Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn is a confused attempt at a The Talented Mr Ripley style story, despite its surface-level beauty.
*Spoilers ahead
If one doesn’t interrogate too deeply, Fennell’s portrayal of the spectacle of wealth and power is, for the most part, highly entertaining and aesthetically pleasing - the first two-thirds of the film paint a portrait of Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) and his family as alluring and enviable but ultimately vacuous and selfish. Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant are particularly enjoyable as Felix’s parents, taking up the lion's share of the well-written dialogue and delivering portrayals rife with the kind of buffoonery, frivolity, and selfishness that accompanies their huge excess of wealth and high status. The attention to visual detail is sharp and well observed- the film taking place in 2006 is a choice that adds an almost interactive element as one can spot specific costume or prop choices that serve like little easter eggs e.g. Venetia’s (Alison Oliver) Effy from Skins style eye makeup and Felix’s rugby shirts. This preoccupation with surface-level detail is, however, ultimately a double-edged sword; the rich aesthetics of the film undercut the potential for deeper interpretation.
Saltburn (2023)
One major issue confusing the story is the lack of empathy and involvement in the characters’ emotional worlds. The narrative relies on our protagonist Oliver - very well acted by Barry Keoghan - becoming increasingly less trustworthy and empathetic as the film progresses. Ultimately it feels very emotionally distant, at the end I was unsure of Oliver’s motivations, and the unlikability of his character excludes any kind of ‘eat the rich’ message that could potentially have been a path for the film to go down. Fennell’s preoccupation with shock value also perhaps gets in the way of a clear narrative. The sudden succession of Venetia’s death following Felix’s feels very fast and sudden, her character feels underdeveloped in the story and her sudden disappearance is strangely paced in the film, seeming potentially arranged around being played for shock value pay off more than anything else. The film’s inclusion of already infamous provocative scenes of Oliver e.g. drinking Felix’s bathwater, putting a new meaning to desecrating a grave site, seducing Venetia, etc. are shocking and intense, but their place in the narrative is odd. The ‘twist reveal’ of Oliver’s perfectly normal middle-class home life is executed well, however, it further confuses the idea of Oliver as a master manipulator with a years-long plan to commandeer Saltburn. The emptiness of any message and substance beneath the admittedly gorgeous surface robs the ending of much impact.
There are simply too many elements that detract from any kind of message coming across clearly. The inclusion of Paul Rhys’ Duncan as the family’s butler brings a campy ghostly Mrs Danvers kind of vibe which can be funny and entertaining as a contrast to the bombastic excessiveness of the Catton family, but is perhaps an element too many. Carey Mulligan as the eccentric houseguest also brings a fabulous element of camp and delivers the material deftly to deliver a fun well-observed character that is sadly dispatched all too soon. However, the writing sadly lets down both character and plot elements. The actors all deliver great performances, however, the writing lacks nuance leading to their coming across as caricatures rather than fully believable characters. Characters with motivations so unclear that makes rooting for anyone impossible. There is also an excess of extremely heavy-handed visual metaphors that often demonstrate such excess in and of itself - e.g. Venetia pouring a whole bottle of wine into her glass and onto the table etc. - or drawing attention to the ‘subtext’ - the drawing of the curtains casting the family into red light - that often come across as rather clunky although in the context of a film so dedicated to excess and decadence some land pretty well.
Unfortunately, the ending falls particularly flat, somehow managing to feel both drawn out and heavy as well as having an air of being too quickly and neatly wrapped up, which adds to the confusion. The montage revealing Oliver’s actions of sabotage all along feels like it's over before it even started, his hunting down of the Catton’s seems gone in the blink of an eye all while Keoghan delivers a monologue which says everything and nothing, he both loved and hated Felix. There is no real explanation. His expulsion from Saltburn followed by his re-ingratiation with Elsbeth seems to drag while her subsequent illness at his hands passes in a flash. Keoghan’s dance around Saltburn's house to play us out of the film demonstrates a message we can take away - the wealth and status on display are ultimately meaningless and empty. Fennell is too preoccupied with displaying these heights of excess and the bodies of Elordi and Keoghan in an aesthetically pleasing way to deliver the punch necessary to convey a satirical or critical message about either side of the story. Saltburn is a prime example of mindless entertainment, there's nothing under the surface but we can appreciate the beauty of the surface in itself.
Saltburn (2023)