I'm doing my first movie review starting with THIS one?? There has been lots of "buzz" around this film, now available on Peacock, so I had to give it a look-see. And while "Saltburn" as a psychological/homoerotic thriller has a lot in its favor, in the end, considering the hype, I found it to be not all that, but a good movie. Just lower the expectations.
Lets start with the official plot synopsis:
Distraught by his classmate Oliver's unfortunate living situation, Felix, a rich student, invites him over to his estate. Soon, a series of horrifying events engulf Felix's family.
Yup, both those sentences are true and definitely separate at first. In 2006, Oxford scholarship student Oliver, played by Barry Keeghan, is a loner who seems desperate to get in with the crowd, in this case the very upper class and super rich clique that Felix, played by the stunningly handsome (and the film never lets us forget that) Jacob Elrodi. One day, Oliver is riding his bike when he comes across Felix, whose bike tire has died out. Oliver offers his bike to Felix, which a very grateful Felix accepts, and this starts off Oliver's introduction to Felix's bougie elite circle.
Jacob Elrodi
As Oliver ingratiates himself into this clique, the other members take a liking to him—not so much for Oliver himself, but that they have a lower-class "puppy" to learn from about the working class and other such things that the privileged elite have no clue of. He is not so much a friend to the group as more of a social project. One of the clique members, Farleigh, played by Archie Madekwe, is not buying Oliver's innocent or shy act at all and does all he can to make Oliver feel how out of his league he is. Felix is the only one who treats Oliver as a genuine new friend, and when Oliver shares his rough childhood with him, Felix is supportive. When Oliver later shares with Felix a tragedy that has occurred back at home, Felix offers to have Oliver come along with him to his family's Downton Abby-like estate for the summer, Saltburn. This is where the fun/cray-cray officially starts. Saltburn, and Felix' family, are the true definition of an out of touch, filthy rich social bubble. The decadence of both the Saltburn estate and the family and staff is in your face/borderline offensive. Some of the conversations at the grand dinner table are so disconnected with reality, except for those who money and privilege can shield them from those pesky, annoying problems of the real world. Among Felix' family members are his mother, Elsbeth Catton (Rosemund Pike) , who takes a shine to Oliver while simultaneously being delightfully judgy, his father, Sir James Catton Richard E Grant) , stiff upper lip and the guardian of the upper one percent class structure, and sister Venetia (Alison Oliver, who lets just say, has "issues". Carey Mulligan has a way too brief appearance as Poor Pamela, another social pet project the Catton's have taken in to show how good they are at helping the less fortunate. Pamela has no filter, and talks way too much, but Mulligan makes her brief stay at Saltburn delightful. Now we get to the part of, careful Colby, spoilers! As Oliver gets to know the family and vice versa, twists and turns occur, with the turning point being Felix taking Oliver on a surprise road trip ride back to Oliver's family, as its Oliver's birthday. This turns out badly for Oliver, and Felix now wants nothing to do with him, even as the family has gone all out to decadently celebrate Oliver's birthday that evening. To say anymore about the plot would be unfair, but suffice to say, it gets DARK, folks.
so I will wrap up with a few notes and breakdown of the technical aspects of the film. Saltburn and Felix's family are the true definition of an out-of-touch, filthy-rich social bubble. The decadence of both the Saltburn estate and the family and staff is in your face or borderline offensive. Some of the conversations at the grand dinner table are so disconnected from reality, except for those whose money and privilege can shield them from those pesky, annoying problems of the real world. Among Felix's family members are his mother, Elsbeth Catton (Rosemund Pike), who takes a shine to Oliver while simultaneously being delightfully judgy; his father, Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), who has a stiff upper lip and is the guardian of the upper one percent of the class structure; and his sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), who, let's just say, has "issues." Carey Mulligan has a way too brief appearance as Poor Pamela, another social pet project the Catton's have taken in to show how good they are at helping the less fortunate. Pamela has no filter and talks way too much, but Mulligan makes her brief stay at Saltburn delightful. Now we get to the part about, careful Colby, spoilers! As Oliver gets to know the family and vice versa, twists and turns occur, with the turning point being Felix taking Oliver on a surprise road trip ride back to Oliver's family, as it's Oliver's birthday. This turns out badly for Oliver, and Felix now wants nothing to do with him, even as the family has gone all out to decadently celebrate Oliver's birthday that evening. To say anything more about the plot would be unfair, but suffice to say, it gets dark, folks.
So I will wrap up with a few notes and a breakdown of the technical aspects of the film. The grave site scene- While it does give the character an emotional catharsis, to me, it was more of a shock value moment. The FIRST bathtub scene: Okay, now THIS shocked me! Probably will be noted as the most shocking scene of the year! Therapy may be needed! (No blood though).
Barry Keeghan
If ya know, ya know!
I feel I should mention there is a suicide (blood involved), as it might be triggering to some viewers.
Nudity is involved, especially at the audacious ending- which is played with this dance floor banger that made it more delicious.
Grades: Overall: B Acting: A Set Design; A+
Direction: A-
Writing- B
And here is the trailer for you to get a taste!
Let me know what you thought of the film in the comments below!
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