Feeling Salty ‘Saltburn,’ an extra-horny Talented Mr. Ripley for our time Saltburn is horny. Horny, horny, hor-naaaay. “Actually, there’s a word for that: ecosexual,” said a satisfied viewer to her friends as they left our screening, explaining one of what could be a few different scenes in the movie. That’s the kind of experience audiences are in for in Emerald Fennell’s new black comedy thriller. The crowd around me gasped and giggled to the sight of Barry Keoghan tonguing a bathtub drainhole. It’s the kind of film that seems to invite comments, jokes, and emojis while one is watching it. “Have you seen Saltburn? I know, girl. Bathtub, shovel, disco ball.” SALTBURN ★★★★ (4/5 stars) Directed by: Emerald Fennell Written by: Emerald Fennell Starring: Barry Keoghan, Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi, Archie Madekwe, Alison Oliver, Richard E. Grant Running time: 131 mins Here’s the set-up. Resting creepy face guy Barry Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, a bookish scholarship case reading English Literature at the fringes of Oxford’s fuckable society. He orbits the outer rim of 2006’s first-year students, a universe centered around sexy aristocrat Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi, who plays unreasonably hot sociopath Nate on Euphoria). After a term spent skulking about in library stacks or near window panes watching Felix and friends mix and mingle, Oliver gets a chance to pay Felix a favor on a bike path. In short order, Felix returns that kindness in a pub and adopts Oliver into his posh inner circle. Felix learns more about the modern Dickensian squalor of Oliver’s home life and invites the nerdy hanger-on to spend the summer at his family’s palatial estate, Saltburn. If all the spying and peeping at Oxford aren’t enough of a clue, it’s not long after his arrival at Saltburn that the audience starts to get hints that Oliver might be up to something not so awesome. He manipulates Felix’s bored sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). Felix’s dependent cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe, Gran Turismo) starts to feel the sting of his own barbs as Oliver volleys them back at him. Felix’s mother, Lady Elspeth (a divine Rosamund Pike), is surprisingly prone to Oliver’s basic flattery. A dash of Brideshead Revisited, a skosh of The Talented Mr. Ripley, pinches of Wuthering Heights, and a dollop of Catherine Breillat and Cruel Intentions ensues. Honestly, I wouldn’t have made the leap to Cruel Intentions if I hadn’t heard Fennell cite the movie as a direct inspiration. The sex and desire in Saltburn definitely hit with the same immediate “Oh no they didn’t” impact that one got from Cruel Intentions. I’m not so sure about the staying power since part of the impact of the sex in Cruel Intentions came from seeing young actors who were already household names appear in a more unsanitized form. Buffy! Pacey! Where are your clothes?! We’re living in a post-Skins world, where we’ve seen Keoghan in disturbing fare like The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Elordi in teen Kama Sutra Euphoria. Even if it’s not exactly the same, viewers will chew over the audacity and shamelessness of Saltburn after screenings for a hot minute because Fennell is having so much fun and passing that along to the audience. Horndog titillation accomplished, Saltburn is also beautifully shot, briskly paced up to a point, sports a fantastic mid-aughts soundtrack (MGMT revival, anyone?), more than a little lifestyle porn, and is also frequently very funny. Pike gets all of the best lines, including one about being the inspiration for a certain Pulp song. What works less well, and makes the movie drag near the end, are the thriller aspects. Fennell did better with those in her great debut film Promising Young Woman. Fennell telegraphs the majority of this movie’s big reveal well before it happens. Even if you don’t catch the hints to predict every twist along the way, you’ll know that something bad is coming and who’ll be left standing. Promising Young Woman created a sense of dread that feels slightly dampened in Saltburn. Maybe it’s because the characters could have avoided a lot of the danger by making a quick trip to AskJeeves. Saltburn doesn’t feel like it has a lot to say that movies haven’t already said about class or sexuality or even the possibility of a Harry-Ron-Hermione polycule, which could make one conclude that it’s a lot of empty style. Despite wearing its inspirations on its tailored sleeve, Saltburn leaves its own very memorable impressions. Its final jubilant dance scene doesn’t kill the horny groove.
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