December Movie Pick: 'Saltburn'

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'Saltburn' is a slow burn. I know that's not a great intro to read if you want to go and see this movie, but I really enjoyed the third act. I ended up liking this movie and the twist in the story. Spoilers ahead.

The beginning of this movie was rough; I had no idea what it was about and went in completely blind, expecting, no, hoping to be surprised. So, the movie stars Barry Keoghan, whom I knew from 'Chernobyl', where he made an strong impression, and apparently not only on me because these days he is everywhere. He has those qualities and characteristics that just leave an impression. We follow Oliver, played by Keoghan, falling in love with Felix, a hot 'everyone-wants-him' kind of guy with strong bi-vibes, played by Jacob Elordi. The ladies want him, the boys want him, everyone in between wants him. It's like he is so hot, 'I don't care where his dick has been' type, and indeed, he embodies that charismatic quality well.

Watching Oliver struggle to find a companion, trying so desperately to get Felix's attention was really painful. We all know many guys with one foot in and the other foot out, whose energy is consuming and destroying everything around them. You know who you are. So, watching Oliver getting sucked into this black hole was the worst part. Not once did the movie make me uncomfortable, and I looked away, trying to avoid the cringe that was happening in front of me.

It took a while before the story got me, but I think it started to get my attention once they were in this gigantic mansion called 'Saltburn.' The setting of the movie was actually pretty, but what got me interested was this rich family and the performance of Rosamund Pike, who played the mother of our teaser Felix. The director tried so hard to make them grotesque to justify the third act, and I guess he managed to switch things up several times because by the end of the story, I was liking Oliver. He turned out to be a psychotic serial killer with an agenda, destroying everyone before his goal, like a seed of cancer planted in this house. One by one, he took care of them, starting with poor Felix, who was so self-centered, well aware that he is desired, which blinded him to see the poison literally and not that Oliver provided. I didn't like our main character until he came out from the shadows. I love that our 'licking bathtubs' guy was thinking all through, and this whole time he had different lustful desires from what we were thinking of him. Oliver played this consumed guy wanting to be accepted by these caricatures of people well until Felix caught his lies. Finally, Oliver revealed his true nature, an insatiable beast that consumed the Cotton family to claim their fortune.

His love was never love as we imagine it; his love was demonic and lustful, and it was a part of his grand plan. He took that love and ate it, leaving cold dead bodies everywhere around that big house. Manipulative and mischievous, he left me admiring his abilities to overturn this powerful grasp that Felix had over the others. I know is hard to believe that a guy like him feels love as we do, but he loved Felix in his way, but he never let that stop him. I guess that was admirable. And the dance at the end was inspired; I definitely want to see it again.

The soundtrack of this movie is very familiar and glued to my generation, and it did what it was supposed to do. It provided an overall picture of the world surrounding this capsule.

Iliya Badev

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