REVIEW #328 Saltburn (2023)

An Oxford scholar finds himself a part of a friendship group full of the wealthy elite and gets himself an invite to Saltburn, to spend the summer at his friends family estate. 

Saltburn might be one of the strangest films of the year, one that creates a sense of awkwardness that can’t help but make the audience squirm in their seats. It includes everything that you want to see in a film, a great cast, stellar cinematography and wonderful direction and for me it’s a certain contender for film of the year, even if it doesn’t quite have the hype like other big movies of 2023. Barry Keoghan leads the cast and of course he kills it as the peculiar psychopath that slowly reveals his true colours as the film progresses. The films musical score and soundtrack along side the very creative editing really emphasises that aura that the movie carries, it makes you feel so uncomfortable and I mean that as a positive, it was certainly Emerald Fennell’s intention. It begins by reeling you into the character, garnering sympathy for Oliver as the socially awkward outcast, and with every despicable act, it’s obvious he’s not quite as he seems. The writing was fantastic for the most part, the only criticism I had was just how easy it was to get away with everything come the end of the film, I know it was 2006 but come on now! 

Saltburn was beautiful, Oscar winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren worked on the movie and it was film artistry for sure. It’s shot in a 1.33:1 ratio which ultimately doesn’t add vast amounts to the movie as a whole but it did weirdly contribute to the overall aesthetic as well as the closed in, claustrophobic feel when the movie got real weird. A wide range of colour palettes helped keep each act fresh, not too much of one grade and it also meant the audience was always experiencing something different. The darker scenes often reflected Oliver’s sinister nature, the day time was his character really performing and it’s almost as the lights dimmed, we witnessed who he really was. To conclude the review, I loved it and it was probably the film that caused the biggest audience reactions that I’ve been in so far this year, gasps, squeals, laughs and pure shock coming from the entire cinema which was a joy to see. It’s a must watch for me but just take this warning, this is not one to watch with your family!

Thanks for reading.

Callan