I had a vague idea of what I was in for when getting seated in my cinema, about to watch this movie. When Saltburn finished, I was still surprised by how graphic a few scenes were and how unhinged, sexy and on the nose this movie was. For the most part, it worked, and I was entertained and fascinated by this high-society family while also admiring how slick this movie looked, although there was a part of me that hoped for a slightly different, more open-ended closure of this story.

Saltburn is the follow-up to Emerald Fennell‘s directorial feature Promising Young Woman (2020, my review here) and despite me not giving this movie 5/5, Emerald and I will be friends. I like her style; both of her films (so far) have had a distinctive feel of unease that I find admirable. Especially today, in an age where everyone wants to be liked, she isn’t afraid to rely on you being a bit uncomfortable while watching her movies. Also, she’s got a great eye for staging a scene and camera shots, especially with Saltburn, where the movie looks both sexy and expensive. I listened to an interview with her after watching the film, where she said something along the lines of wanting to shoot everything and everyone in a sexy, sleek way, as almost just the idea of money and power was tied to being sexy. And you can definitely feel that from this film and the stunning cinematography by Linus Sandgren.

It is the cinematography alongside the performances that you will remember the most about Saltburn. Barry Keoghan cements the fact that he is the next “big thing” and isn’t afraid of anything, and he will be an Oscar winner; the question is only “when”, not “if”. I saw some people debating whether Jacob Elordi is a good actor, and look… I don’t know. I have only seen him in this film, Euphoria (2019 – ?) and his tiny role in Deep Water (2022, my review here) and in all of those, he was fine. I won’t say he was excellent in either of those movies or shows, but for the characters he portrayed, he did a good job, and the same should be said about his performance in Saltburn. You had to have someone who looks, acts and, most importantly, feels like this untouchable, almost deity for Saltburn to work. His character (Felix) must have that ‘vibe’ around him, and he does have it. Who I thought was fascinating, and I had not seen before this film, was Alison Oliver aka Venetia, Felix’s sister. I liked her performance, where she seemed almost like the least deplorable person in that family, but you can still tell it’s probably too late for her anyway.

Besides Barry, I loved Rosamund Pike‘s flawless performance of somebody who thinks they are so clever and yet can be manipulated easily. I know many of her lines from this movie will become iconic; she is one of the best examples of “I hate that I love this character”, and it’s all due to Rosamund’s understanding of not overdoing it. Her performance never felt cliche, or too much despite her character saying and doing some ridiculous stuff. I don’t think it will happen, but I would love for her to get a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

My only real problem with this film is the ending, specifically how unambiguous it was. Without going into the spoiler territory, you have a feeling that there is something happening. And even though I didn’t correctly guess everything, I was on the right track. However, the movie doesn’t want to leave anything to chance or your imagination and spills everything out in the last five minutes. Now, does it necessarily make it worse? That’s the thing, for me, this decision takes away the mystery this film spends most of its runtime building up. Part of the fun I had with Saltburn was figuring out what is up with this person or that person, and then the ending happens, after which everything is crystal clear. I thought for a movie like Saltburn, a bit of ambiguity wouldn’t hurt.

But that is my only problem with Saltburn; the rest of the film is a beautifully shot movie about class, deception and how easy or difficult you have it in life depending on your family or their wealth, respectively. The opulence of a family occupying this mansion (that feels and looks like a castle) and living in this little bubble was fascinating, almost as fascinating as thinking about how much of this movie may or may not be based on Emerald’s life and growing up as one of those “1%” of people.

Overall, Saltburn is a flashy drama full of great performances, beautiful cinematography and scenes you won’t forget any time soon. Whether it’s the bathtub scene, graveyard scene or the ending, it makes an impact and gives you some food for thought. Would I appreciate a bit more ambiguity towards the end? Yes. Will it hinder my enjoyment and potential rewatch of this film? We will see; I can see myself liking this much more on the next rewatch or slightly less. Yep, it’s one of those movies. I would recommend it, as long as you have a strong stomach.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke