Warning: This article contains spoilers for Saltburn (2023).

If you’ve been on the internet at all this past month or two, you’ve heard about “Saltburn”. Directed by Emerald Fennell, “Saltburn” is a psychological thriller starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and others in an ensemble cast. The film has gained a lot of traction due to its cast and subject matter, but did the movie actually have something to say, or is it only surface level?

The film opens at the University of Oxford where main characters Oliver, played by Barry Keoghan and Felix, played by Jacob Elordi are studying and for summer vacation, the two stay at Felix’s mansion. The film explores themes of obsession and lust, which leads me to my first gripe, which is the runtime, which clocks in at two hours and seven minutes. 

While this is not long in comparison to other movies coming out these days, this one felt especially dragged. It felt like most scenes could have been cut down in some way, and when I thought the end was near, there was still a half hour left. While the premise of the movie is intriguing, the film could have gone by much quicker than it did. 

Despite this, all the actors in this film were consistently on their A-game, especially Keoghan, who proved that this was not his first time playing a psychopath. He was dedicated through and through and even went as far as improvising entire scenes (if you know, you know). 

I’m not sure anyone was surprised that Elordi was able to play a charming rich kid with such ease. Other standouts were Rosamund Pike as the playful yet mysterious mother of Felix, and Alison Oliver as Venetia, who was mysterious throughout the film but shined during her drunken monologue to Oliver near the film’s end. The whole cast came together to make this thing work and even when the plot was nonsensical and the writing was weaker, they put in their all.

The main reason I was turned off from this film was the way it thought it outsmarted its audience. When it is discovered that Oliver has lied about everything, Felix and the audience learn about Oliver’s true intentions, and instead of allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions about how Oliver manipulated Felix and his family, Fennell decides to use a montage, including an unintentionally hilarious shot of Oliver typing gibberish on a keyboard, to show the audience that Oliver had been plotting to come for Felix’s wealth from the beginning. 

To me, this is a flaw in writing and storytelling.

With this scene included, the audience leaves with no takeaways, no questions or anything to think about. I believe that the ending would have been more impactful if the filmmakers didn’t try to make this a big “plot twist” moment. This was the plot’s natural progression and by trying to turn it into some kind of plot twist, it should’ve left it to the audience to wonder if Oliver was behind the prior incidents or not. 

I’m also beginning to get sick of the trend of privileged and wealthy filmmakers making pieces criticizing rich people. 

Fennell spent the film’s runtime showing the deep-rooted problems in wealthy families and while this is certainly welcome and necessary criticism, the call is coming from inside the house, as Fennell is worth millions after directing 2020’s “Promising Young Woman” and playing the role of Midge in last year’s “Barbie”. 

We need to tell these stories and be critical of the extremely wealthy, but it is ironic to hear these stories from the extremely wealthy themselves.

Even though the plot had its issues, the film looked gorgeous from start to finish. Symmetry was often utilized throughout, and shots like Oliver overlooking Saltburn while chaos ensued really told a story. It was hard to hate this movie because it was so spectacular to look at, and I give credit where it’s due to Linus Sandgren, who was responsible for the cinematography of the film. 

Overall, I would rate “Saltburn” a 7/10. I commend the film for bringing an original story to theaters at a time when the box office is flooded with franchises and reboots, but I wish the film gave more credit to its audience and told a story that it was more qualified to tell.

Ava Branz is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected].