[Review] Saltburn (8/10)

 

Title - Saltburn
Production - Amazon MGM Studios, Lie Still, Lucky Chap Entertainment
Starring - Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Alison Oliver, Rosamund Pike, Archie Madekwe, Richard E. Grant, Carey Mulligan, Paul Rhys, Sadie Soverall, Millie Kent, Will Gibson

Writer - Emerald Fennell
Director - Emerald Fennell
Release - 22 December 2023

There was a turning point in Barry Keoghan's character in the middle of this movie after the bath water incident that I could not tell whether or not it was as deliberate, or it should have had a more subtle transition.

 

Keoghan's character started off as insecure, innocent and unsociable. And as an audience member, I was able to get behind that a hundred percent. But after drinking some of Jacob Elordi's character's bodily fluids, was that supposed to signal that a switch in him was turned on, or in his case, turned off.

There wasn't anything gradual about the jump from innocence to the hunter, from the lamb to the tiger; but it couldn't have just been the drinking, could it?

Nevertheless, a wonderful set of characters here with their individual quirks and flaws, from Rosamund Pike's to Archie Madekwe's to Richard E. Grant's. And I particularly enjoyed Pike and Madekwe's performances here; with the latter being such a different acting from his leading role in Gran Turismo, and Pike flirting with another nomination-worthy performance.

But this was Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi's movie. Their chemistry and their relationship were what kept the audience hooked to the screen. In the beginning we were rooting for Keoghan, and then it was almost the feeling of betrayal by the end of it as we fell in love with Elordi's character.

And I particularly, also, loved Emerald Fennell's use of 4:3 frame size which could perfectly capture beautiful headshots.

I would have liked more of a crescendo towards the end but it was just a flashback concept used to see what actually happened.