Fresh out of her Best Screenplay Oscar win in 2021 for Promising Young Woman, no doubt Emerald Fennell could get pretty much any project green-lit. Just two years later, her sophomore feature, Saltburn, is one the most buzzed-about films of the last half of this year. Her debut feature was described as bold and provocative, so Fennell sets out to push the envelope further with this dark comedy/psychological thriller.

This time the focus is on a um, promising young man Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a gifted scholarship student at Oxford. We see the world through his eyes when he arrives on campus, weaving through a crowd of fashionable well-to-do students already set up with their own affluent cliques. Oliver is practically invisible and the movie paints him as a dorky outcast that nobody wants to talk to except for a math whiz weirdo. Contrast that with Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) an Adonis personified whose life is handed to him on a silver platter. Even in a dark, dimly lit hall or campus bar, one will always notice the tall, dark, and handsome Felix, including Oliver who can’t take his eyes off him.

Oliver’s life takes a turn after he helps Felix out when his bike gets a flat. Feeling indebted, Felix takes Oliver under his wing and invites him to be a part of his exclusive circle, much to the chagrin of his friends and especially his cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). Fennell takes her time in unfurling Oliver’s obsession with Felix, which is easy to see as Felix is portrayed here as an alluring aristocrat drenched with ravishing sexual energy.

There’s a palpable chemistry between Oliver and Elordi, depicted as if he’s a heavenly being complete with angel wings! Oliver nearly puts Felix off when he feels smothered by him, but after Oliver tells him of a recent family tragedy, Felix invites him to spend his Summer break at his sprawling gothic estate Saltburn. Well, let’s just say Felix unwittingly opens Pandora’s box with that invite.

Comedy and tragedy often go hand in hand, and so it goes the minute our protagonist steps into Saltburn Manor. Fennell might’ve taken the Gothic sensibilities a little far with the vampiric-looking butler Duncan (Paul Rhys) greeting Oliver and giving him the creeps. Fennell piles on the shock and awe at Saltburn where the unbridled lust ricochets off the antique mansion’s walls and the heat of summer is making everyone extra thirsty. There’s so much sex going on one could practically smell the pungent musk emanating from the screen. Then it just gets weirder and weirder, running the gamut from drinking dirty bath water, period cunnilingus to revolting necrophilic behavior.

To say the Cattons are eccentric is a massive understatement, and the fish-out-of-water elements of Oliver’s first few days at Saltburn are quite amusing. Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant make for an interesting couple as the vain Lady Elspeth and absent-minded Sir James. There’s even a funny cameo by Carey Mulligan, aptly credited as Poor Dear Pamela (you’ll understand why once you see the movie). Pike is delightfully wicked with her heartless comments… upon learning of a family friend’s death, she nonchalantly quips ’She’d do anything for attention.’ Alison Oliver is quite impressive in her feature debut as Felix’s sister Venetia. Her astute assessment of Oliver is quite memorable… ‘I don’t think you’re a spider, you’re a moth. Quiet, harmless, drawn to shiny things, banging up against a window, and begging to get in.’

There are obvious nods to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Brideshead Revisited here, with Keoghan’s fearless, chameleonic performance that slowly gets under your skin. This is definitely a showcase for the Dublin-born actor with a bravura bare-all performance (literally!) yet Oliver remains a huge enigma with dubious motivation. There’s no depth to his character, no hint as to what actually drives him… Money? Notoriety? Fame? Or is he just a garden-variety sociopath?

Fennell’s attempt at a provocative class satire does have its share of intriguing moments but they are few and far between. A lot of the boundary-pushing moments seem to be engineered for shock value, the filmmaker is capitalizing on viewers’ gawking tendencies in that one can’t look away from a car crash. Plagued by erratic pacing, some scenes are overlong and derivative while others are way too rushed, especially the revelation at the end that’s handled pretty clumsily. Not to mention the plot hole so big one can drive a Rolls-Royce through.

The visuals and production design by Suzie Davies are top-notch, with stunning cinematography by Linus Sandgren that’s ethereal, almost dreamlike at times. The interior scenes inside the mansion are appropriately gothic–bleak and mysterious with an air of suspense and dread. I read an article that talks about what Fennell wants the audience to take away from watching Saltburn, and her answer is ‘We want it to get rowdy and sexy…’ which honestly is a really odd remark given some of the really repulsive elements in this movie. The film is definitely not for the squeamish, which I count myself as one so some of the scenes are disturbing to watch.

While there are things I admire about Fennell’s direction and the performances, ultimately it’s a shallow and vile endeavor. It’s certainly not one I’m keen on ever watching again.

Have you seen SALTBURN? Well, what did YOU think?

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