Saltburn (2023 film) Full Movie Download, MP4, 720p, Cast & Review

Saltburn is a 2023 black comedy psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by Emerald Fennell. The film stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan. Set in England in the mid-2000s, it follows a young university student who becomes obsessed with his wealthy schoolmate, who invites him to spend the summer at his eccentric family’s estate.

Saltburn had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2023, and in the United States via a limited theatrical release the same day, before expanding wide on November 22. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for Keoghan and Pike’s performance, the writing and its visuals, although some criticized the screenplay for being familiar and lacking in substance.

Plot

In 2006,[9][10][6] scholarship student Oliver Quick begins attending Oxford University. Lacking the connections that many students have from their wealthy parents or boarding schools, he struggles to fit in due to his ignorance of upper-class sensibilities. He eventually strikes up a friendship with Felix Catton, an affluent and popular student who shows interest in Oliver’s life. He is empathetic to Oliver’s stories of his parents’ substance abuse and mental health issues, and makes consistent effort to include him despite others’ disapproval. Their friendship grows over the course of the year, but Felix becomes annoyed with Oliver’s constant presence, and seemingly casts him out after a brief spat. One night, Oliver learns that his father has died and shows up distraught at Felix’s door. Felix comforts him and, realizing Oliver has nowhere to go, invites him to spend the summer at his family’s sprawling estate, Saltburn.

At Saltburn, Oliver is introduced to Felix’s parents, Sir James and Lady Elspeth, and his sister Venetia. Also staying at Saltburn is Farleigh, Felix’s American cousin who had previously clashed with Oliver in their social group at Oxford. Oliver quickly wins over Felix’s family, who are sympathetic to his situation and amused by his lack of social graces. He bonds with Elspeth, who is fascinated by him, and grows increasingly comfortable at Saltburn. He eventually seduces Venetia after finding her beneath his window, performing oral sex on her in the house garden. Farleigh witnesses this and informs Felix. Appalled by Oliver’s poor taste as a house guest, Felix confronts him and asserts that Oliver is there to spend time with him, not pursue his sister. Oliver lies that it was Venetia who initiated the act, and he immediately cuts off his involvement with her. Meanwhile, Oliver’s obsession with Felix grows stronger. One night, he watches Felix masturbate while taking a bath and drinks from the bathtub after Felix has left.

Tensions between Oliver and Farleigh reach a pitch during a karaoke party when, after a brief flirtatious moment, Farleigh tricks Oliver into performing “Rent” in front of the family. Later that night, Oliver initiates a tense sexual encounter with Farleigh while also subtly threatening him. The next morning, Farleigh is removed from Saltburn after it is revealed that he allegedly attempted to sell rare plates from James’ collection to Sotheby’s.

As the summer draws to a close, Elspeth and James plan an elaborate party for Oliver’s birthday. On the morning of the party, Felix surprises Oliver with a trip to see his estranged mother, having answered a call from her on Oliver’s phone. Oliver resists, but Felix insists that he try to salvage their relationship. However, upon arriving at his mother’s house, it is revealed that Oliver’s account of his background was a fabrication. His father is alive and both his parents live in a respectable upper-middle-class suburb. Felix is horrified by Oliver’s deception and orders him to leave Saltburn after the party. During the extravagant celebrations, Oliver encounters Farleigh, who reminds him that he will always be an outsider to their lifestyle; when the hundreds of guests sing him ‘Happy Birthday,’ numerous of them lament that they can’t remember his name. Desperate to reconcile with Felix, Oliver follows him into Saltburn’s expansive hedge maze. Felix expresses hurt and confusion at Oliver’s actions, ultimately rejecting him and recommending he seek professional help.

The next morning, Felix is found dead in the center of the maze. During a tense family lunch, Oliver mentions that Farleigh was taking and distributing drugs the night before, implying a possible connection to Felix’s death. James banishes Farleigh from Saltburn and cuts off all financial support to him. After Felix’s funeral, Elspeth insists that Oliver stay at Saltburn, despite others in the family questioning his presence. Oliver mourns Felix desperately, returning to his grave to perform a sex act. One night an inebriated and distraught Venetia accuses Oliver of disintegrating her family. He attempts to seduce her again, but she is disturbed by his growing impersonation of Felix and rebuffs him. The following morning, Venetia is found dead, having slit her wrists in the bathtub. James, despondent and suspicious of Oliver’s continuing presence at Saltburn, asks him to leave. Oliver repeatedly insists that he cannot leave Elspeth in her hysterical state. James realizes Oliver’s manipulative nature, and furiously bribes him to disappear and never contact them again.

Years later, Oliver reads in the newspaper that James has died. Soon after, he has a chance encounter with Elspeth at a café. She is delighted to see him and insists that he return with her to Saltburn, having not been there in a while herself. They spend several months together, but Elspeth suddenly falls fatally ill.

On Elspeth’s deathbed, Oliver reveals that he had been responsible for all of the tragic events that had befallen Saltburn. He orchestrated his initial meeting with Felix at Oxford, and was the one who murdered him by poisoning his drink after his final rejection in the maze. He also subtly manipulated Venetia into killing herself by placing razor blades on the side of her bath after their argument, and he fabricated the email that resulted in Farleigh’s initial expulsion from the estate. Finally, it’s revealed that he planned his encounter with Elspeth at the café, and flashbacks reveal that she subsequently bequeathed all of her financial assets to Oliver, including ownership of Saltburn. Oliver kills Elspeth by forcefully removing her from life support.

Having now assumed ownership of Saltburn and the Catton fortune, Oliver dances naked around the mansion to “Murder on the Dancefloor”.

Cast

• Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick
• Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton
• Rosamund Pike as Lady Elspeth Catton, Felix’s mother
• Richard E. Grant as Sir James Catton, Felix’s father
• Alison Oliver as Venetia Catton, Felix’s sister
• Archie Madekwe as Farleigh Start, Felix’s cousin
• Carey Mulligan as “Poor Dear” Pamela, Elspeth’s friend
• Paul Rhys as Duncan, Saltburn’s butler
• Ewan Mitchell as Michael Gavey, Oliver’s schoolmate
• Lolly Adefope as Lady Daphne
• Sadie Soverall as Annabel
• Millie Kent as India
• Reece Shearsmith as Professor Ware

Production

Saltburn is the second film directed by Emerald Fennell, after Promising Young Woman (2020). By January 2022, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment was in talks to produce, after collaborating with Fennell on her previous film. In May 2022, Ackerley, Robbie, and Josey McNamara were confirmed as producers, while Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi, and Barry Keoghan joined the cast. Fennell said that Australian actor Elordi “…did the most exceptional audition… He did such a genius, genius bit of observational comedy. He really really understood that for all of [Felix’s] beauty and charisma, he’s just sort of a spoiled little boy. He came in and just absolutely blew us all away”.

Carey Mulligan, star of Promising Young Woman, was revealed to be part of the cast in December.

In writing the film, Fennell wanted to sympathise with unlikeable people, saying “the sorts of people that we can’t stand, the sorts of people who are abhorrent—if we can love them, if we can fall in love with these people, if we can understand why this is so alluring, in spite of its palpable cruelty and unfairness and sort of strangeness, if we all want to be there too, I think that’s just such an interesting dynamic.” She had long wanted to make her own version of films and books set in a country house, and set the film in 2006 to “really [knock] the fucking glamour off things” by setting it in the recent past.

Filming began on July 16, 2022, with Linus Sandgren serving as cinematographer. The film is shown in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, with Fennell saying it gives the impression of “peeping in.”

Fennell was determined not to film in an estate familiar to viewers, and wanted to set the movie in one location, so aligning the filming with the film’s plot, saying, “It was important to me that we were all in there together, that the making of the film in some way had that feeling of a summer where everyone loses their mind together… I didn’t want to be constantly picking up and moving.” and avoiding the need for post-production adjustments due to multiple locations. Fennell was successful, with filming occurring at and in Drayton House, Northamptonshire, which had never been used for filming before and may never be used again, with a part of the contract being that no one was allowed to reveal the location of the house or the identity of its owners. Despite the house’s opulence, the actors ultimately became familiar with the house’s interiors over the course of filming.

Costumes were designed to the last minute detail, with 2000s fashion showcased in the form of ostentatious jackets, rugby shirts, and loud jewellery.

Release

Saltburn had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023. It premiered in the UK as the opening film of the 67th BFI London Film Festival on October 4, 2023.

The film premiered in Australia at SXSW Sydney on October 20, 2023, before opening in Australian cinemas on November 16.

In the U.S., Saltburn was given a limited release on November 17, 2023, followed by a wide expansion on November 22, 2023, by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution. It was originally scheduled to be released on November 24, 2023, but was moved up a week to take advantage of the initial positive response it received at its Telluride premiere and boost its chances at awards season.

Warner Bros. Pictures is handling the international release of Saltburn, with a November 17 release in the UK.

Review

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 209 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website’s consensus reads: “Emerald Fennell’s candy-coated and incisive Saltburn is a debauched jolt to the senses that will be invigorating for most.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating “mixed or average” reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B−” on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 75% overall positive score, with 42% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

The Guardian newspaper reviewed the film after its August premiere and again after its release. Peter Bradshaw gave it three stars out of five. He noted that it “boasts dazzling turns from Rosamund Pike and Carey Mulligan” but that “the heavily drawn-out ending feels uncertain”. Wendy Ide wrote that it “stars a miscast Barry Keoghan (he’s way too old for the role)” but that “Rosamund Pike, as Felix’s mother Elspeth, is gloriously rude; Archie Madekwe, as poor relation Farleigh, is a malicious delight”. She awarded two out of five stars.

Nicholas Barber, reviewing the film for the BBC, enjoyed the “outrageous, laugh-out-loud punchlines” but felt that “Fennell is prone to fumble” plot twists. He concludes that “if you see it as a lurid pulp fantasy rather than a penetrating satire, then Saltburn is deliriously enjoyable” and awards four out of five stars. Empire gave the film three out of five stars. In her review, Sophie Butcher reports that “Saltburn looks divine. Fennell’s eye is extraordinary, and alongside cinematographer Linus Sandgren, she captures the grand beauty of her architectural locations impeccably” but was disappointed that “Scenes often build to reach the cusp of something truly electric, but are let down by clunky dialogue.”

Writing in Sight and Sound, Sophie Monks Kaufman found that “the story’s superficial treatment of its characters … becomes increasingly ruinous” and that “the most menacing thing anyone can muster here is a passive-aggressive karaoke choice”. She was also underwhelmed by the film’s “ostentatious visual language”, in contrast to the Empire review.