Saltburn-Prime Video
Saltburn is a psychological drama with so many twists and
turns you need Dramamine. It has a wonderful cast but the story is strange and
some parts disquieting. Saltburn is a country estate the hereditary house of a snobbish
English family. Oliver Quick, played by Barry Keoghan, is invited for the
summer by his Oxford classmate Felix Catton. Oliver comes from a working class family
which is the basis of growing friction. Oliver is the artful dodger on steroids.
Barry Keogan delivers an outstanding performance. He is a chameleon
who deceptively ingratiates himself with the family. He gives a low key performance
which transforms during the movie. Some of his scenes are unsettling.
Jacob Elordri is Felix Catton, Oliver’s classmate at Oxford
who invites him to Saltburn. He plays the stereotypical English upper class gentry.
His performance is laid back and sexy. Cary Mulligan is wasted in this film.
She is on screen for about two minutes and wears an awful red wig and is nearly
unrecognizable. She mumbles a few lines and is gone. Archi Madekwe plays Fairleigh,
Oliver’s nemesis. They play well off each other, with overt and subverted jabs.
Rosmond Pike is Lady Elspeth, Felix’s mother. I think she was
delighted in her role. She is over the top as an upper class lady. For all her sophistication
she is clueless about her son and Oliver. Richard E. Grant is Sir James, lord of
the manor. His performance is wonderful nailing all the snobbery, a mainstay of
British films.
This film is interesting, but not for everyone. Not to be prudish,
there is Full Monty nudity, which seems to be the de reguer of recent films. The
performances are well done, but the story is a bit whacky. A weakness of the film, the skullduggery is
summarized at the end of the movie to explain the plot. A better written script
would make that unnecessary.
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