Fennell’s Follow Up Film is Frickin’ Satisfying | Saltburn - Review
If I Had One Word to Describe Saltburn it Would Be Visceral
Saltburn the second feature film from award-winning director, writer, actor, and producer Emerald Fennell does not disappoint. And in a counterintuitive move, I implore you to stop reading this review and watch it in cinemas first to have the freshest experience possible. I knew barely anything about this movie going in and was incredibly glad for that fact. Despite the incredible marketing, Saltburn is a film best experienced completely out of your depth. Whilst I shall attempt to keep my review here as spoiler-free as possible it’s very hard not to take something away from your viewing of the film just by hearing other people talk about it.
If you are one of those people who likes to know everything about a film before going in however or want to hear my full unburdened thoughts I give a much more detailed breakdown of the film, its themes, and plot in my full review over on my YouTube channel.
Saltburn follows university student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who after starting at Oxford College finds himself isolated from the rest of his classmates who all seem to be friends already. He immediately becomes infatuated with aristocratic schoolmate Felix Catton (Jacob Elodi) and after a chance encounter that sparks their friendship, he receives an invitation back to Felix’s family home Saltburn for the summer.
What I noticed immediately about Saltburn when compared to Fennell’s debut feature Promising Young Woman was the camera work. There are some very deliberate choices throughout, the first being to shoot the whole thing in 1.33:1. I saw the film at South by Southwest Sydney and in the introduction before the film, a statement from Fennell was read out expressing that this choice was to make the audience feel as though we were peering in at the characters from outside a window or observing them in a dollhouse. This allegory wasn’t initially clear to me, but became a much more compelling and understandable artistic choice as the film went on. The retro-esque aspect ratio was initially a little jarring; the decision also connecting the film to its mid-2000s setting. However, you quickly become acclimatized to the cropped viewing window.
And cinematographer Linus Sandgren utilises that smaller frame to really make the audience feel uncomfortable; squishing us in with the characters in their most dominant or vulnerable moments. The sometimes claustrophobic nature of the shots inside this odd aspect ratio helps to build the tension beautifully. As an audience member, you think you are looking in on these characters as Fennell describes until later on when it starts to feel more like you are actually locked inside with them. The setting of Saltburn also contributes to this sense of being trapped. Shot purposefully on an estate that had never been previously shown on film and according to their contract never will again. The editing is also masterful. As a thriller editing is key to the success of the film and Saltburn certainly triumphs in this regard. The jump cut reveal was used particularly effectively to punch into the most important story beats and illicit audible reactions from the audience.
On top of this, the performances by literally everyone in the cast sold the wildness of the story. The often-tone-deaf eccentricities of Felix’s rich family were executed with perfection by Rosamund Pike, Richard E Grant, and Alison Oliver. And the two leads Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi were overflowing with chemistry. Keoghan in particular was just dripping with disgustingly disturbing energy in the best possible way. There’s a line that I feel could be crossed for some people by the contents of this film but in retrospect, there was nothing that didn’t feel correct for who the characters were and I think the performances had a big hand in making these unhinged characters egocentricities believable. That being said when the film does strip away its initial decorum these moments won’t be for everyone.
I said in my first thoughts over on TikTok that if I had to describe Saltburn in one word it would be visceral, and I stand by that. The production design, the cinematography, the reactions from the audience in the cinema, the story itself, the overall vibe; everything in this film is posed to make you feel a certain type of way and whilst I wasn’t sure if it was a way I wanted to feel at first, the amount of adrenaline surging through me when the credits rolled was a clear indication that in fact, I did.
The place from which Fennell pulls her stories is clearly twisted but if telling stories about people who have no issue acting on their intrusive thoughts is her MO, I am HERE for it. I never saw her short film Careful How You Go but after diving into her IMDb I discovered she was a writer on Killing Eve and that just made so much sense to me, particularly after seeing Saltburn. In an interview with Vanity Fair about the film she explained that she wanted to tell a story that sympathized with unlikeable people "the sorts of people that we can’t stand, the sorts of people who are abhorrent—if we can love them, if we can fall in love with these people, if we can understand why this is so alluring, in spite of its palpable cruelty and unfairness and sort of strangeness, if we all want to be there too, I think that’s just such an interesting dynamic." [1]
I do think she succeeds here. Oliver is such that we swing back and forth between being so in love with him to completely disgusted with him. Oliver Quick is unhinged, hilarious, charismatic, unnerving, rude, and charming. He is a juxtaposition that you only come to know the further we delve into his story discovering the darker side after already committing to liking him and now it is too late you’re sympathizing with a psychopath. Just like Fennell wanted you to. I wouldn’t classify Saltburn as a “teen movie” but I think we are starting to see a trend emerge of stories about young people that explore the darker sides of who we are when we are young and this film certainly fits into this area for me. Potentially driven by TV series like Euphoria and even Riverdale this dive into the unspoken of teenage/young adult exploration is making its way to the forefront heralding the introduction of a new era of filmmakers. If you follow me on social media you would’ve seen my first thoughts of Emma Seligmann’s comedy Bottoms, which I also noted falls into this new category of darker teen movies.
I would liken the experience of watching Saltburn to the experience of watching a true crime documentary. You’re sucked in by morbid curiosity and the further it goes the more that uncomfortable pit in your stomach starts to form yet your blood pumps with adrenaline urging you to keep watching despite how disgusted you are. And that’s what makes Saltburn so successful. It is uncomfortable. I struggle with films that add in things that are gross or purposefully uncomfy for the sake of eliciting a reaction, it's one of the reasons I dislike most horror movies, and some of the things that happen in Saltburn really shocked me (and the rest of the audience based on the audibility of their reactions). Even though Saltburn is classified as a thriller the first hour or so doesn't really betray the darkness at the core of this story making the tale Fennell has woven a deliciously morbid and sensual rollercoaster that I cannot wait to own so I can watch it again and again.
SALTBURN RELEASES IN AUSTRALIAN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 17TH 2023
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