Saltburn (2023)

[Britnasty]

4.5/5

I LOVED this. Absolute batshit insanity on screen. You never saw the next scene coming. Emerald Fennell continues to prove she’s a new force to be reckoned with it. Rosamund Pike and Barry Keoghan are the clear standouts here and should be up for awards all season long.

A+ for usage of Sophie Ellis Bextors’ perennial classic Murder on the Dancefloor.

[Benoit Blanc]

Originally Posted by Britnasty

4.5/5

I LOVED this. Absolute batshit insanity on screen. You never saw the next scene coming. Emmerell Fennell continues to prove she’s a new force to be reckoned with it. Rosamund Pike and Barry Keoghan are the clear standouts here and should be up for awards all season long.

A+ for usage of Sophie Ellis Bextors’ perennial classic Murder on the Dancefloor.

Emerald.

[The Great Owl]

Four stars

Oliver Quick, an Oxford University scholarship student played by Barry Keoghan, is ignored by his wealthy classmates until a chance encounter results in a friendship with Felix Catton, a wildly popular aristocrat played by Jacob Elordi. After he confides to Felix about the death of his father, he is invited to spend summer vacation at Felix's expansive family estate, Saltburn, where he quickly ingratiates himself into the lives of Felix's mother and father, Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant, his sister, played by Alison Oliver, a cousin played by Archie Madekwe, and a longtime house guest played by Carey Mulligan. In this luxurious setting, however, nothing is as it seems.

The 2023 film, Saltburn, the second feature-length work written, directed, and co-produced by Emerald Fennell, is marketed as a dark comedy. Like Fennell's 2020 debut movie, Promising Young Woman, however, it finds its footing moreso in dramatic territory, exploring psychological trauma and mentally unhinged characters in ways that are not for the squeamish. I will not delve into plot details, but astute viewers can probably guess the outcome from the get-go as things begin to go south.

This screen story falters during its conclusion, giving us a heavy-handed outcome that is not quite as ballsy or transgressive as that of Promising Young Woman. Even as the lights of inspiration begin to flicker, however, the amazing cast sees us through. I can easily imagine Keoghan and Pike both being nominated for Academy Awards. Elordi, who was superb in his role as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola's recent film, Priscilla, is equally magnetic here.

Saltburn is a visually fascinating film through and through, with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio that is brought to vivid life in every still frame by cinematographer Linus Sandgren. I wanted to like the narrative more than I actually do, but I love everything about the look.

[Cobalt Blu]

Just loved it. This movie is BONKERS! I suppose a physical release is not in the cards though due to it being an Amazon movie. That's a shame.

[russweiss1]

I found myself thinking when will this film end which is never a good thing. I have the minority opinion but other than good acting I just didn't find the film entertaining. The aspect ratio was odd as the director's only other film was scope. Not sure what the point was other than to try and be different. It's been so long since I've watched regular TV that my eyes kept creeping back to the black bars on the sides. I'm used to seeing horizontal bars so that doesn't bother me. The twist ending didn't do anything for me either although I can say this film offered something I've never seen on screen before (that I can remember);

[Show spoiler]Barry Keoghan screwing the fresh grave.

I didn't take part in the pole because other people's taste will vary. 5/10.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Saw this over the weekend. I enjoyed it. But liked PYW more.

But still rather enjoyed it and a movie that's something that goes for it. But i can see why a good portion of people wouldn't like it.

[Show spoiler]Like the guy slurping the bath water the other guy beat off in. or him putting his fingers in the sister with period blood on his fingers. Putting it in his mouth than in hers. Or even him taking off his clothe to hump the grave. Or going full dong at the end dancing around alone.

Not surprising my theater has this down to one showtime starting this Friday. So i knew it was a good idea to see this opening weekend while i could.

[joshsquash729]

Caught a showing of this yesterday and really loved it. I think I was the only one in my theater (comprised mostly of young women and young/old gays) that didn't leave absolutely horrified. Not that it wasn't offputting at times, but I think a lot of the people there went for the eye candy and weren't expecting anything shocking.

I really dug it, though. It was like Euphoria meets Parasite. Colorful and stylish, with some really twisted dark humor. A great commentary on Class and obsession. Barry Keoghan was fantastic, and proves once again why he's the go-to awkward creep. I do hope that the movie doesn't prove too strange or off-putting to include him in the awards talk. At least for a Golden Globe, where there's more chances. Can easily see them including this one in the (often quite puzzlingly categorized) Comedy category.

The audience audibly cringed at a few parts- both the shocking moments and a few lines; and maybe it's just because I'd heard about those uncomfortable parts beforehand that it didn't seem to bother me too much. I think each time it lingered just enough to make you uncomfortable, but never long enough to be monotonous. I really appreciate that they went as "balls-to-the-wall" as they did. In the end, there was no clear "good guy", per se (except perhaps Felix?)- they were all detestable in their own ways.

I don't know if I'm familiar enough with her work yet to really declare Emerald Fennell as a favorite yet, but I do appreciate both her big movies. This and PYW shed light on tough topics and blurred the line between good and evil. Both were uncomfortable, but in ways that got people talking rather than just alienating them (though this one was far closer, I think). She really knows how to blend the dark subject matter with some lightness, but often makes that lightness so absurd that you're often more comfortable with the dark stuff. She's a unique filmmaker for sure, and one I'll definitely keep an eye on.

[Benoit Blanc]

Originally Posted by joshsquash729

Caught a showing of this yesterday and really loved it. I think I was the only one in my theater (comprised mostly of young women and young/old gays) that didn't leave absolutely horrified. Not that it wasn't offputting at times, but I think a lot of the people there went for the eye candy and weren't expecting anything shocking.

I really dug it, though. It was like Euphoria meets Parasite. Colorful and stylish, with some really twisted dark humor. A great commentary on Class and obsession. Barry Keoghan was fantastic, and proves once again why he's the go-to awkward creep. I do hope that the movie doesn't prove too strange or off-putting to include him in the awards talk. At least for a Golden Globe, where there's more chances. Can easily see them including this one in the (often quite puzzlingly categorized) Comedy category.

The audience audibly cringed at a few parts- both the shocking moments and a few lines; and maybe it's just because I'd heard about those uncomfortable parts beforehand that it didn't seem to bother me too much. I think each time it lingered just enough to make you uncomfortable, but never long enough to be monotonous. I really appreciate that they went as "balls-to-the-wall" as they did. In the end, there was no clear "good guy", per se (except perhaps Felix?)- they were all detestable in their own ways.

I don't know if I'm familiar enough with her work yet to really declare Emerald Fennell as a favorite yet, but I do appreciate both her big movies. This and PYW shed light on tough topics and blurred the line between good and evil. Both were uncomfortable, but in ways that got people talking rather than just alienating them (though this one was far closer, I think). She really knows how to blend the dark subject matter with some lightness, but often makes that lightness so absurd that you're often more comfortable with the dark stuff. She's a unique filmmaker for sure, and one I'll definitely keep an eye on.

Um, what?

[joshsquash729]

Originally Posted by Benoit Blanc

Um, what?

Sorry- "young & old gays" would've made more sense to say. Perhaps not the best way to phrase it, and I certainly mean no offense (I'm part of that gay crowd) but I do feel like Saltburn's intended, or at least main, audience is those looking for a little eye candy from the attractive leads. I don't think there was a single straight man in the audience (myself included), nor any woman above the age of maybe 35? The oldest folks there were an older gay couple who ended up falling asleep about halfway through, it was the younger gay men who ended up being the most verbal when it came to the shocking moments. A stark contrast from Killers of the Flower Moon, which I saw right before it.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

When i came out the theater. I heard a few women talking. Saying the film was made for women by women.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

I found myself thinking when will this film end which is never a good thing. I have the minority opinion but other than good acting I just didn't find the film entertaining. The aspect ratio was odd as the director's only other film was scope. Not sure what the point was other than to try and be different. It's been so long since I've watched regular TV that my eyes kept creeping back to the black bars on the sides. I'm used to seeing horizontal bars so that doesn't bother me. The twist ending didn't do anything for me either although I can say this film offered something I've never seen on screen before (that I can remember);

[Show spoiler]Barry Keoghan screwing the fresh grave.

I didn't take part in the pole because other people's taste will vary. 5/10.

Narrow aspect ratio is better for interiors and ensemble performances, coz you can get closer to the action. It definitely wasn't just a stylistic choice.

[n0tredom]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Lawrence Fan

When i came out the theater. I heard a few women talking. Saying the film was made for women by women.

Having gone in mostly blind to this movie, this felt to me like a dark “Call Me By Your Name.”

[oubukibun]

I can forgive a lot, but using a clip from Superbad when it's supposed to bet set in 2002 is unforgivable. The person in charge of that decision needs to find another job pronto. It came out a year AFTER these youths were supposed to have graduated and this takes place the summer right after their first year. Sloppy, sloppy.

I want to say that Emerald Fennell told herself how much she loved "Murder on the Dancefloor" and that she

[Show spoiler]wanted her protagonist to dance naked to it inside an empty mansion

but then realized she had to work her way back to find some semblance of a plot. Maybe next time, Fennell...

That stated, the

[Show spoiler]red curtained lunch

was exquisitely edited and shot, as was most of the film (even if it made 2002 look like 1983, lol). Grant and Pike clearly sunk their teeth into their parts; I thought they played the tropes very deliciously, if familiarly. Alison Oliver gets the obligatory "nymph in the moonlight, wreck in the daylight" cliché to wear around her waist, and it's a shame, because she exits the plot just as her performance gestures toward something more interesting (granted, the script, for all it purports to be, is as afraid of going places as it pretends to delve into). Elordi could've done this role in his sleep, but he did it wonderfully anyway. I also think his arc ends just as it could've become fresher and more distinct.

I can't stand Keoghan, and have never understood the raves (across any of his performances). His character was all over the place, and this is firmly Fennell's fault. The voice-over spattered throughout was so unnecessary, as was that final, third act montage (ludicrous and extraneous).

I'd recommend for those wanting some pretty good atmosphere and some occasional flickers of microscopic attention to detail that delivers on the sensorial level, but otherwise, why was this 2 hours? There's an 80-minute chamber piece inside this pretense...

Oh, right, it's called My Summer of Love, and it remains a force to be reckoned with in this little sub-genre of desire.

[dex14]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

I can forgive a lot, but using a clip from Superbad when it's supposed to bet set in 2002 is unforgivable. The person in charge of that decision needs to find another job pronto. It came out a year AFTER these youths were supposed to have graduated and this takes place the summer right after their first year. Sloppy, sloppy.

The film takes place in 2006 and 2007. Though Superbad didn't come out in theatres until August 2007. I've seen people who went to school in the UK say that "Class of 2006" means the year they started.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

I can forgive a lot, but using a clip from Superbad when it's supposed to bet set in 2002 is unforgivable. The person in charge of that decision needs to find another job pronto. It came out a year AFTER these youths were supposed to have graduated and this takes place the summer right after their first year. Sloppy, sloppy.

I want to say that Emerald Fennell told herself how much she loved "Murder on the Dancefloor" and that she

[Show spoiler]wanted her protagonist to dance naked to it inside an empty mansion

but then realized she had to work her way back to find some semblance of a plot. Maybe next time, Fennell...

That stated, the

[Show spoiler]red curtained lunch

was exquisitely edited and shot, as was most of the film (even if it made 2002 look like 1983, lol). Grant and Pike clearly sunk their teeth into their parts; I thought they played the tropes very deliciously, if familiarly. Alison Oliver gets the obligatory "nymph in the moonlight, wreck in the daylight" cliché to wear around her waist, and it's a shame, because she exits the plot just as her performance gestures toward something more interesting (granted, the script, for all it purports to be, is as afraid of going places as it pretends to delve into). Elordi could've done this role in his sleep, but he did it wonderfully anyway. I also think his arc ends just as it could've become fresher and more distinct.

I can't stand Keoghan, and have never understood the raves (across any of his performances). His character was all over the place, and this is firmly Fennell's fault. The voice-over spattered throughout was so unnecessary, as was that final, third act montage (ludicrous and extraneous).

I'd recommend for those wanting some pretty good atmosphere and some occasional flickers of microscopic attention to detail that delivers on the sensorial level, but otherwise, why was this 2 hours? There's an 80-minute chamber piece inside this pretense...

Oh, right, it's called My Summer of Love, and it remains a force to be reckoned with in this little sub-genre of desire.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be set in 2007.

[n0tredom]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

I can forgive a lot, but using a clip from Superbad when it's supposed to bet set in 2002 is unforgivable. The person in charge of that decision needs to find another job pronto. It came out a year AFTER these youths were supposed to have graduated and this takes place the summer right after their first year. Sloppy, sloppy.

I could be wrong, but I recall the year 2006 being shown when he arrived at Oxford. I remember thinking "oh so this takes place when I went to college...ok." I got the impression that he made it through the year and was at Saltburn during the following summer, so that puts it in 2007. Superbad came out in August, so the timing is still wrong that they're watching it at home. But perhaps they are so stinking rich that they got an early preview version to watch?

[Cobalt Blu]

The bulk of the movie is set during summer 2007. Emerald Fennel said that the family got a screener version of Superbad because they are that rich and powerful.

[Foggy]

The film opens at the beginning of term 2006, but the majority of events takes place Summer 2007.

[dex14]

This will be available on Prime starting December 22nd. https://twitter.com/Saltburnfilm/sta...889555998?s=20

[BluCollector13]

Originally Posted by dex14

This will be available on Prime starting December 22nd. https://twitter.com/Saltburnfilm/sta...889555998?s=20

Well, time to start hoping this is one Amazon leases out to Criterion soon because Sandgren's imagery really deserves the best 4K release possible.