Heavy spoilers for Saltburn follow
When Saltburn was released on Amazon prime on December 22nd last year, people were curious, especially considering all the spicy promotion and the risqué things we’d heard about it. Then there’s all the reactions people are having to Saltburn, like the one about a woman who was forced to apologise to her family for suggesting Saltburn as a Christmas eve movie. A bunch of my friends also texted me, eager to know my thoughts about this debauched tale the moment they watched it on Amazon Prime.
Is Saltburn is as shocking and pearl-clutching as everyone seems to think it is? Yes, and no. I’ve seen my fair share of provocative imagery in Julia Ducournau’s films, and David Cronenberg’s films aren’t exactly for the faint of heart. This isn’t even Barry Keoghan’s first foray into creepy roles, having already done so for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Killing of a Sacred Deer. The reason why Saltburn is on the receiving end of such hyperbole is because of its premise. We don’t go into the film expecting such sordid surprises. This is supposed to be a movie about a student spending his holidays with his rich friend, not slurping loudly on his “special” water.
So why do these scenes bother us so much that we desire discourse about them? This is because director Emerald Fennell stages them in such a protracted, dramatic way. As Oliver makes his way into the bathroom, we watch as he descends slowly into the bathtub, his face making contact with the bath water. And if that’s not enough, we’re also treated to the sound effects of him gulping down the water greedily. In many films, there is the usual cut-away when things get too uncomfortable, so that’s become our experience with films. The fact that Saltburn lingers on the salacious, and possesses a number of such scenes, can be too much for casual viewers.
Interestingly enough, Saltburn wasn’t the first film to contain period cunnilingus in 2023. Fair Play, with Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich, also had Ehrenreich’s character going down on his fiancé, only to discover a bloody surprise. The framing is a bit different though, as Fair Play aims to give that scene more of a romantic context, while in Saltburn, the scene is meant to highlight Oliver’s vampiric nature. Once again, the scene goes on forever, ending with Oliver submerging himself in bath water, a reddish smear on his grinning face.
It doesn’t end there of course, with Oliver tearfully desecrating Felix’s grave, and then ending the movie by dancing naked through Saltburn with much aplomb – great needle-drop choice of ‘Murder on the Dance Floor’ I have to say. After all that, there’s a certain confusion that we’re left with at the conclusion of Saltburn.
What was Oliver’s true intentions? Did he always intend to steal Saltburn and enact all this chaos on the Catton family? Was all this merely for ascension up the social ladder? While the conclusion does seem to suggest that this was Oliver’s plan all along, we must remember that he’s an unreliable narrator. The truth is that he desired Felix – his beauty, his wealth and legacy – but also burned with envy that all Felix had is unavailable to him due to something as incidental as birth. He knew that he would be allowed to be a part of Felix’s circle for as long as he was entertained by him. The moment Oliver threatened Felix’s sense of power – like when he started lecturing him about tidying his room – or bored him, he would be dropped from his life.
So Oliver made sure that he would own Felix forever. He is the ultimate vampire. Saltburn is a warning to all of us, to take a closer look at the people we allow to enter our lives, and banish any vampires that exist before they sink their teeth into us.
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