The scholarship boy is walking through the Oxford University campus while the music plays in the background of the very first scenes of Saltburn—God Save the King. By employing this allegory, we are genuinely embarking on a journey alongside Oliver Quick as he expands his territory despite all obstacles. He enters the ultra-gothic mansion, Saltburn, in which the university narrative transforms into a psychological thriller.
The British actress, writer, and director Emerald Fennell is well-known for her contributions to film and television. As Camilla Parker Bowles, she garnered extensive acclaim on the Netflix series The Crown. Fennell has established a notable reputation not only for her prowess as an actress but also as a skilled writer and director. Fennell made her directorial debut with the dark comedy thriller Promising Young Woman, for which she also wrote the screenplay. The film garnered significant critical acclaim due to its audacious narrative and Fennell’s adept direction. After the Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman, she comes back with Saltburn, which is currently available on streaming services and features notable actors such as Barry Keoghan (Oliver Quick), Rosamund Pike (Elsbeth Catton), and Jacob Elordi (Felix Cotton).
Due to his lack of familiarity with affluent etiquette, scholarship recipient Oliver Quick struggled to assimilate at Oxford University in 2006. Felix Catton, a wealthy and well-liked student with whom he forms a friendship, becomes sympathetic to Oliver’s accounts of his parents’ mental health problems and substance misuse, and invites him to spend the summer with his family’s estate, Saltburn. Oliver encounters Lady Elspeth and Sir James (Richard E. Grant), Felix’s parents, his sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), and his American cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) at Saltburn. The story’s climaxes and groves occur within this enormous historical structure, where the characters’ interactions unfold.
Barry Keoghan, the Irish actor known for his work in both film and television, who has performed skillfully in another psychological thriller, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, made by prominent director Yorgos Lanthimos, unfolds a complex personality through his dazzling acting encounters with the aristocratic family members. The gradual emergence of his sinister tendencies and his devotion to attaining his desires ruthlessly illustrate his capacity to expose the evil side of the human psyche, beginning with his innocence as a student. His cold eyes, as we saw in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, are still there, gazing at audiences to bring moments of terror. In contrast to Oliver, Felix is portrayed by Jacob Elordi, who also appeared in the 2023 biopic Priscilla as Elvis Presley.
Felix gives a tour of Saltburn to Oliver as he enters. He is enamored with the mansion’s splendor, room by room, but Felix appears to be oblivious to all the beauty all around him. Thanks to his studious background in history and art, the Green and Blue (green and blue?) rooms, Henry’s room, and the library with that small maze in it provoke Oliver. Here, tangible sarcasm reveals itself subtly as the aristocratic class is criticized elegantly by the weird behaviors perceivable in Saltburn’s dwellers, from gossiping about Oliver to the mundane issues occupying their minds. The mother’s remarks regarding Venetia’s sexual issues, Felix’s carelessness with university assignments, and his impolite relationships with the girls in the vicinity reveal the negative aspects of affluence cultivated by the aristocracy. Intelligently, Emerald Fennell in Saltburn reconciles the paradox of objective beauty with subjective cruelty.
By creating a dim interior environment and a bright exterior, the film’s cinematography illustrates the paradoxical nature of the setting and the individuals within. The features within are almost gloomy, which symbolizes the sinister facades of humanity. Furthermore, the songs have been meticulously chosen to correspond with the year 2006, as evidenced by the party karaoke segment and the scene in which Venetia, Felix, and Farleigh lie nude on the ground while listening to a youth-themed song.
Regarding Barry Keoghan’s brilliant performance, the narrative of Saltburn seems familiar at the end. You could find that stronger objection to aristocracy and class division in Lanthimos The Favorite, but Emerald Fennell has seamlessly conveyed a web of emotions through the narratives—the upper-class arrogance and supreme behavior contrasting with Oliver’s repression of being insulted and embarrassed—that foster revenge and outrage. The director engrosses her audiences through the integration of refined settings, dramatic performances, and impressive choreography.
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