We Should Get Lost On The Way To Saltburn
Film
Writer/Director/Actress Emerald Fennell's sophomore feature film, Saltburn, comes three years after her debut, Promising Young Woman. Her debut, starring an amazing Carey Mulligan, was a statement piece not only focusing on themes of sexual abuse/harassment, but self-actualization, vengeance, and the patriarchy. Critically received, the film balanced a strong message, appealing visuals, and an incredibly well written script.
Now in Saltburn, Fennell has set her sights on the social hierarchy and wealth disparity between the middle class and those "with a title and a fuck off castle."
Saltburn follows a student at Oxford, Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), whose struggling to find friends amongst the throngs of wealthy socialites on campus. After lending his bike to fellow student Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), Quick is invited into the inner circle of the rich and famous. Catton, concerned about Quick's family predicaments along with his father's passing, invites him to spend the summer with the Catton family at Saltburn.
Saltburn, being a certifiable fuck off castle.
While there, it's clear that one is not like the other, no matter how hard Quick tries to climb the ladder of social hierarchy.
Unfortunately, where Promising Young Woman succeeded, Saltburn is a discombobulated mess.
Spoilers aplenty
Promising Young Woman, while incredibly forward on it's thematic elements had plenty of great character structure and build up to a climactic ending. Saltburn on the other hand is blatantly heavy handed, to the point of being pretentious. Oliver's first tutoring session with his professor results in the tutor being clearly uninterested in anything Oliver has to say. Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), the other classmate in this dual tutoring session, arrives late but being a cousin of the wealthy Cattons, the professor excuses his tardiness. Not only that, but it is clear this professor is above and beyond more interested in conversing and teaching Farleigh more than Oliver. Farleigh is this bright, shiny object that the professor values higher than Oliver. He literally has glitter on his face, making it clear how hard Fennell is pushing these ideas.
Eventually, one of these tutoring sessions results in Oliver having some anger towards Farleigh criticizing the appearance or style of his writing as opposed to the quality of content. Similarly, once Oliver is invited to Saltburn and Felix gives him a tour, every room full of amazing historical artifacts is reduced to the color of the walls. Felix merely describes them as the red room or the blue room as he meanders through the castle, detached from the significance of what it holds. It is glaringly apparent that Fennell wants us to hate these rich assholes for the same reasons that they're perpetuating. They only care about external qualities instead of the quality of content.
Now I'm all for a metaphor pushing some themes of "eat the rich" but the problem is half of the films utilizing this message are recycled vehicles of the same thing. This is the same reason I didn't entirely enjoy Infinity Pool.
The characters of the wealthy are outrageous caricatures, which can make sense to some degree, but the dialogue between them exacerbates every problem. Quick whips between characters, especially from Felix's mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) are, what I imagine, supposed to be comedic bites. But they fall completely flat, misguiding the arc of the story.
After Felix is found dead in the hedge maze, the Cattons are attempting to have a meal and continue on their day uninterrupted. There's some discussion about what font to have on the tombstone and other unfunny comedic writing. Promising Young Woman was able to delicately balance a strong feel for comedic timing, many props to Bo Burnham's delivery, but Saltburn completely whifs on 90% of the same style.
Furthermore every twist and turn of this said arc is mundane and predictable. Oliver's schemes are anticipated and provided no shock factor to me. If anything, the final reveal of what he did merely confirmed my expectations of what I was watching. The biggest shocks in the film come from sexual situations that serve no purpose in the film other than to misdirect and shock for the sake of shocking. A certain courtyard, bathtub, and funeral scene are not only detrimental to the finale, where Oliver explains he didn't love Felix but hated him, but divert any care about the film to just about anything else.
A couple positive notes however is that Fennell is definitively gifted in the art of visuals. Numerous shots are exquisitely lit, well directed, and lend some fantastic eye candy that draw in your attention. Not to mention, Barry Keoghan puts in a perfect performance. He is outstanding. The range which he possesses to be able to do films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Saltburn is awe inspiring to watch. One of the most exciting young actors working today, it's no wonder he was Oscar nominated last year for Banshees and it is only a matter of time until he gets the win! If anything, the final ~10 minutes of the film solidify this.
Overall, Saltburn was not thrilling, exciting, or all that intriguing. The only interesting parts are when the film is over and you're questioning what drove Fennell to put half of the film in there.
Froth
It's always a good time of year when Aslan Brewing brings out their imperial milk stout, Satan's Airport. As one can imagine, the only flights coming out of this airport are probably to less than desirable locations.
I'd say that includes a one way trip to Saltburn.
Luckily, Satan's Airport doesn't try to be coy with what's in the can. What you see is what you get! That includes just some damn good beer. This imperial milk stout is bursting with coffee flavor that pairs incredibly well with the big flavor of the brew. It's thick, sweet, boozy and all around comforting. Swinging a solid 9.5% ABV you're likely to be feeling nice and relaxed for the final ten minutes of Saltburn.
The only problem is you have to get through the first 117 minutes.
