‘This place, you know, it’s not for you.’

In the vein of Talented Mr Ripley, The Secret History and The Go-Between, writer-director Emerald Fennell‘s sophomore feature is a captivating satire as we follow an outcast student, Oliver (Barry Keoghan), become drawn into the world of his charming aristocratic classmate Felix (Jacob Elordi).

2006. Oliver arrives at Oxford on his own, knowing no-one there and with next-to-no support networks out of his new university. Felix is his exact opposite, a beloved friend to all, whose attention is electrifying that Oliver craves it. When Oliver helps Felix in a moment of need, a deep friendship forms between the pair. So much so that, that summer, Oliver joins Felix at his sprawling family estate. At Saltburn he will meet Felix’s mother, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), father Sir James (Richard E. Grant), sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) – experiencing a summer he will never forget.

At 127 minutes long, Saltburn is able to take it’s time in building the anticipation, imitating Oliver and Felix infiltrating each other’s lives. Oliver is our entry point, and Keoghan’s performance is eerie and bewitching. Although we pity his circumstances, we also understand the wariness with which his classmates view him, dubious about his nature and uncertain of his motivations. To cast Elordi as his parallel is an act of casting genius, he is a Golden Adonis – a role we’ve not seen as magnetically depicted since Jude Law in Ripley. Linus Sandgren‘s extraordinary cinematography emphasises his massiveness and delights in his beauty.

He is everything that is considered ideal – tall, broad, breathtakingly handsome and so entrenched in his privilege he is seemingly oblivious to it. Everyone vies for his attention, to be perceived and wanted by him. The exact opposite of Jacob, which is like a drug for him – he is someone people chose to not see, he craves Felix’s affections within their quasi-platonic dynamic and desires nothing else to be perceived by him. To no longer be invisible.

Watching their dynamic play out, languidly and with unclear intent, is delicious and given all the more flavour by the excellent supporting performances. Every single line uttered by Pike is nothing sort of captivating and beholden of such depths, a blend of scathing & boredom with an undisclosed level of obliviousness – to what extent is she creation or curator.

The film stumbles in it’s final act, it’s deliberate and knowing pace becomes something more rushed and hurried. Development with some plot points would have made for greater impact. Instead of further teasing out and exploring both class conflict & psychosexuality, there’s a frustration at what could have been. Perhaps apt considering the focus of the film…

All in all, though, Saltburn is a wickedly mischievous good time.

[4/5 stars]

Saltburn is in UK cinemas from November 17th.