Who is the cat and who is the mouse?

Notorious and confidant Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) can’t help but notice how consistently pathetic yet kindly Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is, regarding him as something of a charity case at Oxford University. In a moment of weakness, Oliver confesses to horrors at home, prompting Felix to invite the poor unfortunate soul to spend the summer with him at his father’s castle-like compound: Saltburn. The sprawling and historic estate is home to Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), his wife Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), and Felix’s sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), as well as houseguests “poor dear” Pamela (Carey Mulligan) and crafty Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe). In what initially appears to be another in a long line of people taken in as pets to delight in watching them beg for scraps, Oliver adjusts his personality individually toward each person, sowing doubts among them. As suspicions flare, one must wonder: is Oliver suddenly growing a backbone after a taste of the good life, or is he secretly a sociopath playing the long game?

From the trailers, it’s clear things could go south very quickly, along with all the inuendo the tagline “you’ll never leave” suggests. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell who brought the excellent 2020 film Promising Young Woman to the screen, Saltburn tells the story of a young man with a scholarship willing to put in the work shunned for the crime of not being wealthy and/or influential. Jealousy, forbidden relationships, and family drama are window dressing for the upcoming twists and turns once the setting moves to the English countryside. It could be the main character is sadly swapping one form of emotional trauma for another — or perhaps the Cattons need an annual sacrifice to maintain their wealth and status — but whatever awaits Oliver at Saltburn, can anything be the same afterward?

Barry Keoghan is the star of this film, and he damn well knows it. With supreme confidence, he’s steals every scene, whether it’s with a look or a tear; while viewers may hate or be utter revulsed by what they see him do, there’s no denying he throws himself entirely into it. Jacob Elordi plays Felix as an enigma, leaving viewers guessing what his character knows, what he doesn’t, or if he even cares. The celebrated lack of want introduced in the second act is cringeworthy, whether the family gathers for a black-tie dinner or spends an afternoon naked in the tall grass, utterly useless and contributing nothing to society. It may not be a reason to condemn them, but it’s easy to see why those looking in from the outside would covet such material comfort… or worse, getting a taste before all of it is taken away forever.

While the film is well-acted, diabolical, and decadent, there’s an underlying sense of it being more of a dark fairy tale than anything taken too seriously. The year is 2007 and technology exists, yet so much of the film depends on a Shakespearean lack of sharing information, situations where even a moment of surveillance footage could suggest the truth. While it can be argued a filthy-rich family prefers not to have their questionable lifestyles documented for the constabulary, basic security is a thing, never mind a staff of at least two dozen servants who are neither blind nor dumb. The logistics of a birthday party with two-hundred guests isn’t just planning the decorations and catering; how do you ensure no one crashes who isn’t supposed to be there? The idea not a shred of evidence could be gathered or exists lending suspicion to all eventual horrors at Saltburn seems absurd at worst and convenient at best, a looming oversight that shortchanges an otherwise delicious thriller.

The choice of using an older aspect ratio as well as some terribly contrasted opening titles appears to be a design choice, no matter hard hard it is on the eyes. Instead of an amateurish film to follow, the continuous opening take of Oliver arriving on his first day at Oxford mirrors the man himself: a blight of a person against the prestige of the place where he doesn’t belong. None of that matters, of course, if there’s no one to question it.

Saltburn is rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, drug use and tallywacker.

Three skull recommendation out of four