The Dance of Depravity: Unraveling the Complex Threads of Saltburn’s Sinister Symphony!
In what might otherwise be called ‘A Midsummer Night’s Nightmare’ (or ‘Bottom’s Revenge’ if you want to get cheeky), I found Saltburn (2023) to be a fascinating twist on the old Shakespearean play and a twist on the literary/Biblical story of Satan coming home to Heaven.
This deftly cast film stars Barry Keoghan (Killing of a Sacred Deer) as Oliver Quick who continues his Irish devil streak from Killing of a Sacred Deer and adds to it with this depraved, Machiavellian performance. Oliver is befriended by an uber wealthy Briton from seriously old money, Felix Catton, played exquisitely by Jacob Elordi (HBO’s Euphoria), who makes you feel you too are in the presence of a long desired, unrequited best friend; the kind that we all fleetingly knew and were all sadly abandoned by.
Felix takes on Oliver as a pet project that originates in a kind of condescending charity case. Paying for him. Letting him live on his estate to save him rent. Take on a smart, underprivileged average and bring him into the world of privileged Heaven, epitomized by the royal looking estate, eponymously referenced as “Saltburn.”
Soon we meet the eccentric family of Felix’s who are repressed, masochistic, and play cruel games of exclusion with a black member of the family, Farleigh, played with verve by Archie Madekwe (Midsommar), as an upper crust bastard of the head of the household who the Catton’s generously let live amongst them. But occasionally excuse and push out of their sphere if they cross the line with the Cattons played by the ever-excellent Rosamund Pike, playing Elspeth Catton and Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), playing Sir James Catton.
Oliver gives the Cattons a sob story about his upbringing, about alcoholic parents who are also drug addicts and abandoned him. The Cattons eat up his story and take him on as a charity case to nurture back to health.
Exclusion games in Heaven are often played, who will they keep, who will they discard to the Hell of any place outside of the Saltburn. They play games of politeness, honesty, good character, being drug free or stealing rather than being on the leash of what the family permits can get you cast out, or as they call it “begging.” Guests are pushed out if they overstay their welcome.
Oliver is a nerd who is taken into this family in what is basically an unearned friendship. He offers a bicycle to Felix which is apparently enough to endear him as a charity project. And then he proceeds to fulfill all his desires and dreams of betterment in society, social standing, taking and protecting him within the ‘cool group’ (i.e. the rich kids of Oxford).
Farleigh doesn’t like Oliver and senses he is playing a game. Once offering Oliver to sing a song in Karaoke which debases him with lines like “pay my rent.” Oliver claps back to Farleigh with “this is your song too, isn’t it?”
Oliver appeals to this wealthy family who takes in strays all the time, as being ‘real.’ Something they desperately lack, as though they need to inoculate themselves against his type by brining in some real people, they can test their powers of manipulation on. Only Oliver has a few games to play of his own.
Soon Oliver meets Venetia, a wandering repressed girl sitting out under his window in Saltburn, half naked, kind of testing Oliver to approach her. Oliver obliges in which some have had a problem with from what I’ve seen on Instagram, in telling her sadistically that she must ignore her eating problem and sit at the table, eat, and not throw up as a masochistic request, but then controversially proceeding to play with her sexually while she’s on her period in a full moon. Licking and kissing each other with her menstrual blood. It’s a depraved scene but not inhuman.
Farleigh gossips to Felix that he saw Oliver and Venetia together doing disgusting things. Felix threatens Oliver with an anecdote about a previous guest who was also taken into Saltburn but was cast out for meddling with Venetia. Felix thinks it is highly bad form to do that. Oliver desperately does not want to leave and throws it back on Farleigh as just a rumour and not true. Just a kiss, that he rejected. We see how desperately Oliver doesn’t want to leave Heaven. He will lie to stay. He loves it too much.
Later he sees Felix masturbating in the bathtub and licks the final drops of white, sinewy bathwater, including the drain, in a true act of servile debasement and borderline worship. But again, nothing inhuman.
Soon Farleigh is found to be doing drugs again (a rumour) and is cast out from Saltburn. Although only a temporary measure.
Felix randomly takes Oliver on a poignant day trip where he takes him back home with the intent of wanting to help resolve his familial problems with his troubled addict parents. Oliver is petrified like the Omen child being driven near the Church. He resists. Felix is shocked to see the house is upper middle class. He is met at the door by Oliver’s mother and father who are obviously well disciplined, normal parents. Not alcoholic addicts on the surface. His mother and father soon reveal all the lies Oliver has told about them and himself. Felix is disillusioned. His wounded sparrow was never wounded and was indeed lying to him in complete fabrication. Felix tells Oliver after his ‘birthday party’ with the theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a cruel taunt that indicates the impermanence of their graces for Oliver’s care) that he should leave.
The analogy itself to A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not entirely correct and is more of a subversion of that story by Biblically inspired Satanic literature. Everyone is not in love with everyone else. Oliver just seduces everyone which isn’t quite the same thing. The only love triangle is the love of Saltburn and it’s a pentangle of mistrust and manipulation to stay within its orbit. Farleigh wears the ass’ head to a faux birthday party of Oliver. At this party when it’s time to sing ‘happy birthday dear…’ several people chant “what’s his name, ah I forgot” presents the reality of Heaven as a party that never stops and its just blithely for high society to keep their party going and isn’t about Oliver at all. Oliver is just the jackass “bottom” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, although the Satanic subversion of that is that Farleigh wears the ass’ head instead (and soon is dead; to rhyme accidentally). And at the costumed birthday party, Oliver has horns like Pan or the Devil, while Felix has golden wings. Felix fucks some girl in the centre of a maze (ala The Shining/Minotaur Myth) and in the centre of it there is a large Minotaur type statue. The girl leaves as Oliver begs Felix not to be kicked out of Saltburn (i.e. metaphorically Heaven itself). Felix confesses that Oliver makes his blood run cold. Oliver retorts “I only lied to stay here with you.”
Soon deaths in the family occur and Oliver is suspiciously unaffected and officiously polite, protecting his place at the home. He is paid off to leave but before he does, in one moving scene, Oliver literally has a full-frontal American Pie fuck on a muddy grave to a particularly elegant song ‘Lord of All Hopefulness’ in a scene reminiscent of the film Subconscious Cruelty.
The third act unravels Oliver’s nefarious plans of which I shall not reveal, only to say he becomes the Lord of Saltburn and has a fully nude house party of one which is delicious as Satan returns to Heaven as the final master of the house.
Saltburn Uppers:
The story is the upper. It’s a great character study of both Oliver and Felix particularly. It’s mythological, Biblical, Satanic, Shakespearean to a degree, and subverts them all. It is a black comedy with spice, relevance, timelessness, and is universal despite being so specifically located in jolly ol’ England. It’s a refreshingly alive movie, unrestrained by current American politics, and just has a fabulously twisted story to tell.
The acting is top notch. English/UK actors always just bring it, don’t they?
There is no overreliance on music. Just a few artfully selected modern songs to show how with it or powerful the upper classes still can be, mixed with some traditional funeral songs. Elegant.
The social class dynamic is revitalized here with lightness and effortless dominance. It’s so well displayed and dissected that it breaths new life into this for other films in the mid-2020s such as we are in. An update to the social class as a system in 2024.
The ending is just marvellous and is exactly what sets this movie apart from others these days. It revels in its subversion to authority and class structure but is done artfully and convincingly by the artists without any heavy-handed didacticism or preaching. As such you could say this movie “stays in its lane” and thus troubles one’s conscience rather than screams a demandment at the audience.
Saltburn Downers:
The outright murders at the end felt borderline cheap or underdeveloped. Like a quick, cheap ending almost. Almost. It kind of works but I felt it was quicker than I was expecting after such a measured burn up until the third act. People start dropping like flies and it just felt a bit hackney (to use a term I was reminded of when buying the new Rolling Stones album ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ which unfortunately is not an ironic title for that album despite loving them to the core). Anyway, it just felt like a whoopy cushion third act until…
Saltburn Silver Lining to the Downers:
The ending scene of him dancing nude in Saltburn just left me feeling delighted. It ended on a high note which recovered my feelings of cheapness at the later deaths. I think once a year I should do the same thing when the family is out of the house some day! Party of one!
The first half of this movie feels like a rollercoaster taking you further and further up, clink-by-clink. You know it’s going to go down fast and predictably it does but it’s a slow burn. And when it goes down it moves in phases and with nuance. Saltburn is a terrific movie that left me pleased to have seen it. I highly recommend this film. It’s a near perfect film in 2023 no less! An excellent watch. But the depravity isn’t the lowest we’ve seen here at Severed Cinema, and in fact comes off as vanilla in the grand scheme of things. But it’s a great watch and we recommend it hardily!
Directed by: Emerald Fennell
Written by: Emerald Fennell
Produced by: Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie, Bronte Payne
Cinematography by: Linus Sandgren
Editing by: Victoria Boydell
Music by: Anthony Willis
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Archie Madekwe, Sadie Soverall, Richie Cotterell, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant
Year: 2023
Country: UK, USA
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 2h 11min
Studio: Amazon MGM Studios, Lie Still, LuckyChap Entertainment, MRC Film
Distributor: MGM, Amazon Prime Video
