Cast:
Barry KeoghanOliver Quick
Jacob ElordiFelix Catton
Rosamund PikeElspeth Catton
Richard E. GrantSir James Catton
Alison OliverVenetia Catton
Archie MadekweFarleigh Start
Eat the Rich or Join Them: Why Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” Is a Wickedly Entertaining Class Thriller
An awkward Oxford scholarship student gets invited to spend the summer at his billionaire classmate’s sprawling country estate, where obsession curdles into something far more dangerous.
The Premise of Saltburn
Set in 2006, the story follows Oliver Quick, a quiet newcomer at Oxford University who struggles to fit in with his snobbish peers. Everything changes when he lends his bicycle to Felix Catton, the effortlessly charming heir to one of Britain’s oldest fortunes. Moved by Oliver’s stories about a troubled home life and his father’s sudden death, Felix invites him to spend the summer break at Saltburn, his family’s palatial country mansion. Once inside the gates, Oliver sets out to make himself indispensable to Felix’s eccentric relatives before the summer comes to an end.
Emerald Fennell’s Direction and Dark Satire
Saltburn is a deliciously nasty mix of psychological thriller, drama, and pitch-black comedy from writer and director Emerald Fennell, who previously won an Oscar for Promising Young Woman. Right from the first hour, the plot reminded me of The Talented Mr. Ripley crossed with Brideshead Revisited and the eat-the-rich satire of Parasite. Fennell clearly loves pushing buttons. A few of the viral shock scenes feel like they were written just to make audiences gasp in the theater, and the third-act explanation spells out things you can already piece together on your own. Still, the movie is never boring for a single second, and its wicked sense of humor keeps you glued to the screen, much like the sharp prep-school scheming in Do Revenge.
Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, and Rosamund Pike’s Performances
Across-the-board terrific acting elevates the material whenever the script gets a little too pleased with itself. Barry Keoghan is fearless as Oliver, shifting from a timid, wide-eyed wallflower into a calculating predator without ever losing his grip on the audience. Jacob Elordi is a revelation as Felix, bringing genuine warmth and easy charisma to a golden boy who treats people like summer toys until he grows bored of them. Better yet is the supporting cast of aristocrats. Rosamund Pike, who gave us one of modern cinema’s greatest thriller villains in Gone Girl, steals nearly every scene she’s in as Lady Elspeth, dropping cruel, out-of-touch one-liners with deadpan perfection alongside Richard E. Grant and Carey Mulligan.
Cinematography and Soundtrack
Visually, this is one of the most gorgeous films of the decade. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren shoots the whole thing in a boxy 1.33:1 aspect ratio that makes the towering rooms feel like oil paintings closing in on the characters. Candlelit formal dinners, blood-red karaoke rooms, and misty garden mazes look stunning from start to finish. Composer Anthony Willis pairs a heavy gothic choir with mid-2000s indie sleaze and pop needle drops, culminating in an unforgettable use of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor that will stick in your head for days.
The Verdict
All in all, Saltburn is a lush, darkly funny thriller that trades subtlety for pure cinematic spectacle. Even if the final twist isn’t quite as clever as it thinks it is, Barry Keoghan’s commitment, Rosamund Pike’s comedic timing, and Linus Sandgren’s breathtaking camera work make this country-house nightmare a blast to watch.
Score: 7.5 / 10 Stars
Saltburn Ending Explained
⚠️ Major spoilers ahead! ⚠️
For the first two acts of the movie, Oliver Quick appears to be a lonely scholarship student whose tragic life story wins the sympathy of his wealthy Oxford classmate Felix Catton. That illusion shatters when Felix takes Oliver on a surprise birthday trip to visit Oliver’s mother in Prescot. Felix walks into a neat suburban house and learns that Oliver’s father is very much alive, neither parent has ever touched drugs, and Oliver is an only child who lied about his entire past.
Disgusted by the lies, Felix tells Oliver to pack his bags and leave the Saltburn estate right after the big birthday party that night. The next morning, Felix is found dead at the center of the garden maze. Shortly after, Felix’s sister Venetia is found dead in her bathtub with her wrists slit, and Oliver frames Felix’s cousin Farleigh for stealing family heirlooms so that Sir James banishes Farleigh from the house forever. Sir James eventually pays Oliver a massive sum to leave, and years later Sir James dies offscreen.
The big plot twist in Saltburn is that Oliver engineered every single tragedy from day one to wipe out the Catton family and steal their entire estate.
After staging a chance meeting with a widowed Lady Elspeth in a London cafe years later, Oliver moves back into Saltburn and cares for her when she falls terminally ill. Sitting beside her hospital bed while she lies in a coma, Oliver confesses the whole scheme in a flashback montage. He admits that he punctured Felix’s bicycle tire at Oxford so they would meet, poisoned Felix’s champagne bottle in the maze, placed the razor blades beside a drunk and grieving Venetia’s bath, and infected Elspeth to speed up her decline.
After confessing that he never loved the Cattons and actually hated them for how easily everything came to them, Oliver rips the breathing tube out of Elspeth’s throat and kills her. With every member of the family gone and the will signed over to him, Oliver becomes the sole owner of the Saltburn fortune, celebrating with a triumphant naked dance through the mansion to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s hit song Murder on the Dancefloor. Fans of dark class thrillers and ruthless con artists should check out The Talented Mr. Ripley, Parasite, and Gone Girl next.
Frequently Asked Questions About:
"Saltburn"
What is the plot twist at the end of Saltburn?
The big plot twist in Saltburn reveals that Oliver Quick was never a poor orphan who stumbled into the Catton family by accident. He grew up in a comfortable middle-class home and carefully staged every event, from puncturing Felix’s bike tire at Oxford to poisoning Felix in the maze, in order to wipe out the Catton family and inherit their fortune.
Did Oliver kill Felix and Venetia in Saltburn?
Yes, Oliver kills Felix by spiking a bottle of champagne with cocaine and fentanyl before handing it to him inside the hedges of the Saltburn maze. He also leaves razor blades on the edge of Venetia’s bathtub to push her into taking her own life and years later pulls the breathing tube from a comatose Elspeth.
What does the final dance scene in Saltburn mean?
Oliver’s naked dance through the empty halls of Saltburn to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s song Murder on the Dancefloor is his victory lap. After spending years pretending to be a shy, polite outsider, he finally drops the mask and celebrates owning the entire Catton estate and every priceless heirloom inside it.
Who directed Saltburn?
Emerald Fennell wrote and directed Saltburn as her second feature film after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman in 2021. Fennell also produced the movie alongside Margot Robbie.
Where can I watch Saltburn online?
Saltburn is available to stream globally on Amazon Prime Video. Viewers who enjoy dark stories about charming con artists infiltrating wealthy families should also watch The Talented Mr. Ripley and Parasite.
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