And I thought Americans were sexually repressed. Emerald Fennell shows the deep well of buried desire pulsating through the young hot, rich Brits at Saltburn. You know, Saltburn: one of those classic summer getaways everyone gets to have, filled with endless libraries, fairy and monster parties, sexy bathtime, and Rosamund Pike. It’s no Wisconsin Dells, but it’ll do I guess.
Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) goes to Oxford hoping to get the life he dreamed of. Things don’t get off to a great start, when he’s socially stuck with the twitchy math whiz Michael (Ewan Mitchell). Luckily, life throws Oliver a bike. Or more correctly, Oliver lends Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), the king of uni, his bicycle to get to class. Felix then lets Oliver into his circle: a life filled with endless fun times and beautiful women. Oliver and Felix become such good friends that Felix invites Oliver to stay at Saltburn, his family’s summer home, to let the rich fun times continue.
Hopes were high for others after Emerald Fennell’s debut, Promising Young Woman. That movie had a lot to say about modern women and all the crap they have to put up with when trying to date in modern times. Saltburn is going for something more ubiquitous: relationships between the have’s and have not’s. As such, Saltburn feels untethered from time, since the rich tend to live by the schedules they want to keep. However, that untethering strips this movie of it’s urgency. Furthermore, the film’s deliberate pace gives the audience time to keep pace to the slightly off-kilter mystery going on, making it pretty easy to figure out and stripping all Fennell’s withheld resolutions from leaving any real emotional impact on the viewer. That means the movie’s messaging falls a bit flat too, which might be a good thing, the more you think about how the film ends.
So why is my rating so high then? Because of all of the window dressing around the shell of the story, wonderfully distracting. Saltburn and Oxford are magnificently rendered places, intoxicating while a bit chilly and weird at the same time. There’s not a moment someone walks in dressed to the nines, or in some smokin hot costume, with the most fun song making you feel like you’re invited to the coolest party on Earth. No wonder Oliver becomes metaphorically and literally intoxicated by Felix. Ah yes, Barry Keoghan’s Oliver. Keoghan has entered a new phase now: the minute he pops up in your movie, anything and everything weird is going to happen. Zagging over zigging, cats and dogs living together, you name it: it’s all on the table. Keoghan really goes for it here, attempting many things I’ve never seen an actor or any sane person attempt onscreen. He turns Oliver into a slow-motion car wreck of a person, as we witness his most honest moments with extreme discomfort and audacity in equal measure. His opposite is Jacob Elordi, who’s direction was clearly “be a smokeshow.” Elordi really makes it look effortless for sure, but he’s definitely giving a performance as his personality shifts when he changes locations. Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver and Rosamund Pike round out Elordi’s family, playing WASPy nuclear family British stereotypes with icy aplomb.
Regrettably, I’ve never been invited to hang out with my super hunky friend’s rich family for a few months. Although, thanks to Saltburn, that’s gonna make me Barry Keoghan, which I don’t think I’m super into. For starters, I’m not a bike rider. And secondly, well, you’ll have to see what else I’m probably not capable of to find out. 😉