Saltburn (2023)
Directed by Emerald Fennell
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
8 connections found
View:
8 films that influenced Saltburn
What critics say influenced Saltburn
Drawing from films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Teorema, Saltburn wears its inspirations on its sleeve while taking it up a notch.
With more than a nod towards Pasolini’s Theorem , a tinge of eroticism and unachievable desire underscore a subversive Saltburn .
“Saltburn” seems inspired by “Brideshead Revisited” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” with a touch of “Absolutely Fabulous.
Fennell is also keen to make sure Evelyn Waugh gets a name drop, just to make sure you get audience members will go home and be led to Googling Brideshead Revisited to see the similarity.
Whose character seems to stand in for Anthony Blanche in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited .
But those who are expecting a crossover between The Talented Mr. Ripley and Brideshead Revisited will be disappointed, as there is no satisfaction to be gained from watching evil geniuses do their magic, just like there are no hidden motivations to uncover that would justify their actions and make us understand them.
Comparisons will certainly be made to Brideshead Revisited , The Talented Mr. Ripley , and even the works of Donna Tartt.
As a result, Saltburn feels like Game of Thrones meets Brideshead Revisited as the chess game that starts at Oxford and continues at Saltburn reaches its delightfully dark and wicked climax.
Drawing from films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Teorema, Saltburn wears its inspirations on its sleeve while taking it up a notch.
But those who are expecting a crossover between The Talented Mr. Ripley and Brideshead Revisited will be disappointed, as there is no satisfaction to be gained from watching evil geniuses do their magic, just like there are no hidden motivations to uncover that would justify their actions and make us understand them.
Saltburn is her mash-up of The Secret History and The Talented Mr. Ripley, a dark academia-soaked thriller stuffed with all the classic tropes of the niche aesthetic: extravagant architecture, dusty textbooks, and musky queer-coded young men.
Barry Keoghan is too old to be playing Oliver Quick, an Oxford scholarship student with a mysterious agenda, but I suppose they all are (classmates played by Jacob Elordi and Ewan Mitchell), and that may very well be intentional in what almost seems to be a stab at straightfaced parody of The Talented Mr. Ripley (which was already kinda funny to begin with), set in the malaise of a millennial-era rich teen drama—the boxy screen ratio sure makes it look like a TV show with an artistic eye.
Comparisons will certainly be made to Brideshead Revisited , The Talented Mr. Ripley , and even the works of Donna Tartt.
While watching this film, it was hard for me not to think of The Talented Mr. Ripley .
Not since British master Nicolas Roeg’s Gothic horror film Don’t Look Now has a filmmaker used mirrors so effectively to convey reflections and refractions of a character’s inner world, the looming threat of evil, and the truth.
Advertisement
Many films have sought to explore and uncover the wealth divide at the heart of British life, from If…. (1968) to The Riot Club (2014), with each dissecting the inherited power and privilege at the heart of the British state.
Arthur Conan Doyle meets Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” —with “Risky Business” making a late appearance?
One that is laced with pitch-black humour and psychosexual undertones best described as multi-genre crosses between The Talented Mr Ripley, Call Me by Your Name, Parasite and even Killers of the Flower Moon.
Arthur Conan Doyle meets Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” —with “Risky Business” making a late appearance?