems to fully fit into the theme and plot of the movie.
Throughout the time Oliver spends at Saltburn, his mentality towards the rich and wealthy lifestyle changes. Oliver is seen getting more and more comfortable with the lifestyle which is shown through his style and the way he acts. The movie had so many little details to it, from the acting to the details in the scenes, and it was all written and performed very beautifully.
One of the best performers in the movie was Barry Keoghan. His performance throughout the movie was extraordinary. Keoghan truly dove into Oliver’s character and really showed how malicious and brilliant Oliver was throughout the movie. Keoghan showed how manipulative and controlling Oliver is to everyone around him– seducing and manipulating everyone around him to get what he wants which I feel really touched on how money-hungry and greedy he really was.
The tone was an extremely large part of the movie too, having a dark and deeper meaning to it but still containing a comedic point of view really added to the movie.
This movie really keeps you on your toes the whole time– I felt that the last 15 minutes of the movie was when it truly shocked me. In the last 15 minutes, we find out that all of it was part of Oliver’s master plan to take over the Saltburn household. From Felix and Oliver becoming friends, to the deaths of three out of four members of the Catton household, it was all a part of Oliver’s plan.
The movie was truly amazing from the acting and directing to how it was written. I completely understand the hype behind this movie. The way it is so intriguing and leaves you thinking about the deeper meaning of the movie. It shows how complicated people are which is one of the brilliant pieces about it, there is no plain right or wrong answer to what the movie is really about.
While I did feel this movie was good and extremely sophisticated, I do not recommend watching it for anyone who gets squeamish with blood and other bodily fluids.
