Here are my opinions on the movie that’s spiralling the internet right now…Saltburn. I’m pretty sure everyone has either heard about or watched this movie and if you haven’t, this article might be a bit confusing. Tune in to read a different perspective about this revolutionary film.
Saltburn is dark and complex but also funny and extremely satirical. I think this is why lots of viewers are missing the symbolism in this movie. Contrary to others, I didn’t find this movie that shocking. There were lots of foreshadowing events that I felt they pointed us to that made us conclude what was going to follow and who was going to die. The intentional direction toward important cinematic events was there, people just had to see it.
Some of the things that these interestingly complex characters say can be bone-chilling but with perfect timing and comedic undertones they can be funny as well. The genre of this movie is quite hard to pinpoint. I think that’s why this movie isn’t portrayed as a horror film even though people die.
From the very start of the movie, we’re shown that Oliver is an unreliable character. We see him become obsessed with the other characters and more importantly, with their lifestyles. Saltburn is introduced in a way that makes the place look magical and at the same time almost haunted (again, foreshadowing their deaths). This appeals to Oliver. He knows from the start that he doesn’t fit in, but he still has an urge to try. He feels compelled to charm the family and tune into what they want from him most. This leaves the characters no other choice but to become vulnerable with him.
Oliver tries to validate everyone’s greatest insecurities. For example, Elspeth has an irrational fear of ugliness, so Ollie tells Elspeth that she’s beautiful and it would be hard to compete with her beauty. This satisfies her fear of ugliness. Oliver also knows that Venetia struggles with body insecurity so he makes her feel desirable and tries to convince her to see her body the way he does. Oliver gives these characters ample reason to believe what he says because he understands exactly what they want.
Oliver had an insight into how disposable he was by perceiving the way Felix and his family treated the side character Pamela. Felix’s mother and father never let their guests forget just how easy it was for them to leave Saltburn, and that was part of the reason Saltburn seemed so appealing. It was treated like an elite place for only worthy people. Oliver knew if he wanted to stick around, that he’d have to get rid of the people there. So, he carefully hatched a plan.
Oliver knew everyone living in Saltburn couldn’t live without Felix so he decided to kill the one thing leading them all together. The scene where Felix’s family and Oliver find Felix’s body in the maze is a very cinematic and haunting scene. Even the way the camera is set up leads us to feel as though something has deeply changed in Saltburn.
Soon after Felix’s family finds him dead, the family decides to continue with their day and eat lunch. Elspeth insists that they act as if nothing has happened even though everyone is affected by the shocking news. Each family member goes through different stages of grief as they eat lunch. Some feel anger, some experience denial and many of them are tragically sad. Some foreshadowing events during this lunch involve Venetia overflowing her glass with red wine. This symbolizes her bath overflowing as well as the red wine representing blood which foreshadows her death. Elspeth gags and covers her mouth thinking about Felix’s dead body which foreshadows when Oliver later pulls her breathing tube out from her mouth and kills her. Sir James covers his ears from the sirens and starts screaming that he can’t take it anymore and he just wants it all to be over foreshadowing his suicide. This all proved that after Felix died, it was just a matter of time before his family members started to die as well.
Overall, I loved this movie, the deep meaning behind it; the characters as well as the cinematography and music made it an enjoyable experience. I think the reason why this movie is getting a bit of hate is because it’s misunderstood and miscalculated. I do think it takes a certain movie taste to enjoy this film but if you like mysterious and captivating movies … I’d highly recommend watching Saltburn!