Saltburn is a 2023 black comedy psychological thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Emerald Fennell, and starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe and Carey Mulligan. Set in England in the mid-2000s, the film follows an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with a wealthy fellow student within his college, who invites him to spend the summer at his eccentric family's estate.
Saltburn had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, was released in the United Kingdom on November 17, and in the United States via a limited theatrical release the same day, before expanding wide on November 22, five days later. The film garnered positive, though slightly muted, reception from critics. At the 81st Golden Globe Awards, Keoghan and Pike were nominated for their performances.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
In 2006, scholarship student Oliver Quick attends Oxford University, struggling to fit in due to his inexperience with upper-class sensibilities. He eventually befriends Felix Catton, an affluent and popular student who is empathetic to Oliver's stories of his parents' substance abuse and mental health issues. Their friendship grows over the year, but Felix becomes annoyed with Oliver's constant presence and seemingly casts him out after a brief spat. One morning, Oliver becomes distraught over the news of his father's sudden death. Felix comforts him and invites him to spend the summer at his family's sprawling estate, Saltburn.
At Saltburn, Oliver is introduced to Felix's parents, Sir James and Lady Elspeth; Felix's sister, Venetia; Felix's American cousin, Farleigh; and Elspeth's friend Pamela. Oliver quickly wins over Felix's family, who are sympathetic to his situation and amused by his lack of social graces. He eventually seduces Venetia and performs oral sex on her in the house garden. Farleigh witnesses this and informs Felix, who then confronts Oliver. Oliver lies, claiming Venetia initiated the act and he refused. One night, he watches Felix masturbating in a bathtub and pleasures himself in the same tub afterwards. His obsession with Felix grows stronger. At a karaoke party, Farleigh tricks Oliver into performing "Rent" in front of the family. That night, Oliver initiates a tense sexual encounter with Farleigh while subtly threatening him. The next morning, Farleigh is evicted from Saltburn after it is revealed he allegedly attempted to sell rare Palissy plates from Sir James' collection to Sotheby's.
As the summer ends, Lady Elspeth and Sir James plan a party for Oliver's birthday. On the morning of the party, Felix surprises Oliver with a trip to see his estranged mother, having answered a call from her on Oliver's phone. Oliver panics, and upon arriving at Oliver's family's house in Prescot, Felix realizes Oliver lied about his upbringing. Oliver's father is still alive, neither of his parents are substance abuse victims, and his family lives in a respectable upper middle classsuburb. Felix is horrified by Oliver's deception and orders him to leave Saltburn after the party. During the extravagant celebrations, Oliver follows Felix into Saltburn's expansive hedge maze and expresses his adoration for him. Felix expresses hurt and confusion at Oliver's actions, ultimately rejecting him and recommending he seek professional help.
The next morning, Felix is found dead in the centre of the maze. During a tense family lunch, Oliver implies Farleigh had a possible connection to Felix's death. Sir James forbids Farleigh from coming back to Saltburn and cuts off all financial support to him. After Felix's funeral, Elspeth insists Oliver stay at Saltburn, despite others in the family questioning his presence. Oliver mourns Felix and returns to Felix's grave and sexually grinds against it. One night, Venetia accuses Oliver of disintegrating her family. He attempts to seduce her again, but she rebuffs him, disturbed by his growing impersonation of Felix. The next day, Venetia is found dead, having slit her wrists in the bathtub. Sir James, despondent of Oliver's continuing presence at Saltburn, bribes him to leave.
Years later, Oliver learns of Sir James's death in a newspaper. He has a chance encounter with Elspeth at a café and she is delighted to see him, insisting he return with her to Saltburn. After spending several months with Oliver, Elspeth becomes fatally ill. On Elspeth's deathbed, Oliver reveals that he had been responsible for all of the tragic events that had befallen Saltburn. He orchestrated his initial meeting with Felix at Oxford and was the one who murdered him by poisoning his drink after his final rejection in the maze. He placed razor blades on the side of Venetia's bath after their argument and fabricated the email which resulted in Farleigh's initial expulsion from the estate. He planned his encounter with Elspeth at the café, and it is revealed she subsequently bequeathed all of her financial assets to Oliver, including ownership of Saltburn. Oliver kills Elspeth by forcefully removing her from life support. Having now assumed ownership of Saltburn and the Catton fortune, Oliver dances naked around the mansion to "Murder on the Dancefloor".
| Spoiler Warning: All spoilers have been stated and have ended here. |
Cast[]
- Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick
- Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton
- Rosamund Pike as Lady Elspeth Catton
- Richard E. Grant as Sir James Catton
- Alison Oliver as Venetia Catton
- Archie Madekwe as Farleigh Start
- Carey Mulliganas "Poor Dear" Pamela
- Paul Rhys as Duncan
- Ewan Mitchell as Michael Gavey
- Lolly Adefope as Lady Daphne
- Sadie Soverall as Annabel
- Millie Kent as India
- Reece Shearsmith as Professor Ware
Production[]
Saltburn is the second film directed by Emerald Fennell, after Promising Young Woman (2020). By January 2022, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Entertainment was in talks to produce, after collaborating with Fennell on her previous film. In May 2022, Ackerley, Robbie and Josey McNamara were confirmed as producers, while Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan joined the cast. Fennell said that Australian actor Elordi "...did the most exceptional audition... He did such a genius, genius bit of observational comedy. He really really understood that for all of [Felix's] beauty and charisma, he's just sort of a spoiled little boy. He came in and just absolutely blew us all away". Carey Mulligan was later revealed to be part of the cast in December, reuniting with Fennell after Promising Young Woman.
In writing the film, Fennell wanted to sympathise with unlikeable people, saying "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." She had long wanted to make her own version of films and books set in a country house, and set the film in 2006 to "really [knock] the fucking glamour off things" by setting it in the recent past.
Filming began on July 16, 2022, with Linus Sandgren serving as cinematographer. The film is shown in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, with Fennell saying it gives the impression of "peeping in."
Fennell was determined not to film in an estate familiar to viewers, and wanted to set the movie in one location, so aligning the filming with the film's plot, saying, "It was important to me that we were all in there together, that the making of the film in some way had that feeling of a summer where everyone loses their mind together... I didn't want to be constantly picking up and moving." and avoiding the need for post-production adjustments due to multiple locations. Fennell was successful, with filming occurring at and in Drayton House, Northamptonshire, which had never been used for filming before and may never be used again, with a part of the contract being that no one was allowed to reveal the location of the house or the identity of its owners. Despite the house's opulence, the actors ultimately became familiar with Drayton's interiors over the course of filming and comfortable working in it.
Costumes were designed with great attention to detail, with 2000s fashion displayed in the form of ostentatious jackets, rugby shirts, and loud jewellery.
Themes[]
The film focuses on excess and obsession. According to Fennell, "I drew from my own experience of being a human person, who has felt that thing we all feel at that time in our life which is that absolute insane grip of obsessive love... But obviously I didn't quite go to the lengths that some of the people [in the film] do".
Release[]
Saltburn had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023. It premiered in the United Kingdom as the opening film of the 67th BFI London Film Festival on October 4, 2023. It also premiered in Australia at SXSW Sydney on October 20.
In the U.S., Saltburn was given a limited release on November 17: 2023, followed by a wide expansion five days later, on November 22, by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution. It was originally scheduled to be released on November 24, but was moved up a week to take advantage of the initial positive response it received at its Telluride premiere and boost its chances at awards season. Warner Bros. Pictures handled the film's international release, with a November 16 release date in Australia, and a release in the United Kingdom a day later.
The film is scheduled to stream on Amazon Prime Video from December 22, 2023.
Box office[]
As of December 14, 2023, Saltburn has grossed $9.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $16.2 million.
In its limited opening weekend, the film made $322,651 from seven theaters. Expanding to 1,566 theaters the following Wednesday, the wide expansion of the film was released alongside Napoleon and Wish, and made $684,000 on its first day of wide release then $301,000 on Thanksgiving Day. It went on to debut to $1.8 million on the weekend (and a total of $2.9 million over the five-day frame), finishing in ninth. The film dropped just 16% the following weekend, grossing $1.6 million.
Reception[]
Saltburn received mostly positive reviews from critics, but overall reception was more muted than for Fennell's previous film, Promising Young Woman. On Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 228 critics' aggregated reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Emerald Fennell's candy-coated and incisive Saltburn is a debauched jolt to the senses that will be invigorating for most." Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 60 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 75% overall positive score, with 42% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
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