Saltburn is a drama-thriller that follows Oliver (Barry Keoghan) as he integrates himself into the life of charismatic aristocrat Felix (Jacob Elordi) over a summer at Felix’s mansion. The cinematography is mesmerizing and so fun to watch that I completely gloss over some major plot faults.
I can’t say enough how gorgeous this film is to look at. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren popped off. Through scenes of the massive estate that never seems to end and scenes of extravagant parties, the movie was so easy to invest in. However, the movie is pretty visually dark, and I found myself having difficulty seeing what was happening sometimes.
It also helped that Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan have great chemistry. They made the sexual tension palpable, even though Felix was never sexually into Oliver. The entire cast did a solid enough job of making it feel like you could never be comfortable. Rosamund Pike stands out, as her character is both shallow yet complex.
The subject matter gets dark and weird, no doubt about it. You will not see bathtubs and dirt graves the same after watching this. That being said, sometimes it felt like it would get weird just to be weird. This gets me into some of the flaws of this movie.
The story of Saltburn feels kind of incoherent. We jump around to different points in time and gloss over the building of Oliver and Felix’s relationship, which is the catalyst of the movie. It’s primarily done in quick cuts, but we especially find them meeting once and getting a drink once and then becoming the best of friends.
There are clear themes of class disparity between Oliver and Felix, as Felix lives in a literal castle with main servants and foot servants. To me, where the story goes is much shallower than when Triangle of Sadness explored class conflict last year. Something I’ve come around a bit on with that film.
As a thriller, it falls flat. There are hints that something else brewing underneath the surface, but they never write it to be more important. There’s a twist that I won’t spoil here but I found that they could have led a better trail to make it more satisfying. Motivations are never made clear, and it truly felt like a wasted opportunity with the obsession storyline.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My thoughts on Saltburn are all over the place. For as good as the movie looks, it really lacked a coherent plot. It truly was style over substance. The characters were all good even without much direction but I really wanted more out of this. I at first had this at a 4/5 but the more I think about it, the more I think the visuals carried the movie. Again it’s beautiful to watch and get entranced by, but you might be left wanting more by the plot. Or, who knows, maybe you just want to watch Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan be hot, which this is the movie for you then. Regardless, if you go see it, maybe don’t bring your parents with you.
