Unique and Disturbing: Saltburn

by Daniel Malabet

Jacob Elordi as Felix, left, and Barry Keoghan as Oliver in “Saltburn.” (Amazon Prime Video/TNS)

Here I will be providing a summary and review of possibly the most unique, and disturbing, film of of the year - Saltburn.

(SPOILER WARNING)

Brief Summary:

Barry Keoghan, who plays Oliver Quick, plays the lead in this movie. A student at Oxford goes to visit his friend, Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordie, at his castle/home over break. However, unaware to Felix, Oliver would be the sole cause of the demise of not only him, but his entire family.

See, Oliver Quick had told Felix he had come from a lowly family of addicts with his father passing during the film and had little to no connections at Oxford. However, unbeknownst to Felix, this was a web of lies concocted by Oliver to get closer to Felix. In reality, Oliver did come from a wealthy home, however, he had developed a strange obsession for Felix and his lavish lifestyle thus he wanted Felix to invite him to his Family's home over break.

Felix, although coming from wealth was a truly kind person, invited Oliver to his home seeing that Oliver appeared to have no friends. However, once Oliver arrived at his home, the internal destruction commenced.

Once he arrived, Oliver would begin to cause mental anguish to Felix's sister, Venetia and grew closer to Felix's mother, Elspeth. Not only this, but he would unsettle Felix's parents and the overall household by committing strange acts during his time there on his own and to family members.

Getting even closer and closer to Felix over his time spent with him at his home during break, Oliver's obsession with Felix, his family, and his lifestyle, would take over. Oliver, an incredibly unstable and clearly insane individual, would murder, or orchestrate the demise of, Felix and his family as he saw it as the only way to become Felix and to live how Felix had lived.

This is a tale of obsession and greed paired with frenzied insanity that led to a bleak ending.

Review:

Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordie deliver great performances. Along with them, Rosamund Pike and Archie Madekwe also deliver incredible performances. The cast and their ability to play their roles so well makes this film better overall, but I would say the plot and overall storyline are a bit too disturbing for my liking.

Although it is a good movie, there are some very dark topics and disturbing scenes within the film that really did not resonate with my taste in films. I would not recommend this to anyone looking for something ordinary or easy-going as it is quite the opposite in all honesty.

Aside from the cast and their performances, I did enjoy other aspects of the film. The cinematography was truly great and the way this movie was filmed was very unique. The colors used within this film to represent various characters or overall turmoil also stand out. I enjoyed the fact it was such a colorful film while simultaneously being incredibly dark.

I would give it a watch if you are looking for something out of the ordinary, but I would definitely not recommend this film to anyone.