Movie Review: Saltburn
Rating: 1 and 1/2 Stars
There’s a confidence about Saltburn that should make it an admirable feat of cinema. Emerald Fennell’s sophomore written and directed feature film is brimming with the machinations of an artist painting a surrealist portrait of a man beguiled between love and lust.
Fennell’s cast is bought into the material. Fennell requires a committed performance from her lead Barry Keoghan and he obliges.
In various ways, Saltburn reminds me of the movie Tar. Both films made me weary after prolonged opening sequences that felt like they’d never end. Both films have main characters that make you want to jump out of a window. Finally, both Tar and Saltburn are not films I’d particularly recommend to a casual movie audience.
The difference I remember feeling with Tar was that there was some form of coherence. I said in my review that Tar asked compelling questions. I just couldn’t discern any of the answers.
Saltburn never reached the point where I had any questions to ask. Every character shrouds their motivations and desires behind coded language both verbal and non-verbal. Fennell knows exactly what she has to say and I find her to be speaking a different language.
A similar language we can speak though is cinematography and Fennell’s film mixes disorienting abstract shots with beautifully colored scenes. The camera framing accentuates character movements by playing with the point of view. The frame looks up to assert Felix’s dominance, down on Oliver in his period of insignificance, and pans across the Saltburn house with effortless precision. If you’re a film student looking for photographic inspiration, Saltburn has many worthy scenes.
If you’re looking to Saltburn for entertainment value, I unfortunately couldn’t find much.
Barry Keoghan plays Oliver Quick who attends Oxford University on the merit that he’s actually smart and not unfathomably rich. Oliver becomes transfixed with Felix (Jacob Elordi of Euphoria fame). Felix is the university’s popular heartthrob who harbors a complicated royal background.
Oliver catches the attention of Felix at school to the point where Felix invites Oliver over to his estate for the summer. The opening act of the film is a slog before we reach the titular Saltburn estate. Fennell dips heavily into sexual tension and other graphic elements as the film progresses. There’s also a heavy emphasis on dramatic lighting that I would once again point out to those aforementioned film students.
I would detail some of the graphic elements but that might spoil the allure of the movie for some. There’s a bathtub scene and a graveyard scene that may be difficult for some audiences. I found both scenes to be rather predictable and lacking in meaning and purpose.
As the film begrudgingly lumbered into its heavy-handed final act, I was struck by the idea that Saltburn was living in the wrong genre. Before I go on, let me state that I believe Emerald Fennell seemingly wrote and made the movie she desired to make. Many positive reviews across the web like this movie as it is. But if I wanted to enjoy Saltburn, here’s the film I wanted to see…
Saltburn is listed as a thriller and dark comedy drama. The word comedy feels a bit out of place but alas that’s what the IMDB and Wiki have to say.
Saltburn has all the makings of a pulse-pounding psychological horror thriller. The Saltburn Castle itself is a prime candidate for being a terrifying enclosure to be captured within. There’s even a maze that may as well have been lifted straight out of Kubrick’s, “The Shining”. Fennell does tease the maze early and eventually delivers. Showing off a maze in your movie might as well be its own Chekhov’s gun.
You could argue there are horror elements in Saltburn already, you would be right. But the horrifying instances in Saltburn are mired by long periods of awkward conversation and nonsensical posturing. Saltburn lacks that edge-of-the-seat tension to keep me guessing and on edge. I would also argue that a full-on descent into more atmospheric terror would accentuate the mania of the characters that occupy the estate. The interactions would only feel more surreal as compared to everyone sitting around the couch having a laugh while watching Superbad.
Horror is also a great element in a film when no character is likable. So long as the writing isn’t a crutch, the underlying threat of danger becomes a vehicle to drive the audience from scene to scene.
It might be the intention of Fennell to humanize her characters before her plot engages in dehumanizing acts. There are also two quick asides with Archie Madekwe’s character, Farleigh (strange name), about race that confused me.
Even with my distaste of Saltburn, Emerald Fennell is a name I’d be keeping an eye on. Her filmmaking talents were fully on display. Only time will tell if her writing will resonate more widely as well.
