Saltburn treads the line between goofy and gilded in first full-length trailer
Barry Keoghan stars as a fish-out-of-water student who gets swept into the opulent world of Jacob Elordi's Felix Catton
Film News Saltburn
Can you think of anything more off-putting than a bunch of rich, over-dressed weirdos singing bad Fl0-Rida karaoke? While director Emerald Fennell certainly can, she does leave audiences with this genuine nightmare as a stand-in for just how out-of-touch—and how deeply corny—the world of her upcoming film truly is.
Saltburn, a “beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire,” per MGM’s official synopsis, follows a regular Joe Oxford student named Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) as he gets swept into the opulent and intoxicating world of young aristocrat Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi, sporting an eyebrow piercing as cheesy and as on-point as that karaoke scene).
While Saltburn’s first teaser was clearly aiming for a more sinister and sensual vibe, this trailer injects a welcome amount of levity to the proceedings. Elordi, who hasn’t really been given much opportunity to flex his comedic chops in the past, is genuinely quite funny here—whether or not that was his intention. The actor muttering out “it’s like… uh… black tie” as if he’s reporting the weather in response to Oliver’s very reasonable skepticism about the estate’s fancy dinner dress code is a great moment, at least.
This trailer also lends some insight into the actual relationship between Keoghan and Elordi’s characters, which seems less sexually-charged prince and the pauper (as some had predicted) and more bored 20-something adopting a new puppy. Oliver, for his part, seems to relish in and crave the attention. In what is presumably the first time the two men meet, Oliver offers his bike to Felix with zero prompting (Felix doesn’t hesitate to take it, of course) and later gets down on all fours for a sip of champagne from his counterpart’s hand. Elsewhere in the trailer, the rest of the family appraises Oliver’s “beautiful eyes” and other features as if he is on show.
The film also stars Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, and some truly insane wigs. While Saltburn seems to know it’s a bit of a mess, it also seems like one that will be as fun to get lost in as all of the posters promise.
Saltburn premieres in select theaters November 17, before a wide release November 22.
9 Comments
“[Elordi] is genuinely quite funny here—whether or not that was his intention.”Everything Fennell does is intentional.
Especially when she makes a movie where cops save the day!(this is just a joke i haven’t actually seen promising young woman)
You should absolutely see that. If people like ‘thrillers’ then it packs a surprising wollap. And it wasn’t the cops who saved the day – at all. There were sacrifices, but I won’t give that spoiler away 😉
Thanks, I’ll add it to my watchlist!
Looks really cool. I love 4:3 aspect ratio, recently watched Tokyo Story and it did some cool stuff with that. And Barry Keoghan is always awesome.Side note: I know some people don’t like it that much, but I love the recent trend of movies like this and Uncut Gems being ‘period pieces’ set in the 21st century. It’s awesome.
Is this some sort of Talented Mr.Ripley stuff? I’m also getting a whiff of Pasolini’s Teorema. Surely this film can’t be as good as either of those.
I loved TMR, but I also trust Fennel after Promising Young Woman. I plan on seeing it. Smart movies are alway a little disappointing to me, but she seems genuinely interesting.
Don’t know if this kind of Gothic camp is really my thing, but Barry Keoghan is a great young actor and I have a lot of time for Rosamund Pike too, so this may be one I make the trip for.
Barry Keoghan looks like Ezra Miller if he got punched in the nose a few too many times and it distracts me.