[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Saltburn.]
I have a theory about one of the year’s most divisive movies: You’re probably not a fan of Saltburn if, well before the bodies start lining up, you’re sure that even the bicycle tire was planned.
It’s not that the twist is so obvious (though it admittedly doesn’t come as a shock). It’s that you’re looking for it in the first place. The pitch-black comedy begins with the viewer firmly rooted in the point of view of Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a seemingly meek and poor college student who gets swept up into the orbit of Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). As the story progresses, and Oliver joins Felix at the titular English countryside estate, said meekness is revealed to be just one of Oliver’s many lies about himself. By the time anyone from Felix’s family can figure that out, though… they’re not really able to do anything about it.
Anyone who’s seen The Talented Mr. Ripley or similar projects may be on the lookout for clues as to the depth of Oliver’s schemes, and writer/director Emerald Fennell doesn’t work too hard to disguise them. Instead, Saltburn maintains its forward momentum thanks to the depth of Oliver’s hunger — hunger for the finer things, hunger for attention, hunger for dominance.
Barry Keoghan’s fiercely committed performance keeps all those things hovering close to the surface, but sets up the family he’s preying on as a representation of other excesses: the lazy, dull-witted rich, prone to excess largely as a way of distracting them from how banal life can be. Even before he’s fully revealed as a wolf, it’s clear that the Catton family are sheep, vulnerable to certain kinds of threats — even though they’re also capable of thoughtless and thoughtful cruelties, thanks to the comfortable power that comes with money and class status.
If, in watching the film, you see the Cattons solely as victims, and Oliver as a predator, then it’s understandable that the movie might fall flat for you. (Consequence’s own Clint Worthington’s review is very wise and well-reasoned.) However, as someone who practically did a little dance of my own as I exited the theater, I’ll say that Saltburn left me basking in how delicious it can feel, to watch someone dastardly get away with it.
Saltburn (MGM)
I’m not, you know, proud of having this reaction, and Saltburn has not otherwise changed my opinion on things like other people’s bathwater (you shouldn’t drink it!) and graves (you shouldn’t defile them!) Yet there’s an ugly sort of catharsis to be found in the beauty of Oliver’s naked romp through the estate. It helps that the construction of said ending is so well calibrated: A long tracking shot through the estate Oliver has now claimed as his own, proving said ownership by dancing naked to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor.” And so rarely has a pre-existing song’s lyrics matched so perfectly with a movie’s themes:
“Don’t think you’ll get away/
I will prove you wrong/
I’ll take you all away/
Boy, just come along”
For the record, Keoghan told Vanity Fair that the nudity “was fine for me,” but that “I don’t really dance, I don’t know how to move my hips certain ways and your body has to go in certain directions and stuff like that. The dancing scared me.” However, not only did the sequence come relatively late into production (after Keoghan had done a lot of other wild stuff), but he worked extensively with choreographer Polly Bennett on the sequence, and “once I was comfy with the dance, the rest was easy.”
The scene would probably have still been effective had Oliver been in his tighty-whities, but the nudity does really add to it — not only does it make the sequence just that more over-the-top, in a manner befitting everything else that’s come before, but the full effect is exactly the sort of desecration one might crave, in these eat-the-rich times. When Oliver first arrives at Saltburn, his clothes mark him clearly as an outsider, not One of Our Kind. Now, though, he doesn’t need any clothes at all to prove he’s the head bitch in charge.
Previously, Fennell’s Promising Young Woman also set up a scenario where the audience wants revenge on an entire collective of people — in that case, the movie was a referendum on men, and the obsessed Cassie (Carey Mulligan) was only able to deliver her vengeance with a massive sacrifice. Saltburn, though, takes aim at the upper class, and Oliver sacrifices nothing (save maybe a real emotional connection with Felix) to achieve his final victory. This GIF, instead, is the vibe, and also perhaps the best review possible:
Arrested Development (Fox)
Saltburn is divisive on many levels, and a nasty piece of business even if you love it. That’s because it channels a vibe which feels very singular to 2023, an era where it seems like everyone is getting away with something, because maybe it doesn’t really matter either way. Life is short and uncertain and so while Oliver does some very bad things, the nihilist lurking in us all might find it at least a little gratifying to see him triumph.
One might, even, want to do a little dance.
Saltburn is streaming now on Prime Video.