A Love Letter to Saltburn
Written by Karina Jackson
Listen to the audio version of this piece here
*If my words feel all over the place, well, then that's because this is all just one big brain dump for me. Sorry not sorry.
I am so happy this film exists. I've always been a movie lover but this particular one has seriously sparked something in me. I truly can't shut up about it and this whole thing you're about to read started out as just a place to put my thoughts, because there were so damn many.
You know when you fall in love with a new song and listen to it so much that you start to hate it? Yeah, that's how many times I've watched this movie. Once I saw the film, I watched it once a day for 5 days in a row. That's not even counting the times I've watched it in order to finish this article! Which I think is now at about 15ish (give or take) since the new year . Kind of ironically this film is all about love & obsession. Specifically the lengths one might go to possess what they love.
In other words, I am Oliver and this movie is my Saltburn.
So While everyone on social media seems to focus on the few “obscene” moments, I am much more interested in everything else. The characters, the costume design, the cinematography, the score, and especially the dialogue. Every single detail is so carefully chosen and perfectly placed to make this film the masterpiece that it is.
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Characters
Oliver, oLIVER, oliver is this wicked smart, extremely determined, pathological liar and sociopath, while simultaneously being this sexy, enigmatic villian that pulls you in.
His purpose in this film is to be Saltburns usurper. Its new king. The rare predator to the rich
I also love all the animalistic comparisons to Oliver.
Snake, In the garden of Eden, the snake symbolizes mistrust and deception and I think we could easily compare Saltburn to the garden. Oliver's paradise if you will.
vampire, Not only can you see this as a literal comparison with what goes down between him and venetia but it also relates to him sucking the Catton family dry of their money, home, and life. Now this next point was not my own observation but I do love it so I shall share. The comparison of Oliver to a vampire is shown when we really only see the true Oliver come out at night.
The time he stood outside Felix's window at oxford
Seducing venetia under the moonlight
Punching the bathroom mirror
Watching felix in the bathtub through the open door
Poisoning felix in the maze
Oliver in Farleighs bed
Moth, desperate to get in, drawn to shiny things, eating holes in everything
Spider, Spinning his web of lies and traps
Minotaur, There are many times we see this throughout the movie but they’re blink and miss it moments
The Minotaur at the center of the maze is symbolizing Oliver at the center of Saltburns problems. More on this later in the Cinematography section.
An unsaid comparison would be that of a puppeteer. Like his spidery self, this web he's made for the Catton family is also seconding as the puppet strings. And Oliver quickly learns what strings to pull in order to get what he wants.
Oliver actually makes an animal comparison towards the Catton family (and maybe even the upper class as a whole) as spoiled dogs, sleeping belly up. And then immediately proceeds to make the dead Elspeth put her arms around him for a hug because he's psycho.
Farleigh is bold, ruthless, and just as quick witted as Oliver making them epic rivals . Farleigh is really the only one who challenges Oliver because they can see through each other's facade since they are basically playing the same game.
His purpose in the film is to be Oliver's antagonist and unknowingly further Oliver's made up persona as this lower class outcast. So everytime Farleigh bullies Oliver, it confirms in Felix's eyes that Oliver needs saving. Once they are at Saltburn, Farleigh becomes a threat to Oliver's position there by stirring trouble and taking every chance to embarrass him.
Felix’s purpose is to be everything Oliver wants to be. A Kind, innately charming golden boy who is heir to a castle. Unlike what Oliver tells us from the beginning, I believe he truly was in love with felix. I’m willing to bet that Oliver's plan A was to become Felix’s lover and rule saltburn together. Unfortunately, things changed once Felix found out he was lying all along.
Venetia is the typical 2nd born in a royal family; the entertainment, the problem child. She is incredibly privileged and beautiful but is also a very sad, lonely, and bored person who hides it under mystery and seduction. Her goal seems to be seducing whoever Felix brings home each summer.
This is why I believe she is the spider. Her draping herself around the house just waiting for Oliver to walk by is her spinning her web hoping for a catch. And to her surprise, the first trap doesn't work. When they first meet before Oliver steps into the Library, she's lounging, and reading a book with a pen in her mouth, looks him up and down, lets out a quiet but pitiful giggle, and Oliver just walks away.
She gets him later though, under the moonlight
Elspeth is this shallow socialite who gets all the best lines in the movie. She is Incredibly callous and bold with her words. Wants constant entertainment without conflict. Craves adoration. Imposes her strong personality on you and the room. She also doesn't want to know anything. When she asked where Liverpool was, and got “North” as her answer, she was content with it because that was enough, if not too much, information that she didn't care to know. She likes life dry, plain, and flat like her coffee order. She separates herself from anyone lower than her in status and looks. There's a lot of self aggrandising perfectionism here. Elspeth meaning chosen by god.
I also find it hilarious that she is the matriarch of Saltburn yet has no maternal instincts towards her own children, especially to Venetia. I’d bet there's no coincidence to them never having a private on screen conversation.
Poor dear Pamela’s purpose is to be Oliver's “foil”. By that I mean, his complete opposite. Pamela is outwardly interesting while there isn't a thought behind those eyes. Opposite her we have Oliver who is seemingly plain on the outside while actually being incredibly interesting inside.
Pamela also inadvertently shows Oliver the rules of Saltburn. Which are…come, stay, entertain us! But if you get boring, you get booted. Her suicide also reveals to Oliver how the family approaches death, loss, and anything uncomfortable.
James' purpose is…idk??? To be this happy go lucky father who's just here for the vibes? Until you piss him off, then he either cuts you off or gives you a fortune just to get you out of his house. Honestly I apologize if James gives more to the story than I can see because I have no clue what that might be.
I also don't know Duncans purpose. He really just leaves me with more questions. He seems like he comes with the house as if he's a ghost butler that's haunting the property and anyone who doesn't belong there.
Michael is a “norman no mates” super nerd who is a lot like Oliver except, is happy and fine with who he is. Michaels purpose is to show us an almost mirror to what Oliver's life would look like if he were to be “himself” (whatever that means, do we ever meet the real oliver? Does he know who he really is? You tell yourself enough lies, and you start to believe them).
Oh his other purpose is to give us incredible deliveries on “except the girl with agoraphobia, she's in her room, OBVIOUSLY.” & “bOOTlicker” !! I love him.
Saltburn. While the estate itself is the setting for most of the movie, it sort of becomes its own character. A youtube video I found explains it better. He says…
Saltburn is “more of an atmospheric placeholder to keep the characters in for the plot, like a gameboard”
He also describes it as a plot device (anything that moves a story forward. This can be a character, an object, or a situation)
The Score
A film's music is so important and half the time goes unnoticed as a simple background sound. But what saltburn does differently, is it makes you listen to the music, or lack thereof.
The song “Zadok the priest” is the first to play in the movie while Oliver is walking into oxford. But when the title card pops up, the choir isn't singing “zadok the priest”.... Oh no. They're singing “Oliver Quick”
And then immediately after, The UK's national anthem “god save the king” starts playing, signaling that this film is all about Oliver's coronation, his rise to king-dom.
I think this is so brilliantly placed at the very beginning as the most thought out form of foreshadowing that I would have never caught if the amazing director didn't tell us herself in an interview. I bow down to her. This is my FAVORITE fact about the movie. Seriously, go back and listen to it.
The next notable song being “have a cheeky christmas” with the main lyrics being “everybody come together”. The very next scene is Oliver's first interaction with Felix and his bike. This was the start of everything.
When the song “time to pretend” plays as Oliver is taking his trunks off in the field, it comes at a time in the movie when Oliver becomes really comfortable and confident in his newest persona at saltburn.
In the very awkward Karaoke scene, the song “rent” is paralleling Farleigh and Oliver's life being paid for by the Cattons.
At Oliver's birthday party we hear “push it, watch me work it, I'm worth it”. These lyrics are relating to the overall plot. Oliver pushes his way into their life, puts in all this work to create a fake persona, and once he's succeeded in getting saltburn, he probably feels all the death was worth it. That he is worthy of having this new life.
With the power that song choice has in a movie like this, the opposite is also true. There are moments with no lyrics or instrumentals. In that absence, we as an audience are forced to lean in and pay attention. This is especially true for awkward moments like little laughs here and there towards Oliver and definitely in the graveyard scene. Without the music in that very moment, there is nothing to hide the sound of moving dirt, or Oliver's grunts and tears.
Lastly, we have Murder on the dancefloor. This song choice is CHEFS KISS. The lyrics perfectly encapsulate the scene of him starting from the king's bedroom (his now) and going the same path of the first house tour done by felix. Saltburn is now his literal dancefloor. He is the king as he metaphorically burned the house down by eliminating the whole family. I also hear the lyrics “better not kill the groove…or ill burn this goddamn house right down” as a warning for anyone coming after him. Especially the estate's employees (maids, butlers, footmen). But also are there any employees? Where's Duncan or anyone else for that matter?
The Cinematography
What does it for me in this category is the use of angles, windows, and mirrors. Throughout the movie we see a lot of foreshadowing through actual shadows and maybe even shadow selves
(wink to all my tvd fans;)
So in this first photo, Oliver looks out his window to find Felix glimmering in sunlight. Cut to Oliver and 2 reflections of himself.
The mere sight of Felix for the first time split him in 3! Oliver then gives way to the quickest, and tiniest little smile while his eyes are full of curiosity and wonder.(I think Oliver gets butterflies!) They make eye contact, and Oliver quickly shies away. Trust me, this photo doesn't do the scene justice AT ALL. go rewatch it <3
After that, in the next two photos, we see more multiples of Oliver showing the different people he's had to be throughout the movie to get what he wants.
In these next four photos, we see Oliver constantly towering over Felix as the minotaur foreshadowing the inevitable. I love these shots
The Costume design
Felix wears casually cool clothes, that are always a little baggy, and sometimes see through. Yes felix has money and the clothes he's wearing might be expensive but In a lot of the scenes he's actually the worst dressed, wearing cheesy graphic tees, jeans that are too long, and being barefoot while everyone else wears shoes inside the house! But you know, he's just so cute and naturally charming that it really doesn't matter how he's dressed, he can pull anything off.
Farleigh: Opposite of Felixs’ casual outfits, we have farleigh who is always head to toe in designer. Farleigh isn't heir to anything and gets all his status from the Cattons. His is not innately godlike like Felix, so then he dresses expensively in order to fit in and look the part.
Oliver: We meet him as this geeky dressing, glasses wearing “norman no mates” and his clothes change as quickly as his persona does. No sooner is he wearing a nice suit to play tennis whilst taking shots of champagne.
Venetia dresses beautifully throughout the whole movie, yet has terribly grown out brown roots? SHe also uses her style as an extension of her spidery traps for Oliver. See through night dresses? A literal spider webbed dress? She probably also dresses for her own fun? She's so bored with herself and her life that she might as well have fun with her wardrobe right?
Elspeth's style is giving relaxed bohemian. This furthers the point of her being an easy going, yet aloof british elite.
Poor dear Pamela is this gorgeous woman with incredible style that is just ridiculously inappropriate for the setting with dramatic makeup, bling up the wazoo, and bright orange hair. Pamela is just this sad, clueless living doll that Elspeth plays with.
Pop culture references and etc.
Evelyn Waugh is a real author who often wrote about the British elite. His books include…
“Decline and fall”
“Brideshead revisited”
These real books do actually sound like they were inspired by the Cattons like Felix says early on in the movie
Poet doppelgänger story
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a real life romantic poet who did actually die by drowning. But I can't seem to find anything confirming the doppelganger story.
Whether it's true or not, it was a fun addition to the movie as we see Felix’s doppelganger walk by the same window that his dead body gets wheeled past later on in the movie.
When Farleigh asks “fuck, chuck, or marry”
"Farleigh: I'd fuck Richard III”
Oliver: Why not fuck me instead?"
Here, Oliver is comparing himself to Richard III. They’re similar in how they get the crown. The difference lies in the fact that Richard III was eventually usurped by his cousin Henry VII. We also see further evidence of Oliver's connection to Richard III when Oliver is looking into the cooked boar's eyes which are much like his, big, bright, and blue.
Richard III’s symbol? The white boar.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the theme of Oliver's party but it is also another play by Shakespeare that explores themes of love, illusion, and desire.
Felix = Oberon, the king of fairies who toys with human lives
Oliver = Puck, Oberon's mischievous servant who is also responsible for turning someone into a donkey. Hence this next one
Farleigh = the donkey. Yes he is wearing a donkey's head at the party but Oliver also makes an ass of him after Felix’s death by linking the overdose to Farleighs drugs.
Elspeth = Titania, known as a gracious but sassy queen who also likes toying with human lives
Rules of Saltburn - let me know if I missed anything
Be entertaining
No stubble
Someone will unpack your suitcase
A maid will wake you up and open your curtains every morning
Breakfast is on the side, except the eggs
No trucks allowed in the field
Never mention anything uncomfortable or make a situation awkward
Eat the bloody pie
Plot holes
Does he ever get caught?
What happens to farleigh? Does he ever find out about Oliver now owning the estate?
Does Oliver keep all the staff? Do they just accept him as the new master of the house?
Duncan is weird. What does he know??
Last thoughts
People have said that the ending was a bit disappointing and feel that the movie was predictable, but for me personally, I thought Oliver was confessing everything to the police or something! I never would have guessed it to be Elspeth on her deathbed!
Viewers have also criticized that this movie gave no satisfying answers to a lot of the themes it touched on, like racism and class. But I love it! The fact that these themes were brought up and then ignored almost feels deliberate! Just like how the Catton family pushes everything under the rug (or fixes a broken mirror with no questions asked).
I now speak directly to Emerald Fennell, the cast, and even the crew.
Bless you for making this movie. It truly changed my life <3
This film is a work of art
My favorite work of art
And to all of you who have made it to the end, I appreciate you. This love letter to saltburn took me about 2 months to complete and I am honestly relieved to be done with it. If you loved this movie as much as I did, feel free to hit me up with any question or even to discuss something I might have missed.
<3 much love,
Karina