Editor's note: The following review contains mild spoilers for Saltburn (2023).
Emerald Fennell's second movie “Salt Burn” A dark, sinister, and erotic satirical thriller about society's insatiable appetite for wealth, power, and pleasure. This movie is probably the most divisive movie of 2023. The film centers on the story of Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), an awkward first-year scholarship student at Oxford University who struggles to fit in with his upper-class peers. A beautiful, eccentric, and incredibly wealthy classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), invites him to spend the summer at Saltburn, his family's vast castle-like estate.
The movie begins with an adult Oliver Quick speaking from the future and telling Felix that he has never been in love. When a montage of sensual memories flashes onto the screen, including close-ups of Felix's smile, body, and bare skin, we immediately question the frankness of his statement. We witness Oliver's deep and disturbing infatuation, perhaps even obsession, with his friend.
My expectations that this film would be a story of strange unrequited desire were quickly dispelled once Oliver and Felix arrived in Saltburn. The movie progresses through a labyrinth of dangerous twists and turns. The combination of an unreliable narrator, ulterior motives, and unbridled eroticism creates a dizzying atmosphere of longing and loathing. There are more than a few strong scenes of Oliver's disturbing perversion, including his disgusting ingestion of various bodily fluids belonging to the Catton family. This is hard to watch. These scenes are meaning Things that are difficult to see. These moments visualize Oliver's sexual consumption of the Catton family. These scenes exploit humanity's unquenchable thirst for power and sex.
The film is as rich in these disturbing scenes as it is in its own beauty. Fennell uses rich montages of the film's gorgeous actors, focusing on their bodies, muscles, and jawlines. Fennell delights in revealing the ugliness beneath her characters’ seemingly sophisticated facades. The film also relies heavily on Saltburn's aesthetic: an enchanting setting of rambling rooms, enchanted gardens, and mysterious mazes. The film is set in summer, which adds to the sweaty, sensual atmosphere.
The atmosphere and visuals of this movie are great. Think “Call Me By Your Name” meets “Euphoria.” But unlike Euphoria, atmosphere alone isn't enough for this film to survive. This movie never gets to the point. It's a criticism of the upper classes who have forgotten to actually criticize. Perhaps this is because Fennell herself is one of them. She is the daughter of billionaire jewelry designer Theo Fennell. In her time at Oxford, we can surmise that she was more like Felix Catton than Oliver Quick. In Fennell's world of Saltburn, the Catton family is wealthy, aristocratic, and cold-blooded, but they are also victims of the film. Felix is a polite and charming person. His sister Benicia (Alison Oliver) is eccentric and mysterious. His mother, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), is callous and callous, but even her disdain for her eating disorder and ugliness is conveyed with plenty of humor.
in “Salt Burn”, middle class character It's a predator.of upper class The character is the prey. Oliver consumed the Catton family's wealth, property, and bodily fluids, and after the meal, he finally smiled with satisfaction.
