Saltburn
2023 | Rating: 7/10Directed by: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver
Compelling, but kind of disjointed. Did not stick the landing. Overall I liked it, and would recommend, but can absolutely see why people dislike it.
Synopsis
Weird kid befriends rich kid. Rich kid invites him home to his palacious estate for the summer. Rich people are fucked up, and the weird kid does weird things.
Quick Thoughts
An interesting thriller that does a good job of slowly building up, but I don't think it has a great payoff. For how methodical the first 80% of the movie felt, the last 20% seemed very rushed.
This is definitely not an 'eat the rich' film. While the wealthy people are portrayed in a negative light, the protagonist is also just a straight up psychopath. There is some great satire of the upper class (led mostly by the Rosamund Pike's amazing performance) but the movie doesn't seem to want to contend with the themes that it's winking at. The same thing happens with themes of race.
The movie not wanting to really say anything about wealth isn't too surprising, given the fact that the director comes from the upper crust of british society herself.
Banger soundtrack. Every shot is beautiful. Every member of the cast knocks their performances out of the park.
Movie is very fun with some wildly uncomfortable moments, just don't go in expecting anything super substantial.