when the director is so f***ing pretentious 

What did YOU think of Saltburn? 🧂🔥 Do you get why it's so popular? Comment below! 💥

saltburn is an aesthetically pleasing well acted movie that has nothing to say about anything

Saltburn seems to have been designed to bait the algorithm. Like how labels tell musicians to have a TikTokable hook, Saltburn aims to have numerous of those all loosely stitched together with a vsco filter applied.

The power of aesthetic is wildly understated when it comes to what people actually like/choose to like

SAM LEVINSON STOP TOUCHING EVERYTHING.

I was thinking about this the other day. The film itself is fine, the mystery, vibe and overall plot, its okay. It didn't need to be weird, it didn't need to have shock value. However, my marketing brain made me realise that, without those things, the movie would just be standard and already forgotten thriller type movie. Through it's pretentiousness, that is how it got its hype and marketing. The film itself is standard.

"I will never understand why this movie clicked with so many people" Promotion... and Euphoria and easy access.

Saltburn is an attempt at a psychosexual thrillers similar to something like Burt Lancaster's The Swimmper or Deep End. But fails to provide any sort of a meaningful, cathartic third act and a flimsy attempt at a twist.

Broey Deschanel said in a recent video that Saltburn isn't an 'Eat The Rich' movie, it's a 'Fear The Poor' movie. It's not for us, it's for the 1%. Considering Emerald Fennell's background, I believe that is absolutely right

when i saw Oliver’s house in the scene where Felix took him back home for his birthday, my first thought was “what the fuck is the point of this movie?”

I keep saying this but Saltburn should have been a horror vampire/demon movie…the blood stuff, the horns, the convo at the end talking about eating everyone from the inside, leaving holes etc. would have made so much sense.

This movie just exists for shock value and unfortunately a lot of people think “what the fuck” moments equate to something being good

Saltburn is a beautifully-made film that uses shocking moments and the veneer of British classism to hide the fact that it has absolutely nothing to say.

I think the outward appeal of Nihilism to GenZ is that it removes you of any responsibility towards the choices and outcome of your life. If everything is meaningless, then nothing I do has meaning or consequence. (delusion) When in reality what we desire is a life of meaning. Which in this film, meaning means self gratification. Hedonism.

You changing the aspect ratio of the video is what tickles me the most. 😂

I went to an advanced screening of Saltburn and really enjoyed it, but didn't think much more about it from there, so I was really surprised to see how much it blew up when it went to Streaming. A part of me feels like people just don't really watch films anymore if this is the kind of thing that blows their minds. I thought it was a really well made, and enjoyable film with some terrific performances, but I don't think it really deserves the hype it's been getting since it landed on Amazon. Likewise, I think some of the people jumping on this as 'pretentious trash' are guilty of just as much hyperbole from the flipside of the coin.

My frustration with saltburn can be summed up with the kind of conversation around it. First we have saltburn and strong themes and imagery, it's a seemingly deep movie, but when trying to get into its depth a problem occurs where it's not really saying... anything. Or its at least not saying anything well. The response to this is it's not a deep movie, it's a campy satire. Or the very popular: it's not a movie about class it's about obsession. So then what is the main obsession in the movie? What does Oliver want? Felix. Why? Because we're told everyone does? But then he's obsessed with the family and estate, why? Because we're told everyone wants it. So then if this is a movie about obsession and the obsession is an ultra wealthy person in high class society how is this movie not about class? It's about obsession, what are the goals of this? Unclear. What does anyone really want? Unclear- because it tells us not shows us which is just bad story writing. What IS the story here? What is this film saying? Unclear. Therefore all the stylized aspects don't work, they're attempting to tell a story that dosent hold up.

The Talented Mr. Rip-Off

When I first watched this movie I had no idea how popular it is but I really liked it. I didn't see it as a thriller...I saw it as a dark comedy.

I remember when I finished watching this, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of, 'That's it? This what everyone has been losing their minds over?' It felt like the first draft of a much better, more biting movie. The ideas and themes were planted, but it felt like they were just laid out to dry. If I remember correctly, the director said she didn't want to make a social satire or commentary, and you can clearly see how she just felt short of producing that bite in the film. Maybe my expectations were just way too high? It's an insanely beautiful and a wild ride, but everyone and their mother claimed that it was this cerebral movie, but it really just felt like a popcorn flick to me, which again nothing wrong with that except that I was expecting so much more. Glad to see I'm not the only one underwhelmed by this film. It could've been so much more, but you're right in that her social class probably prevented her, albeit subconsciously, to really take it to eat the rich territory.

when the movie ended, I wondered what's the purpose of that? the main character isn't deep, he's just a shallow plot twist villain (I mean they didn't justify why he is the way he is). the stupidity of the rich family is so unrealistic and I still don't get how they got played by the main character.

My buddy doesn't know if it's a terrible movie, or the most brilliant satire of arthouse films ever.

I think the reason it clicked for me specifically...was pretty much solely the dialogue. It captured conversations in almost every scene in such a realistic manner and I found myself looking on my own life when I've had the same conversations, particularly in the beginning when oliver and farleigh argue abt the validity of an argument...and ESP Rosamund Pike's character had all the best dialogue in terms of realism, I totally saw her in most of my relatives, the way she speaks and presents herself (the gossiping and rambling abt everyone's business), and for this type of narrative the realistic tone of dialogue is extremely hard to come by and that's why I connected with Saltburn

It's Instagramified. People critically laud pretty films regardless of content. But the actual issue in the film to me is that the driver for the film, namely why Oliver is who he is, is entirely ignored by the film. So he's a complex character who's also cartoonishly evil...

I felt the same way with Saltburn as I did with Promising Young Woman: Its a pretty good movie that leaves a terrible impression with its ending. Oliver was the least empathetic character despite being the focal point of the movie I don't want to see him doing an elated victory lap at the end, or at least this movie did it poorly in a way i cant express exactly...

I didn't mind the movie, but I watched some interviews with the director after, and it made me hate it. She thinks it's the most clever movie of all time, and I found her to be very full of herself in multiple interviews

I think most people went into this film for the cool cinematography, hot guys, and the gayness🌈✨️ It hits that special part of the internet AND it's overall competent. I know many people who liked this movie and are now moving on to watch the films that inspired it.

Rosamund Pike is by far my favourite aspect of this movie, some of the best jokes came from her. I'd love a spin off of Elspeth's mysterious friendship with Pamela as Pike and Carey Mulligan's chemistry for a short time was excellent (yes, they have worked together before so this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone)

Thank you someone finally said it! This movie was so much more interesting when it seemed like a cautionary tale about an average man loosing his humanity in trying to climb the social ladder. Or alternatively about the way love, and specifically unrequited love, can become obsession and tear away at our own sense of dignity and self. In the end Oliver has no character arc whatsoever, and looking at it from a distance away from all the flare of movie itself, it just ends with a "oh what a twist aren't you surprised?". It's so beautifully shot, and has some great stuff in it, but its ultimately pointless and meaningless. Even as an eat the rich story it fails since you care more about the family than Oliver himself who btw happens to not be victim of any way of oppression, he's living much more comfortably than most of us are. They could've leaned into his queerness as well and have him be envious of Felix for being able to love freely and be himself because of his privilege, but they do nothing with that either... its just so weird and as you said, it ends up feeling like a boogeyman story to scare the top 1% more than anything else. Great video!

I think I know why Saltburn resonates with so many people my age. To me this "film" represents everything my generation thinks it is, "boundary pushing" / "not afraid to express disturbing truths" but in all reality is nothing but a vapid wasteland, left alone emulating how people would or should act because they themselves really have nothing of substance, to say, just regurgitating the Reel they saw that morning or the tik tok from the night before..... A ridiculous "film" with great actors smh

I thought I was the only one who thought of and kept Farleigh’s point from the beginning closest to heart after seeing the film. Thank you for highlighting it as one of the key pieces.

The film just completely contradicts whatever themes it was trying to develop in its last 7 minutes or so. If it had ended sooner it would have been better, and not so confused and dumb.

They shouldve went over the top and made Felix and his family vampires or blood ritual practitioners or something

Unfortunately I have to agree. I loved Promising Young Woman, but this time Emerald was so shallow, so superficial. Huge disappointment because I think it's a really well-shot film with amazing performances.

ugh i didnt like how it ended and plot wasn’t what i wanted but god i love the cinematography

I'm kinda surprised that the TickTokers gave it enough of their already lacking attention to watch a 2 hour movie, given... you know what.

It was tone-deaf, probably because she comes from a rich family and subconsciously she fears the working class.

guys i don’t think Griffin likes this movie

As I see it, the problem with Saltburn is that it's pure aesthetic without any real depth. Like, it's pretty to look at, almost enthralling, but it leaves you with an incomplete, unsatisfied feeling.

Here’s how I see the movie: it is indeed trying to criticize both the rich and the middle class. The ways it criticizes the rich are obvious, but of course, Oliver’s much worse actions do make him the villain. He clearly has an unhealthy, unhinged obsession with this rich family, their luxury, and their status … which, I believe, satirizes the true motivations behind many middle-class crusades against the rich. So many people say, “Eat the rich! Eat the rich!” Hell, so many MOVIES say that. But what I think Fennell is saying here is that those people don’t really want to *eat* the rich … they want to *become* the rich. They’re jealous of what the rich have, and their crusades towards “justice” are more selfish than they seem. The idea that middle-class people are happy with their lives … for many, THAT is a facade. After all, a lot of the anti-rich sentiments come from people who are totally well-off and aren’t suffering because of any wealth imbalance (which, by the way, IS a huge problem that needs to be dealt with, make no mistake). The degree of anger they feel isn’t warranted based on how they live. Maybe they just feel that strongly about helping those who are less fortunate … or maybe they resent the fact that they themselves don’t have more. That’s a harsh pill to swallow. And it goes against the affirmative narrative of “rich people worse than non-rich people.” It may be asking middle-class individuals to look at themselves and ask what’s really driving their anti-rich sentiments. That’s just my own interpretation, but it’s one that I love for looking at an issue from a different point of view. It’s not like the film paints its rich characters as anywhere close to perfect people, after all, so it doesn’t let them off the hook. It just refreshingly puts more of a spotlight on the flaws of a different group.

So… I agree with you on most parts, but I’m Gen Z, and I want to weigh in on the “Gen Z loves nihilism” thing. Honestly? That’s more a millennial thing, from what I’ve observed. Gen Z culture is largely based on deconstruction and reconstruction. Making your own meaning out of things, or finding meaning wherever you yourself want to find it. Taking the nihilism that we grew up viewing as sophisticated and cool and saying “no, life DOES have meaning, and I will make that meaning myself.”

Unrelated I just watched the holdovers and holy shit it’s good like crazy good

I found that the more people heard about Saltburn before going to view it, the more disappointed they are in the film. It definitely suffers from being over-hyped. I knew nothing about the movie and none of the "shock value" scenes weren't shocking for me. I'm used to people with fetishes so I just watched it as a self character study by Oliver, an unreliable storyteller. Oliver felt like people I have known in my life. B ut yes, there is a level of pretentiousness in the film especially due to the filmmaker's background. Worried the filmmaker could possibly be heading down the Sam Levinson route.

Was this movie supposed to be a deep and profound artsy film full of clever subversion? I just saw it as a movie about the weird quiet kid in the corner of every school ever actually going out and enacting their psychotic fantasies and taking full advantage of how stupid and up their own ass that some high class people are that some nobody could just decide one day to infiltrate their lives and completely destroy them, an interesting concept with a decent execution in my opinion. Also this film is pretty hilarious to me.

I don't take Oliver's end monologue seriously. I believe that he purposefully pierced Felix's tire and all that to gain access to Felix but I think he is lying to himself, Elspeth and us when he says he hated Felix and everything was preplanned and a big masterminded plot. I think he was in love with Felix, the life he had but i think he wanted to b part of it WITH Felix. So when Felix rejected him I think he went on the defensive and said "if i cannot have him, no one can and actually i have only wanted your life all along so the joke is on you". I frankly don't care if Emerald Fennel intended for the film to be a social critique/satire because I personally enjoy the film more as a small scale, psychological affair with wacky characters and an unreliable narrator.

"I will never understand why this movie clicked with so many people" It's dark academia bro. But other then that, I haven't watched it yet, but I think the obsession with class likely appels to the economically insecure majority of the folks, especially gen z. You can say 'majority of middle class people are happy to be middle class' - but what middle class means is very dependent on the context... and I also don't believe that's true for everyone or even the majority, especially when they have a direct comparison around them (and Oliver is in Oxford and friends with a rich kid). Maybe you just don't fully grasp that hunger, that longing to have more and be equal amongst your peers and that's what makes the movie seem worse. It can still be shallow though.

But the point isn't that Oliver is "middle-class". Well, firstly because he isn't really middle-class, his family is extremely well-off, with a big house and a lot of healthy children in a seemingly good neighbourhood. Secondly, he is the villain. His motivation is just pure greed. That's the point of him being from a wealthy family. At first the audience might not like Felix's family but at the end you feel bad for a lot of them. It's a role reversal as we discover that Olliver is just a greedy, insane individual. Still, I think the main point of the film was to express how shallow the realtionships between extremely rich people can become and how even bigger sociopaths can exploit those relationships to rise to the top. It's not that deep but I wouldn't say it's "all aesthetic, no substance" like many people in the comments claim. On the shock value scenes, they aren't to show that Olliver is a "quirky weirdo" (as you say), they are to show he's an utterly insane sociopath, which by the end of the movie becomes fairly obvious. They are over the top, but they don't feel that out of place by the end of the film. Still, I understand why people think they're only there for marketing reasons, although the movie still has some great and memorable moments aside from that.

The same thing as euphoria, people now think good movies are just about the aesthetic

I am with you here. I love the originality for sure, and the soundtrack is fun, but I’m not blown away by the movie.

When the FilmSpeak is so f***ing pretentious.

LOL at your 4:3 aspect ratio and intro, I appreciate your critique, but I LOVED Saltburn. This film's story has flaws, but the performances were Oscar-worthy (still shocked Barry got no love from the Academy), the cinematography was a visual feast, sound track/score is sublime and I thoroughly enjoyed the female/male-desiring gaze. I think movies like Poor Things are the reason we need movies like Saltburn. This movie says more about female desire than Poor Things ever could. Oliver's villain turn could also be read as the revenge of a scorned/rejected lover - he couldn't have Felix, so he'd become him and take everything he ever loved. Fennel claims his initial plan was not to steal Saltburn, but once he realizes he's been rejected, it becomes his plan. So his motives remain complex and ever-shifting, imo. Fennel says this film is about first love, and I think it ultimately becomes the inverse of that intense first love, intense first heartbreak, and the hatred that can be born from rejection. I also think Oliver being the villain doesn't negate the critique of the rich. They can co-exist. Interestingly, Barry Keoghan's real life story is very similar to Oliver Quick's lie - his mom was an addict who died when he was 12 and then he and his brother grew up in 13 different foster homes. For this reason, I wonder if Barry had input on the script's treatment of such a back story, so as to not make it exploitative or poverty-porn. I don't know that him being truly poor would have made the movie a better class critique for me. I liked the fact that Oliver crafted a character he knew Felix would be drawn to - and that the audience would be drawn to. It rings extremely true to me that the classist, gate-keeping institutions - such as prestigious universities like Oxford - love poverty porn and want to pat themselves on the back for helping such unfortunate souls, even if they never truly let those people in the door. I think the movie makes that point very well. I also think his villainy critiques the idea of striving to BE the wealthy, and what we're willing to do to attain this, almost to an absurd, satirical level. Think he's the patriarch in Succession, not the generations later that have lost their ability to hunt because they have never felt hunger. He's the start of another problem. He's literally willing to kill so he can be in the 1% - I'd say that's pretty true of real life, just look at pharma or our for-profit prisons or the military-industrial complex. That may be a reach, but I think it's a valid read. It's not worth it - his is a hollow victory, driven by a capitalist plutocracy that is rotten at every rung of the ladder. His ascension to the upper class is not a victory, the system itself is broken. I think the message to the middle class is perhaps stop trying to be the new upper class and start trying to destroy the class system itself. Aside from these potential critiques, psychopathic serial killers do tend to be middle class white men, that's just the stats. And theory aside, it's just fun. Yes it's a rip off of existing IP like Brideshead Revisited or Talented Mr. Ripley, but those similarities to successful films of the past may be *why* she was able to make this movie with zero actual IP. And you can say what you will about the script, but I think Fennel shines as a director precisely because she allowed the cast to have a say and improvise. The grave scene, for example, was an improvisation by Keoghan. A few of Rosamund Pike's best lines were her own. She allowed the actors to become true collaborators in writing the story, which may have made the story weaker, but it made the performances better. Weirdly, Emerald Fennel said if she did her job right, you're rooting for Oliver in the end. And I do find myself rooting for him, despite his psychopathy. Maybe it's Barry's dazzling, chameleon performance, maybe it's the manipulative script, maybe it's the revenge fantasy of anyone who's ever been rejected by someone they loved as much as Oliver loved Felix, maybe it's that ending - that glorious ending - but the trick worked. I've seen it 4 times, the first time I had mixed feelings - the ending felt rushed and unearned, the logic holes bothered me. But it stayed with me, so I watched it again. On the second viewing, the plot stood up better than I remembered and I caught things I hadn't in the first viewing. I liked it more each time. It's clear Fennel put love into every frame of this movie, even if she failed to deliver a deep "eat the rich" critique. She entertained the hell out of us. And a quote comes to mind, that the mark of a great film is not a perfect story, but great moments. There are so many great moments in Saltburn that audiences won't soon forget - whether you like it or not lmaooo.

I think the reason behind Saltburn success is the fact that it combines two of the most important and popular problems of our generation. Firstly the money, glam and aesthetic problem and secondly the old money and eat the rich craze . We don’t know what we want more. Do we want to be a part of them, the elite, the inside circle of never ending fun and glam, or we want to destroy them. Truth of the matter is, most of us are searching of a way out, but just like the maze in the film there is no way out. It’s a dark and pessimistic take wrapped in a beautiful and aesthetic packaging. Just like social media, celebrities and other forms of entertainment. I personally enjoyed the movie because of this. For as long as I can remember I haven’t seen similar, contemporary take on the matter. I can agree that the ending wasn’t the best. The pace was too fast competed to the build up.

Great video! I never looked at the film as pretentious. Truthfully the film felt so unserious to me that I couldn’t catch the pretentiousness.

I think, as a film, your points hit the nail on the head. Fenenell's message in Saltburn was vague and muddled and fell super flat, particularly considering how expertly she executed Promising Young Woman- However, I think what Saltburn really nailed was presenting a satire of the upper class of the UK (much like you said, 100% supported by some absolutely stellar acting). When you watch it in scenes, rather than an entire movie, it provides an accurate social snapshot that I don't think scans for the general audience, particularly internationally. I come from a similar background to Oliver, but through my university experience and girlfriend, I have experienced families like the Cattons first-hand- first of all, it was fucking hilarious. My girlfriend and I were in stitches watching the dialogue because it perfectly captured the families of some of my friends and we were fairly certain we had been at actual parties and heard some lines said word-for-word in earnest - However, watching it in a cinema in a working-class area of Lancashire, it felt like we were the only ones getting the joke- the film is definitely made for Fennell's peers and not the general audience, which makes it come off as tone-deaf and elitist, because it kinda is- On another note, I think for the UK, the point you made about the middle class not hating being middle class isn't entirely accurate- I definitely think there is a huge amount of self-criticism and self-loathing in a certain section of the British middle class and some of us have an engrained desire/resentment for the upper classes- I went to Exeter University in the UK, which is famed for its idolisation of the "Saltburn aesthetic" (thetab.com/uk/exeter/2019/11/05/doesnt-everyone-have-a-trust-fund-the-27-poshest-things-ever-heard-in-exetah-43693 is worth a Google just to get the vibe) and it has a lot of otherwise middle-class people doing some pretty ridiculous social performance to try and strive to get in with and eventually be perceived as "upper class" (myself at times regrettably included), so from my experience- perhaps the serial murder was a bit much, but I don't think Oliver's character was wholly inaccurate in a British class narrative. Either way, the film as a whole was muddled and tone-deaf and a little ridiculous- it was made by a woman of the upper-middle class, for an audience of people in the upper-middle classes, (my flatmate is family friends with the Fennells and lo and behold he has a couple cousins playing bit-parts in it) - I have no idea why so many people have latched onto it- probably because it romanticises 'old money' and the "perfect summer"- nevertheless, I think it did have some elements of absolute magic and searing accuracy- That concludes my opinion no one asked for...

“Lost their vision” *shows Vision dying* lmao

The ending killed the entire movie made it feel pointless 😂😂

contrarian. it wasn’t a masterpiece, but it certainly wasn’t bad, by any means, or by any “critics” standards. at best it was marvelous entertainment and at worst it was a good film, but people love a good roast, i suppose🤷🏽‍♂️

Proof people will just act reactionary whenever something gets hyped up. Saltburn was great. Was it phenomenal? No. Was it deep? Not really. But to call it pretentious trash is so overly critical. You’re not trying to go into the movie with an open mind. You’re going in to hate on it.

THANK YOU!! I felt like I was the only one who thought it was unmitigated tripe. When you described Oliver's monologue at the end as like a "supervillian"?? Big "YES!" from me, thats exactly what I felt in the moment.

"His motivations feel so paper thin" yeah, that's what made me dislike the twist so much. Like he doesn't need the money, he doesn't hate those people, he has no reason to do that other than "hey would be nice to have a big house". Like he said, he just feels like a common criminal, that's as deep as a puddle.

Hollywood movies with angel faced multimillionire casts and teams behind them making fun of rich people's excess and debauchery is just the media version of playboys and barbies who want the underdog anti-establishment aesthetic.

2:17 "lost their vision along the way." You're dead wrong for that

I'm hard on films, and I agree with what you point out generally, at the same time, seeing it in the theatre was...one of the most unique theatrical experiences I've ever had. Literal audible gasps around me. The reactions were priceless. You and I may be burnt-out on sex-scenes in experiemental, indie or surrealist films - but huge swaths of the population are still truly wigging out over a bit of period sex. If anything it was a massive vehicle for Keoghan to break into movie-stardom, which didn't happen after Eternals. It inspired me to finally watch Killing of a Sacred Deer, and rewatch Talented Mr. Ripley and Cruel Intentions so kudos to Fennel overall. Saltburn was fun both watches, particularly at home where you see more issues and stolen ideas - but if you didn:t see it in theatres you may have missed out a bit.

I don’t think I’d necessarily call Oliver the antagonist. I think what fennel was trying to go for with the ending was in a very demented way a “good for you”. I think however fennel’s choice to make Oliver lie about his families past. It’s also when the film kinda get’s bad. I think it definitely picks up again after a certain character dies but it definitely takes away from A LOT of the social commentary fennel was trying to make.

Finally. More people are speaking up about how horridly bland and messy this film is…

So many people were hyped on it that I watched it waiting for the shoe to drop. Then credits rolled and I was still waiting.

what song starts at the nihilism chapter? (09:00)?

I think the appeal of this movie is how outrageous the special scenes are and the completely bonkers ending. Here's why. Because when you think about it, the way the story breaks down at the end is reminiscent recent events. Covid, DT, wars. It's feels real life random and gen Z has lived through it during their most impressionable years. Their attention span are crazy short so a story ending this way will capture their imagination the same way a tiktok does. Loud, quick and to the point. It reminds them ironically of real life.

I prefered it the first time when it was called "The Talented Mr.Ripley".

God, I'm so sick of depraved, tryhard taboo bullshit in modern media.

I think what is making me the most mad are the claims of it being masterpiece IN THE STORY department. Like it is visually stunning (which is what Emerald Fennell is actually good at) but come on the movie as a whole is at max a 6/10. Its has so many ideias, chooses to smash them all together and deepens none. I was deeply frustrated by the end.

Fennel is a rich kid. Says all you need to know. I don't wanna be reductive and say people who come from wealth can't make truthful art, but Fennel's privileged upbringing REALLY shades this film. Its just...fucking shallow. Nothing in Saltburn feels...authentic artistically or thematically.

This movie was a waste of my time and weed😤 I thought I was gonna see like a crazy psychological thriller with rich people but instead I got a wanna be Euphoria/Downton Abbey with some unnecessarily gross scenes thrown in🤬

If you didn't recoil in horror at the bath water scene I don't know what to say. Maybe, "are you ok?"

in my opinion, this movie is kinda good until the last 30 minutes, which completely undermine any good thing the plot has going

I honestly felt like we were missing so much from oliver and that he got his wishes waaaaay too early, like how felix and his mom have horrible savior complexes (omg you mention it) which oliver immediately understood and played into. That made at least to me that oliver was on their level, which made the end kinda like... Okay now what

The score was amazing though.

I don't think Oliver is meant to be a "quirky weirdo" in this film. I think he's a relatable character out of his depth in a world alien to him, and that makes him a fairly standard relatable character. Also disagree that that's all that the sexual scenes are meant to suggest about him, rather than his lust for the world, his growing power and place within it, and his confused emotional state. I'd also say that something as vague as 'Less wealthy person wants the life of a more wealthy person' with a lustful element is not really enough to warrant all the comparisons to Mr Ripley. I think we as audiences find it easy to spot similarities and compare films but at some point we have to accept that you can still have original films with similarities to one another without everyone defaulting to 'It's just [x film] but with [arbitrary difference]'.

4:56 what movie is it?

Saltburn is popular because it's entertaining and well shot/acted. Why do we need to have a clearly defined hero/villain? Oliver is a sociopath (not simply a weirdo) and tries to manipulate everyone around him to get what he wants. Felix and his family are detached aristocrats who toy with people for their own amusement. This makes for an interesting clash between flawed human beings. That's all there is to it. Some will find it entertaining, some will not. Why do we need to have clearly defined social criticism? Eat the rich is a component of this movie, not its main theme. The same goes for what you described as disdain for the middle classes ( Oliver being embarrassed about his parents). He is embarrassed because he built an image of himself based on lies and this facade crumbles during that scene. How does that have anything to do with the director negatively commenting about the middle class? It's just part of the character. Every movie can be depicted as pretentious if we look for deeper meanings where there is none. IMO movies like Saltburn should not be over-analyzed. When we do, that's when we end up in pretentious territories :)

It’s don’t see profound social commentary. I see a dark comedy done well. In my opinion it’s a subgenre of comedy that fails way more often than it hits but I think SB legit did manage to both well

I enjoyed Saltburn the same way I enjoyed CMBYN, but the story of the latter is actually cohesive along with the pretty visuals. I think Saltburn would have worked better as a horror movie. The visuals and vampire metaphors made throughout the film would have worked SO WELL.

I think what you said about aesthetic over substance being the film's main problem is also its core theme, at least that is how i saw it when i watched the film and discussed with a few friends. After watching this video, I do think that Oliver's motivations are... Weird. I initially viewed his motivations as "self-class-loathing, wealth jealousy, and a need to fit in meets a psychopath." I don't think the film is perfect, but I dont think it's bad, either. I think the two strong points of the narrative are: 1) how it could make batshit insane billionaires appear sympathetic, while also making it feel like their death was kind of justified. I.e., they were using and abusing people. However, Oliver ended up using those exact same methods, which I thought was a very interesting character parallel. 2) aesthetic over substance (a double edged sword). Oliver is, fundamentally, empty. He's cold, calculating. The family is empty, operating almost entirely off of a collectively corrupt savior complex and a rich aesthetic. Ultimately, in the same way stupid people play stupid games to win stupid prizes, empty people play at empty games to win empty prizes. At the end of the movie, what does Oliver have? He is an empty man with an empty aesthetic in an utterly empty home. And so the cycle (probably, is my guess) repeats. So, I think the message of the movie that I interpreted the most is "emoty people play empty games to win empty prizes." (Which still makes so many tiktok fans completely tone deaf.) At least, thats the best way i can think of right now to put it. I'm sure there's a better way. Maybe it wasn't intended as the core idea, but i dont really care. Death of the Author and all that.

I don’t think it’s meant to be an eat the rich story. The social dynamics are there because they inform character dynamics via power imbalance. To say that Oliver hating being middle class is a slight to the middle class is a weird take. I think she just wanted to make a fun, Gothic movie. It has little substance but is what it is

I still like this movie but I appreciate your analysis of it. You did bring up some good points that I had not considered.

This movie clicks with so many people because it's about unrequited and impossible desire, and who among us hasn't felt that way? It's exposing the depravity of feeling some of us secretly sink to, and giddily so. It's very cathartic for that reason. And on top of that- just generally- it's decadent, slutty, and full of social drama...it's a very queer experience overall, and who among the chronically online isn't kinda queer, or at the very least- into queer aesthetics? It's en vogue. The popularity and poignance of Saltburn makes perfect sense.

Don’t mistake having a despondent answer with not having a meaningful one.

Why did you have to bring up Marissas death from the OC? I'm still mad about it... they didn't need to kill her. She could have got it together and went off to college in Berkeley... but no, they did her so dirty!!!

Man, this OC show sounds interesting. Maybe you guys should do an essay all about that 🤔?!?!

I have literally never heard anyone say anything about this film, in real life or online. Are we on the same planet?

this review is freaking hilarious. the man's head is full of mush "people like Joker because everyone in the movie is an ahole" "middle class is the biggest demographic in the world" "I hated Saltburn but I loved Promising Young Woman"

Oh wow a vid of a man judging a woman and making assumptions about her being elitist when men like Tarantino and Kubrick and Lynch exist and are constantly hyped up despite their serious issues? Revolutionary lmao

I think its just decent, I was laughing because I actually didn’t take the film seriously one bit. I think thats because of all the tonal shifts, so I just sat and watched and it became a comedy to me. I was dying laughing at all the “shock value” scenes so I get all perspectives but I went in to the film with an open mind as I do with all films but it depends on whats lens ur mind is on when watching. This became a funny movie to me.

my dramatic writing class began with our teacher asking us what we watched over the weekend and this movie came up a lot. people talked about how pretentious it was and it got so bad that when someone said "I watched Saltburn" there's this wave of nervous or sympathetic laughter

Tbh, I liked the movie because of how it looked, its morally grey ending, and the dark comedy of it. I don’t think the movie tries to take itself too seriously. There’s no reason for why Oliver is why he is. He just is the way he is. There’s no morality added to it besides showing out of touch rich people. At least that’s what I got from it

please make a video about "poor things"🙏

YESS I WAS WAITING FOR ALL OF THESE VIDS TO COME OUT IM SO HAPPY

What!? I never even understood it was a meant to be a class critique!

Bro I love the intro 😂😂

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon was more pretentious than Saltburn.