If you have been on TikTok at some point in the last month, you might have heard the song “Murder on the Dancefloor”. The sudden surge in popularity of this underground tune might be a little confusing, this can be accredited to its use in new film “Saltburn”.
Director Emerald Fennell’s sophomore film released on November 17 starring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan along with many other notable actors. This movie has been widely received and grown in popularity ever since its release due to its various strange scenes that left audiences shocked. Another attribute to the movie’s success is the fact that it came out under the studio A24 that has rapidly grown in the movie industry due to its popularity within the teenage and young adult crowd.
Saltburn takes place in 2006 where our protagonist Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) starts his new school life at Oxford College. Oliver quickly becomes infatuated with fellow student Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) who is known to be very popular due to his family’s vast wealth and his eccentric playboy lifestyle which Oliver so desperately wants to be a part of. After befriending Felix, a tragedy befalls Oliver that prompts Felix to ask if Oliver would like to spend their summer vacation with his family at their manor called “Saltburn”. Oliver accepts without hesitation which allows him to start the weaving of his web around the Catton Family.
Barry Keoghan is known for playing weird characters such as his role in the Yorgos Lanthimos movie “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and he continues to give us that energy in this role as Oliver by making the audience feel grossed out and also strangely entranced by his performance. Although Jacob Elord is widely known from his role as Nate Jacobs in the hit HBO series “Euphoria”, here we see him in a new light that really shows you the range and potential he has as a young and upcoming actor.
One of the most notable parts of the movie is the stunning cinematography which does an amazing job at using bright vivid colors along with the dark scary tones when the scene calls for it. Towards the end of the film, Oliver has a Midsummer Night’s Dream themed birthday party and the costume design and visuals during the party scene were some of the best that I have seen in any movie that had come out in 2023. Each costume used in this scene best reflects the characters and how they act throughout the story that fans of literature will take notice of.
Overall “Saltburn” is a beautifully crafted story of love, deception, lust, and greed. The movie’s use of themes through scenes of vampires, bathtub cleaning, and a funeral scene that will leave you rolling in your grave.