Saltburn

Hey everyone and welcome, today we will be talking about the film Saltburn. Fun Fact, the minotaur in this film was modeled off star Barry Keoghan. This Film came out in 2023 and stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, and Rosamund Pike and was directed by Emerald Fennell. So without further ado let’s get right into it.

Saltburn tells the story of a scholarship student at Oxford by the name of Oliver who befriends the popular Felix. Oliver tells  Felix about his family struggles and Felix invites him to his family house but as we learn more about Oliver we come to learn that Felix might regret inviting him over.

Saltburn is psychological thriller. It has similar vibes to Ingrid Goes West, Promising Young Woman, or Parasite

There were so many conversations about Saltburn online with people being shocked by a certain bathtub scene or one involving a grave  which made me want to watch because I wanted to see if I would be shocked too. I wasn’t as shocked as everyone because I feel like I’ve seen lots of shocking movies but I will say that I was impressed by the movie and enjoyed it.

Let me just start by saying Barry Keoghan was great in this movie as Oliver who we come to find out isn’t as good as we think . Oliver is kind of like a psychopath and fortunately for movie creators psychopaths are interesting to watch. Oliver was truly a mastermind and we were tricked into believing that he was into Felix and that was his end goal but we come to find out he actually wants Saltburn which the title could’ve been a dead giveaway but I didn’t put that together. He was a mastermind who took out everyone one by one in a way that wouldn’t tie back to him. It’s crazy that he killed so many people but he draws the line at runny eggs.

The music in this movie is great and really captures the 2000’s vibe but the one perfect addition was murder on the dance floor which Oliver dances to at the end. It’s a shocking moment where Oliver bares it all and struts through the house but at this point he’s killed all these people who would’ve been obstacles and now he is the one who owns the house and this moment is like a celebration for him.

Jacob Elordi was perfectly cast as Felix who is this rich guy who probably hasn’t had to really life a finger for much but he really is nice and doesn’t flaunt it and out of all the family members is probably the easiest one to befriend.

Farleigh was a character I hated from the beginning and even though he could be very mean he is the only one that saw through Olivers crap. I think his biggest flaw is that he thought he was smarter than many people including Oliver when he really wasn’t.

I think that this movie was just beautifully shot. Director Emerald Fennel said that it was filmed in an old standard aspect ratio which gave it this feeling that you were peeping in. There were a lot of scenes that looked like a work of art starting off with the title card and I just found myself saying wow this movie is beautiful.

This film presents these rich people but you don’t feel bad for them, we are just kind of observing. Its like these rich people didn’t understand emotions in this film and there were times where something was hinted but they if the person didn’t understand they couldn’t find another way to say it and just assumed eventually they would understand. They were just in their own world and just didn’t bother to understand other peoples.

My favorite part of this film was Rosamund Pike as Elspeth who was the most delusional person and just wanted everyone to pretend like everything was alright when it really wasn’t. Rosamund really seemed to dive into this role and I just thought she truly embodied the character through her mannerisms. Her line delivery was just so impressive throughout the film but I think my favorite one was “I was a lesbian for a while you know but it was all to wet for me in the end men are so lovely and dry.” It’s a shocking admission but she says it so non-shalantly and then just carries on with her day. Rosamund was great and killed it whenever she was on screen.

Saltburn is a movie that is shocking but it was interesting to see the downfall of this family. I was impressed by the acting in this film and thought I was shot beautifully but I would say probably could’ve shaved some time off the run time.