Saltburn, A Review

We’re all about to lose our minds.

Saltburn follows Oxford scholarship student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who after struggling to fit in with the rest of his classmates becomes enamoured with the affluent and popular Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who takes pity on him when he hears of his lower class lifestyle and parents’ substance abuse issues. Over the year the pair grow a friendship and Felix then invites Oliver to spend the summer with him in his family home Saltburn. Arriving at Saltburn Oliver then meets Felix’s parents Lady Elspeth (Rosamund Pike, I Care a Lot) and Sir James (Richard E Grant, Persuasion) and Sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) as well as the various strays the family have picked up along the way including Cousin Farley (Archie Madekwe) and ‘Poor Dear Pamela (Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman). Over the course of the summer Oliver then becomes very much part of the family, beginning to enjoy his new higher class of living, nothing lasts forever though and soon enough the truth must come out about Oliver whether he likes it or not. Things are happening at Saltburn and one thing’s for sure, this will be a summer nobody ever forgets.

This film received some massive hype online, especially on tiktok (as a result I did see some mild spoilers) and so I was pretty excited to dive in and see what all of the fuss was about. I think the main thing people were talking about was how ‘crazy’ the storyline was and if I’m being honest I was expecting something a little wilder? There were definitely some bizzare scenes but I didn’t find Saltburn any stranger than your average thriller, not to knock its quality at all but from what I’d heard I was expecting something a lot worse. Storyline wise though I did still enjoy this one and loved Oliver’s journey and the general vibes of the writing. I can definitely see why this film gained so much attention and with some impressive star quality attached it’s definitely been a highlight of 2023 for me.

Saltburn was such a wild kind of film and I really loved the mad vibes throughout, starting off with the almost dark academia feel in the Oxford setting and leading to the titular Saltburn house which definitely had a classic literature feel. The wealthy family and elaborate parties all seen through the eyes of Oliver the outsider allowed for this really over the top effect and I loved the progression of the story as Oliver got closer and closer to the Cattons. It was then Oliver’s obsession with Felix and the wealth he possessed that really drove this narrative forward and it was interesting to see how he wormed his way into the family, changing himself to best suit whoever he happened to be with at that moment in time. Really posing himself as this ‘poor little underprivileged boy’, Oliver had a real way of manipulating people and his journey was kind of iconic? I will admit I wish the film had been a lit bit gayer, because I definitely got that impression from the trailers, but overall Saltburn was definitely all kinds of iconic.

Felix and his family were definitely one of this film’s highlights and I really loved the group chemistry between them as they all played that very rich person out of touch persona. Their almost fascination with Oliver at his lack of wealth or status allowed for some great comedic moments and I just loved the dry humour throughout and amazing performances all around, especially that of Pike. Like I said above Oliver was really able to worm his way into the family dynamic here and it was interesting to see how each member responded to his charms and how he used that in his eventual long play.

Overall I really enjoyed watching Saltburn and loved the general crazy vibes of the film. I will say I was expecting something a little weirder based off audience reactions but on the whole I had a good time with this one and appreciated the film for stepping outside of some boxes. Keoghan was fabulous as Oliver and I really loved his story, dynamic with the rest of the family and of course that ending. This was a real iconic kind of watch with so many standout scenes and characters and I’d definitely recommend this to anyone, it’s the kind of film you just can’t miss.