Telluride Film Festival: Emerald Fennell’s twisted ‘Saltburn’ draws raves for ‘God-tier’ Barry Keoghan

The 2023 Telluride Film Festival launched on Thursday with numerous world premieres – including the first public screenings of Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” – but few had attendees buzzing like “Saltburn.” At least based on anecdotal evidence, the new film from “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker and Oscar winner Emerald Fennell was the evening’s hottest event, with a capacity crowd at the Palm theater all but vibrating before the film’s world premiere – and then left stunned in its aftermath.

Set primarily in 2006, “Saltburn” focuses on the unexpected friendship that forms between Oliver (Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan), a young Oxford student on scholarship, and Felix (“Euphoria” star Jacob Elordi), the wealthy big man on campus with whom Oliver takes an intense interest. The film draws its title from Felix’s family estate, where he spends the summer with Oliver. Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and “Conversations with Friends” breakout Alison Oliver star as Felix’s family.

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“My favorite thing in general is sympathy for the devil,” Fennell told Vanity Fair in a recent interview. “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.”

“Saltburn” largely succeeds in exploring that premise — particularly with Oliver, whom Keoghan keeps inscrutable and opaque even as the character ostensibly seems like an open book. The film has already drawn comparisons to “The Talented Mr. Ripley” but its portrait of the indifference of the extremely wealthy will also be familiar to anyone who has spent four seasons watching the Roy siblings tear each other apart on “Succession.” (Other less highfalutin touchstones for “Saltburn” include “Cruel Intentions” and “Gossip Girl.”)

“Saltburn” received loud applause as its credits rolled, and while the film is sure to be divisive, many early reviews praised Fennell for her second feature. “What’s notable here is an undeniable, perhaps even insatiable desire to pack everything she can think of into the film, to propel the urgency, determinism and undeniable life force that is evident throughout,” wrote Todd McCarthy for Deadline. “If Fennell can maintain this level of enthusiasm and creative smarts, avoid the temptation to go Hollywood, take the lucre and direct the latest Marvel concoction, she looks to be off on an excellent trajectory.”

“A tall drink of Evelyn Waugh spiked with Patricia Highsmith bitters, Emerald Fennell’s sophomore feature ‘Saltburn’ boasts a distinctive, splashy look for its demented critique of pomp and privilege among England’s elitist upper class,” wrote Variety critic Peter Debruge. 

“I’ll remember the world premiere screening of ‘Saltburn’ or a long time. A total sicko blast, from hypnotic start to chaotic (maybe too chaotic?) end. Barry Keoghan God-tier, and Rosamund Pike stealth MVP. Reeling,” wrote Vanity Fair staff writer David Canfield.

Fennell’s debut feature, “Promising Young Woman,” scored five Oscar nominations at the 2021 ceremony, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan. (Of note: Mulligan pops up in a brief but hilarious role in “Saltburn.”) Before the world premiere, many pundits and awards observers had already expected “Saltburn” to prove appealing to academy voters as well, with potential nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor for Keoghan. Having now seen it, cinematographer Linus Sandgren (an Oscar winner for “La La Land”) is certain to find himself under heavy awards consideration for this film — and despite a finale that might prove polarizing as the feature screens throughout the season, “Saltburn” could also seriously compete in other spots, including Best Director, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Supporting Actress (for Pike and Oliver), and Best Supporting Actor (for Elordi).

MGM and Amazon Studios will release “Saltburn” in theaters on November 24.

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