Emerald Fennell's sophomore effort launches the London Film Festival 2023 as the year's Opening Gala. Following her Oscar-nominated, if somewhat divisive Promising Young Woman debut, Fennell offers the caustic Saltburn, an entertainingly corrosive and deliciously dark tale of class, opportunity and deception.
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, Oliver Quick is drawn to the charming and wealthy Felix Catton, who invites him to his eccentric family's luxurious estate - Saltburn. Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Carey Mulligan, Archie Madekwe and Alison Oliver, Saltburn offers its characters a summer they'll never forget - and audiences one of the most dizzyingly entertaining features of the year so far.
Saltburn's influences are clear to see, a Talented Mr Ripley-adjacent, St Trinians-infused and Saw-tinged effort, by way of a Lana Del Rey music video with an irresistible cinematic appeal that maintains the playful tone Fennell established in her debut; and yet, that it is so uniquely its own creation - lewd, sharp and delicious - is a testament for the confidence in Fennell's visionary direction. Dipping in and out of genres, Saltburn captivates, keeping audiences on their toes for much of its 131-minute runtime, never staying too long as one thing before finding a way to subvert and distract. Like peering from a great height at a spiral suitcase descending towards an unknown threat, Fennell understands so much of the thrill is in the journey, twisting and turning with such delight while always firmly fixated on an endgame.
Inevitability and predictability are two sides of the same coin, with Saltburn thankfully falling on the former, resorting in a far more satisfying viewing experience. The evolution in Fennell's writing is clear to see, with Saltburn demonstrating an altogether more impressive and intelligent control of tone. Unhinged in a most delightful way, the humour's success rate is superbly executed, but it more than delivers on the depravity that simmers under the surface, threatening to spill over and consume at any moment. Rather audacious in how far it is willing to push the envelope, with more than a handful of shocks induced across its ample runtime, Saltburn's screenplay is one of the many strengths at hand.
In what could fairly be described as one of the year's most stylish films, Saltburn is beautifully shot by cinematographer Linus Sandgren, who captures the sprawling luxuries of the surroundings while making it feel suitably suffocating, the voyeuristic intentions of Fennell's preferred aspect ratio emphasising the mouse and prey aspects it toys with. Sumptuously designed, the locations and set pieces ooze with a suitably beguiling air, while dazzling in its grandeur. It features some ingenious needle drops, although more could admittedly be made of the 00s pop soundtrack it should have capitalised on.
Cast to perfection, so much of the film's excessive glamour and indulgent style is grounded by how genuinely fantastic the ensemble is, each deeply understanding of their part in the aristocratic orgy of wealth. Barry Keoghan is charged with leading from the front, taking on the responsibility of acclimatising audiences in this world before abandoning us for an odyssey of his own. Jacob Elordi utilises his natural charm to the desired effect, an irresistible and intoxicating presence that sets the film's wheels in motion while finding something softer in his character that hints at a humanity beneath the opulent surface. Perhaps the most under-utilised element, Richard E. Grant's performance is an expected joy and Carey Mulligan reunites with Fennell for a glorified (but glorious) cameo.
It is superb work across the board, but one actor threatens to steal the entire thing: Rosamund Pike is breathtaking. Gleefully catty and wonderfully snarky as the presiding family matriarch, Pike's sinks her teeth into the script's tastes one-liners, dispatched with an effortless bite that earns her laugh after laugh, while later finding a surprising depth and enriching an emotional undercurrent that culminates in a more poignant and gratifying conclusion.
Saltburn is all about the hidden agendas and glamorous facade used to maintain, uphold and withhold power and dominance, but it's best not to play Fennell's sophomore effort at its own game; instead, Saltburn is best appreciated as a joyfully dark, thrillingly barbed and hilarious twisted voyage into depraved minds and behaviour. Saltburn doesn't seek to make broad statements about class, perhaps learning from Promising Young Woman's flaws; instead, it culminates in a delectable dish served up by one of the year's strongest casts and a director in total control of her craft.