In a sea of films we have seen in the past few short days, Saltburn was one I didn’t know a lot about, having only seen the trailer a few days before seeing it. I certainly never expected what the film threw at us and in that way, Saltburn came in like a dark horse out of a s
A student is invited to an eccentric classmate’s estate for an exciting summer.
Review
Saltburn follows the story of a young Oxford student named Oliver (Barry Keoghan), who befriends a fellow student Felix (Jacob Elordi) after Felix ends up with a flat bike tire. Felix and Oliver don’t socialize in the same circles. Oliver is at Oxford on a scholarship and is considered ‘poor’ by the standards of the other students. Felix on the other hand comes from a well-off family of the upper class.
As Felix and Oliver get closer, Oliver begins to reveal some of his past and demons related to issues with his parents and his home life. Telling Felix he doesn’t want to ever go back up, he is invited over to Oliver’s home for the summer, Saltburn. The film sets itself up to be the type of film that focuses on class struggles and the typical poor versus rich dichotomy that we see all too often in these cases. While we do see the vast differences in lifestyle between what Oliver is used to and what the families at Saltburn are used to, the rest of the story upends everything we have come to expect from the genre.
Thrust into the world of the ultra-rich, things quickly get horny, lustful, and dark. Playing Felix’s mother, Rosamund Pike, provides a mother out of touch with reality, and as two-faced as they come. A people pleaser. Between Pike, Keoghan, and Elordi the dynamic of each character study is award-worthy in and of itself, forgetting for a moment that you might have thought this was a film about class inequality. I am not saying there isn’t an element of that, but focusing solely on that misses the point the director is trying to make.
There are several scenes of sexual lust and pure primal hedonism that may make some audiences squeamish, especially the bathtub scene. Yet for all of that, the twist in the story is one that in the very beginning was so subtle that by the time it hits you on the head with a sledgehammer, you are still caught off guard.
Saltburn is one of the best films of the year that doesn’t hold back in any way and isn’t afraid to put it all out on the table. It isn’t afraid to say the things unsaid in the room or let the characters act out their darkest desires. After leaving the theatre and seeing this film, at first, I was unable to process everything as it felt like a hurricane but as time went on and I thought about it more, this dark little film ended up being something truly unique.
Saltburn is in theaters on November 22nd.
Copyright: Amazon Studios
