My Review of "Saltburn"

Saltburn is a pretty odd movie that came out in 2023. There's a lot of people that categorize this as a comedy and I can understand why they would think that in a very dark sense. There's a lot of mystery in this movie and it throws you on a wild goose chase. It's really fun but you have to get over the wild focus of awkward and at times gross sexual encounters throughout the movie.

The movie starts off with the introduction of Oliver. He's new to the school and he's already quite awkward and unaware. They make him out to be somewhat of a loner but is looking to move up the social ladder. This is when he notices a very popular boy in school named Felix.

Felix is a kind hearted rich kid. He also happens to be the guy that every girl wants and who every guy wants to be. It's understandable why Oliver would take such a liking to the guy but this movie takes it to the obsessive level. Felix is kind of oblivious and lives in his own world because there's not a lot of people that live at his level in the social ladder.

The two become good friends during the school year. Oliver tells Felix of how he's at the school because of a scholarship and his parents are pretty much drug addicts. Feeling bad for Oliver, Felix invites Oliver to his family home for the summer. It turns out to be this gigantic palace called Saltburn.

When they reach Saltburn Oliver discovers that Felix's family have a history of helping downtrodden individuals. Throughout the movie we learn more and more about Oliver. With each reveal the movie does a good job at keeping us on our toes.

In some ways this movie reminded me of a very dark and twisted version of Dinner for Schmucks (2010). That was a movie about Rich people inviting downtrodden people only to make fools out of them at the dinner party. This movie approaches that but there's more to Oliver than meets the eye. In a lot of ways I really started feeling for Felix's family.

There in lies the dark comedy of the movie though. It goes against all of our expectations and can at times feel somewhat of a monster slasher movie. Of course there are no jump scares of sorts but there is a genuine feeling of dread and fear while watching this movie. You just don't know where it's going to go. The culmination of the mystery really hits you later on in the movie and I feel it's quite well crafted.

Though I thought there were a lot of unnecessary toplessness and nudity in this movie. Yes I understand that there is an element of using sex to help swerve the audience in certain ways but this movie to me felt a little gratuitous. At certain times I felt that the actor that played Oliver was manipulated to do some of the terrible scenes that he had to do in this movie. Why didn't he question why he had to do some of the things he did?I also found it hard to believe the guy was a student. He kind of looks like he's in his 30s and they're trying to play him off as a kid.

I also wonder if movies like this are the reason why we don't have slapstick comedies anymore. Maybe the public believes this is high comedy nowadays. I see this with other movies as well and it seems to be a thing that people love. I am definitely not a fan of this type of comedy because it makes me feel quite uncomfortable. To each their own I guess.

Overall, I did have a good time with this movie despite the very awkward sex and nudity in this movie. It made me wince and cringe while watching it. Some of it was necessary but it is definitely not for everyone. The mystery portion of the movie was very well done and I liked how they played on our expectations and threw it back in our faces. I have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. I'm too embarrassed to suggest this to any of my friends but it is an enjoyable one time viewing.