✯½

It’s hard enough trying to write a review of Saltburn without going into great detail about the many elements that would in turn try and form a “surprise” so to speak. But at the same time, it feels so crucial to the world that Emerald Fennell is creating in this film to the point that it feels like it hinges entirely on this. Like Promising Young Woman which came before it, Fennell’s interests lie within reinventing familiar concepts with the hopes of inciting a feeling of shock, and many moments in Saltburn without doubt, feel designed to elicit such a reaction. Instead, the final result is very self-satisfied and the returns are empty.

Barry Keoghan stars as Oliver Quick, a student at Oxford University that almost seems invisible to people around himself. It doesn’t take long before he catches the interest of the affable and rich Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), whom he later befriends. As the lower-class Felix and the upper-class Felix slowly get along over the course of a few days, Felix invites Oliver to come to his own estate of Saltburn, after a tragedy has struck the young Oliver’s life. Things at Saltburn seem like the most ideal lifestyle for Oliver, for all appears very glamorous. Oliver finds himself quickly seduced by the image that the Catton residence provides for him, growing towards a dangerous degree.

Fennell seems to have the material ready for a perfect genre exercise in Saltburn, all of which is felt within the way that the film looks (a considerable improvement from Promising Young Woman at that), but also the tones. Everything seems at least a little bit off from the start, which might be the perfect way to describe the relationship that Oliver shares with Felix, reflected in the ways that the two of them see one another because of their own class statures. This would easily have lent itself to a perfect commentary of sorts about the ways that people of the upper class relate with lower class people, but I can’t say I always found it successful on this ground.

If we were to talk Saltburn’s own failings, it seems to mostly derive itself from the manner by which Fennell’s aims for provocation only end up ringing hollow. Many moments in Saltburn feels explicitly designed to elicit a feeling of shock from the viewer, but they never really amount to anything more than spelling out its twists. And at a certain point, it becomes very easy to see where they’ll start coming in from the get go. The worst part about this, is knowing that it’s still interesting to see where things would go from here – because Fennell’s game of deception is present here, especially with regards to how lower-class and upper-class relationships are often forged. But there’s nothing particularly substantial being offered here.

That’s not to say there’s no fun to be had with Saltburn. If anything, it’s Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi who are doing so much with the material that they’re working with, even if it’s more often than not in a risible state. Rosamund Pike is very funny, which is great to see in a film like this – and I think Fennell seems to have a very dry sense of humour which can make films like this at the very least somewhat entertaining. But Fennell never really achieves the balance between the genre thrills and an incredibly dark sense of humour to make it work as effectively as she could have. Like Promising Young Woman, I also can’t help but feel like Fennell’s worst traits as a writer come in from a very self-satisfied presentation of thriller conventions, to the point that her own ideas end up becoming very muddy by the end.

For the good majority of Saltburn, I was ready to get myself on board with it – but as everything slowly unravelled all that good will was going away. At a certain point, I couldn’t help but feel like the whole movie was about to amount to nothing more than a joke that gets old really fast, or a complete misunderstanding of what made genre films about upper and lower class relations work successfully. There’s fun to be had with Saltburn, all owing to how much the cast is bringing everything that they can to the material, but I suppose for every movie like Parasite or The Servant, you’ll get something on the more hollow end like The Menu or this.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Amazon MGM Studios.

Directed by Emerald Fennell
Screenplay by Emerald Fennell
Produced by Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie
Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe
Release Date: November 17, 2023
Running Time: 131 minutes