Saltburn: Emerald Fennell’s classy satire leaves no one indifferent

2006. University of Oxford. While everyone is reading the latest Harry Potter and listening to MGMT, Oliver Quick, a scholarship student, befriends Felix Catton, a golden boy. Moved by the family situation of his new friend, who has just lost his father, Felix invites him to spend the summer at Saltburn, his family’s luxurious country house. Oliver meets Sir James and Lady Elspeth, the extravagant parents, Farleigh, an American cousin who does not take kindly to his arrival, Venetia, Felix’s tormented sister, and Pamela, a depressed family friend, whose invitation to go out it expired some time ago. Orgiastic evenings, informal conversations and sexual frustrations follow one another during this torrid summer, which will turn into a nightmare.

A ceremonial film

Salt burner even though we may be immersed in the mid-2000s, this film is about our society. So much so in his relationship of fascination/disgust towards the ultra-rich, a central theme of several recent works (Unfiltered, Succession, White Lotus, Parasite…) than in its aesthetics Euphoria, or in his unlabeled queer novels. Inspired framing, sublime photography, retro soundtrack (Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Sophie Ellis-Bextor)… Each highly Instagrammable shot of this tragi-gothic painting is thoughtful, like a long clip capturing a not-so-distant era and already fantasized. The Guardian talks about a film that relies on her vibes. On Twitter his formal qualities are praised by his won over fans.

Among the inspirations of Salt burnercritics mention The talented Mr. Ripley or the English novel Return to Brideshead. Aesthetically, the garden scenes also resonate with those of the Maria Antonietta by Sofia Coppola, another filmmaker ready to create vibrations, criticized for a certain superficiality. Here, the opulent cinematography of Salt burner it is not in vain, it reflects the attractive power of the Catton family on Oliver. Emerald Fennell quotes from her side A Clockwork Orange, Sexual Intentions and the novel The messenger, by PJ Hartley.

The casting is perfect: Rosamund Pike, served by the film’s best lines, shines as an unfiltered aristocrat. The duo formed by the disturbing Barry Keoghan and the naive poster boy Jacob Elordi also works wonderfully. Salt burner It has all the trappings of a seductive and somewhat flashy object.

A nice classy satire

Beyond its famous vibes, Salt burner Does it live up to a promotion that promised us to eat the rich? Certainly the film highlights with ferocious humor the emptiness of the Cattons and their obsession with maintaining appearances in all circumstances. They need miserable stories – like the one Oliver serves them, with his drug-addicted mother – that touch them vaguely. But their candor and the way they find themselves easily manipulated by Oliver makes them almost sympathetic.

For his part, Oliver Quick, an obvious reference Oliver Twist, the poor and enterprising hero of Charles Dickens’ novel, is a “fast boy” as his name suggests. He wants to get rich quick, even if it means opting for illegal methods, such as crime. He seems to embody a figure of the poor who will infiltrate the ultra-rich, to the point of consuming them. Two shocking scenes literally illustrate this idea. As a modern vampire, Oliver reenacts a scene from Dracula by Coppola (the rape of Lucia del Conte) with Venetia, in the Saltburn gardens immersed in darkness. He starts an unhealthy game of domination, penetrates her digitally, before tasting her menstrual blood. In another scene, it’s Felix’s sperm that he tries to lick off the bottom of the bathtub.

A predictable twist reveals that the parents are alive and living in an affluent residential suburb. So Oliver is not in need. He rather represents this butterfly attracted by the light, this boy who is ashamed of his dull middle class, who dreams of power and wealth. The reflection on social classes stops here. It must be said that Emerald Fennell, who comes from a very rich background, perhaps has some blind spots on this topic.

Obsessive desire, the true subject of the film

For the director, Salt burner it is not a film about class struggle, but about rejection in love. “I always thought this movie was just the result of what happens when you’re not loved. If Felix had loved him back, none of this would have ever happened. he told GQ. At the beginning of the film, Oliver believes that he never loved Felix. It’s true that he seems more fascinated by what Felix exudes than by what he is. However, he has a real obsession.

If Oliver opens and closes the narrative of the film, we have very little access to his interiority. On the other hand, several scenes aim to make us feel, physically, the extent of Oliver’s desire for Felix. The one in the bathtub (it begins with Felix masturbating), but also all these shots that glorify the cheerful young man. And of course the cemetery scene, which shocked more than one on social media, during which Oliver lies down on Felix’s grave, undresses and ends up “making love” with him.

The film’s real problem is ultimately this outcome, which makes Oliver the Machiavellian mastermind of the story in a once again predictable twist. This places him in a long continuum of queer villain figures. Even more so when we talk about bisexual characters: Catherine Tramell in Primitive instinct in Villannelle in Kill Eve (Emerald Fennell was the showrunner of the second season), Hollywood likes to present manipulative, criminal and sexually insatiable bisexual protagonists. Oliver uses his sexual orientation as a weapon, at least with Venetia and Farleigh. And he does some really strange things. As for Felix, we don’t know if he wants to be him or be with him. A bit of both for sure.

The famous dance scene, which concludes the film and delighted Tik Tok, echoes that of Hugh Grant in Current love or Oscar Isaac Ex machina. It’s fun and stays with you Murder on the dance floor in my head for several days, but also a little easy and vain. Oliver has become rich, yes, but he is alone and he killed the only person who really mattered to him. A slightly more bittersweet scene would have been more coherent.

Ultra referenced, fun and visually stunning, Salt burner he sometimes lacks depth and isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. But the film also touches on this all-consuming and unhealthy obsession we can have for unattainable things or people. In the coming years it could become a cult object for an entire generation.

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