Movie Recommendation: Saltburn

Director: Emerald Fennell Film Date: 2023 By: Ioana-Andreea Museteanu Student ID: 2205911

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I chose this movie because while this movie created a buzz, I didn’t think people discussed the huge themes it approached, including the topic of wealth disparity in Britain. The director herself went to Oxford, which I think provides amazing commentary seeing as she is almost critiquing her own privilege. Personally, I would rate this movie a 3.5 out of 5 stars as I am not a fan of the very graphic scenes. 

Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023) explores class, privilege, and deception through the story of Oliver Quick ( played by Barry Keoghan), an Oxford student who inserts himself into the life of his wealthy classmate, Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi). Initially appearing as a socially awkward geek and grief-stricken outsider, Oliver gradually earns Felix’s sympathy and an invitation to spend the summer at his family’s opulent estate, Saltburn. The mansion itself serves as a powerful symbol of inherited wealth and exclusivity - an environment impenetrable to outsiders. However, Oliver’s presence challenges this notion, illustrating the extreme lengths required to infiltrate Britain’s aristocratic elite, especially in schools like Oxford. 

While ‘Saltburn’ initially presents Oliver as being of a lower class, the film later reveals that he is not as destitute as he claims. Instead, his actions reflect calculated social climbing rather than a desperate attempt to escape poverty. The film critiques the rigid class structures of British society, suggesting that access to elite circles is often unattainable without manipulation or, in Oliver’s case, severe violence (Bradshaw, 2023). His growing influence over Felix and his family demonstrates how power and wealth can or have to be seized rather than merely inherited. Felix’s family have inherited the wealth, but other than blood, they gave done nothing to deserve the wealth. 

The film’s commentary aligns with sociological discussions on class mobility and privilege. Scholars such as Pierre Bourdieu (1984) argue that elite spaces maintain exclusivity through cultural and social capital, making it difficult for outsiders to integrate without adopting certain behaviors and attitudes. Oliver’s ability to navigate these spaces, despite his deception, underscores this dynamic. Moreover, ‘Saltburn’ echoes themes explored in films like ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (1999), where an outsider infiltrates the upper class through manipulation and deceit (Brody, 2023), having a brilliant mind and having studied the rich and their social behaviour. 

Fennell’s visual storytelling further amplifies these themes, particularly through Saltburn’s grandiose setting, which emphasizes the family’s excessive wealth and detachment from reality. The film’s cinematography and production design reinforce the stark contrast between privilege and exclusion, making Oliver’s gradual takeover of the estate all the more unsettling (Collin, 2023). One particular scene shows Oliver drinking the bathwater of Felix from the drain, and while this is a scene with a heavy sexual undertone, it also could be a metaphor for how the British class system entails the lower social classes have to settle for the remaining resources the elites have has access to first, and have discarded. 

Ultimately, ‘Saltburn’ presents a dark examination of class aspiration, revealing the lengths to which one might go to claim a space among the elite. The film suggests that true social mobility, especially within the British aristocracy, is often a myth - attainable only through massive destruction. 

Reference List

1. Bradshaw, P. (2023). ‘Saltburn review – Emerald Fennell’s outrageous tale of privilege and desire’. ‘The Guardian’. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/19/saltburn-review-emerald-fennell-barry-keoghan-rosamund-pike-indulgent-country-house-thriller

   
   

2. Bourdieu, P. (1984). ‘Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Tast’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  

   
   

3. Brody, R. (2023). ‘ Saltburn is a bridgehead for the incel age’, ‘The New Yorker’. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/saltburn-is-a-brideshead-for-the-incel-age 

   
   

4. Collin, R. Saltburn, review: Brideshead regurgitated – in the most outrageously watchable way. ‘The Telegraph’. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/saltburn-review-brideshead-regurgitated/