NJ: Incidentally, one of the things I liked, regarding Carey Mulligan's character, is the commentary on addiction and substance use within the movie. I think it's very telling that someone like Oliver, who comes from a background of a poor mother riddled with addiction, is fetishized — versus the very clear addiction and mental health issues that exist within these rich circles.
LG: We don't realize he's making up the story about his family until three-quarters through the movie, but I wonder if that was, like, the first time Oliver had ever really come in contact with someone going through all these addictions and having these very real struggles. To him, it was just a story that he had heard of. And then it becomes the most uncomfortable lie in the movie.
NJ: I think because I enjoyed the snobbery and elitism of Oxford that it presented at the beginning of the movie, the second half of the movie fell flat. Ultimately, the way that the family is portrayed is a little too sympathetic. Not to say that they all deserved to be murdered. If I'm being ungenerous, the second half of the movie felt, to me, like an ultra-rich person's fears manifested onto screen. Oh, you let in someone who's not part of our class, and then they'll manipulate their way into our ranks. It felt like rich people fear-mongering.
LG: I read an interview with the film's director Emerald Fennell and she said that she had gone to Oxford. I wonder how much of the first half at Oxford was actually inspired by her real-life experience
NJ: I try not to read too much into Emerald Fennell’s life, but the fact that she comes from a very wealthy background is hard to ignore. I don't want to say that's why she made a movie that I think fundamentally bolsters elitism in a lot of ways, but it's something to consider.
LG: I think it's a fair argument, when someone is making a movie like this, to talk about it as a factor. But also, regarding Felix's family, I felt like they had a massive savior complex. It seemed like they wanted to be the "good" wealthy people by taking in lesser-class folks like Pamela and Ollie. So, I don't think they were exactly portrayed in the best light either. Ollie was obviously the villain but I liked how Felix's family were pretty morally gray, too.