Saltburn (2023) movie review

Saltburn is the name of the estate where most of the movie takes place. It’s the monumental castle where the Catton family lives. And it’s the place to be. 

The first thing that will get your attention is the 4:3 aspect ratio which gives an offbeat vibe to the whole affair. Barry Keoghan walks into a college campus with the camera following him closely. His name is Oliver Quick. He is at Oxford University on a scholarship and appears awkward, meek and harmless. The only friend Oliver has at the University is a math genius who he doesn’t even like. Felix (Jacob Elordi), on the other hand, is always surrounded by people like he’s a rock star.  He certainly is living the life of one, effortlessly getting to sleep with who he desires.

This tale of obsession begins the moment Oliver sees Felix. They become fast friends too, mostly because Felix feels sorry for the guy since there is nothing else they have in common. Felix may have also picked up on Oliver’s infatuation towards him. He invites Oliver to Saltburn for the summer to take his mind off his father’s recent demise. The castle on the inside is exquisite and filled with unspoken riches. The tour that Felix gives Oliver of the house is exhilarating, almost disorienting. This kind of wealth is either generational or accumulated by being involved in illegal ventures or both.  

When we first meet the Catton family it’s daytime and all of them are sitting together gathered around a TV watching ‘Superbad’. And that’s how the family spends all of their time. Breakfast buffets, dressed-up dinners and always looking for a reason to throw a party on their lavish estate. And as you would guess, neither of them is particularly nice or interesting. Elspeth Catton (the terrific Rosamund Pike) pities Oliver for his family’s drug-addled past and suggests he should feel at home at Saltburn. She has a thin veil of kindness around her that’s always hiding disdain for most people. That out-of-touchness from other echelons of society is common amongst all the members of the Catton family as they live detached from the rest of the world on their own, private planet, Saltburn.

Living amongst them, Oliver sees the family in their natural splendour. Despite the story being told from Oliver’s perspective, it’s hard to get a read on the guy. This intentional manipulation becomes unfavourably evident near the end of the film. The story itself is not fresh either. We’ve met characters like Oliver in movies before and in better ones. But never with such candour. As Oliver, Keoghan goes all in in the movie. The things he is asked to do are not only shocking but downright grotesque. As the new toy of the summer, the family has fun at his expense many a time. But when spending time alone with the Catton women, we see he is not entirely an unwitting participant.

The performances are all really good. In their smaller roles as well, it’s fun to see Richard E. Grant as Sir James Catton, the father who’s never heard of a hairbrush and Carey Mulligan as the family friend who overstayed her welcome, Pamela. But the standout besides Koeghan and Pike, is Elordi, oozing sexuality as the object of Oliver’s fascination. As puzzling as Oliver is, Felix is transparent and obvious. He is in the envious position of not having to work or worry about anything and still has all his desires fulfilled for the rest of his life.

Emerald Fennel, the writer and director tells a story here about people with no redeeming qualities. You won’t stand spending 5 minutes with any of the people in the movie and neither will they with you. Fennel subverted expectations in the female revenge movie Promising Young Woman, elevating the genre giving a mature, thought-provoking experience and winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It’s unfortunate that she doesn’t bring the same ingenuity here. You will admire the amazing work of Linus Sandgren though, the cinematographer of previous winners such as American Hustle and La La Land. The movie overall, is engaging and interesting and what it lacks in originality it makes up for with its performances and execution.