With Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell announced herself as a promising new talent. With her follow-up, Saltburn, Fennell seems eager to make good on that promise, if not a little too eager.
Beautifully shot in a claustrophobic 4:3 aspect ratio, Saltburn tells the story of a student on scholarship at Oxford University, Oliver Quick (Keoghan), and his friendship and infatuation with the ultra-popular rich kid Felix Catton (Elordi). Oliver quickly ingratiates himself with Felix through tales of a tough upbringing, catnip to an impossibly handsome lad born into a life of pain-free luxury. Felix then invites Oliver to stay at his family’s estate for summer break, the titular Saltburn. From there Oliver’s obsession with Felix, as well as his family—his aloof father James (Richard E. Grant), his vapid and statuesque mother Elspeth (Pike), and his morose and horny sister Venetia (Alison Oliver)—only grows. It is only Felix’s friend Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) who senses something slightly off, perhaps even sinister, about Oliver.
What the film has in style it lacks in substance. As a vehicle for Barry Keoghan to solidify his position as one of film’s weirdest little guys, it works in spades (one stomach-turning scene in particular has become somewhat infamous). But the film feels more interested in shocking through its transgressions than anything else. Even then, save for that one scene and a final sequence that’s less shocking for its revelations about the plot than about Keoghan himself, the film fails to inflame more often than it succeeds.
As a Talented Mr. Ripley for the social media age, it works in that it has stripped away all notions of nuance and all hints of theme. Even as a traditional thriller, beneath the Sofia Coppola-inspired, dream-like haze, there’s little to grasp on to. None of the characters, save Oliver (who goes from kinda weird to pretty creepy), have even the slightest bit of characterization deeper than my descriptions above. None of the scenes, regardless of length, offer any escalating drama or tension, and are all some expository variation of Oliver awkwardly trying to fit in, or someone telling Oliver he doesn’t fit in.
The best (and funniest) line is a throwaway joke where Elspeth says she thinks Pulp’s “Common People” was written about her, a line that Rosamund Pike told Fennell so she added it to the movie, if IMDb trivia is to be believed. Somehow, the movie is also categorized as a comedy.
All that aside, some people will like it based on vibes alone. But to me, Saltburn’s biggest crime is that despite its edgy, “are you not entertained?” posturing, I actually found it a little boring.
