The unconventional thriller of 2023 that had everyone dancing round their houses

Saltburn follows the story of Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who has just started at Oxford university. Having spent much of the first year struggling to make friends he soon meets Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) and the two become close. After inviting Oliver to spend the summer at Saltburn, Felix’s luxurious mansion that is sure to make viewers rather jealous, it soon becomes clear that Oliver is not quite who he says he is, sporting some stalker like tendencies. 

Saltburn caused quite a stir towards the end of last year following its release and the months after. The movie contains lots of unconventional scenes that went viral on social media with influencers urging people not to watch the movie! If I’m to be completely honest, I think everyone was quite dramatic about the whole thing. Sure, some scenes are fairly disgusting but it’s all brief and infrequent. What I found most uncomfortable was the awkward silences. Prepare yourself cause there’s a lot. Oliver struggles to learn the ways of the upperclass and boy does it show. That’s what really made me feel sick.

I find that people get too distracted by “those scenes” and they miss the thing that makes this movie so great. The cinematography. Saltburn’s symbolism, foreshadowing and hidden meanings are just exquisite and that’s why I enjoyed this movie so much. I can promise you now you’ll be on a deep dive of the internet after watching it to find out more about these hidden details and once you see them a wave of “ooohhhhh I get it now” will come over you. 

Sophie Canale was the costume designer for Saltburn and did a great job, the fashion is to die for and the hints to the rest of the movie within them just make it even better. She said in an instagram caption “I love reading a script with a character who has journey like Oliver Quick. For a Costume Designer it’s a gift to be able to visually change a character as their journey unfolds” and you can see how this does happen within the film just adding another layer to it that I adore. Details like this get overlooked on first watch and this is certainly a movie that you want to watch again knowing the ending, it opens another door to the viewing experience going in again with more knowledge of what’s to come.

This movie is a favourite of mine, as unconventional as it is, because it really takes you on an emotional rollercoaster.