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The deer antlers are so fascinating to me, because while deer are often seen as harmless and graceful animals, in reality they use their antlers to gore their prey or predators. Similar to how on the outside oliver is seen as an innocent stoic quiet person, but in reality he is capable of so much violence.

An overlooked detail about the costume party is that the theme was A Midsummers Night's Dream, the Shakespeare play. Oliver was dressed as Puck a trickster fairy that enjoys "pranking" mortals and has no sympathy for human suffering. In the play he's more of fool than a villain. But Puck is also a European folklore character. He's a shape-shifting sprite/hobgoblin/elf that presides over housholds, playing tricks on the families. More ominously, in Old and Middle English the name 'Puck' literally meant demon.

my interpretation of the bathtub/vampire scenes: oliver was so obsessed w Felix and his family/lifestyle that he wanted to consume them. drinking Felix’s bathwater and Venitia’s blood was one of the ways he felt he was able to do it. on the grave scene: Oliver used sex as a way to dominate Felix’s family. when he hooked up w Venetia he proceeded to try and control her food intake, when he assaulted Farleigh he kept urging him to say that he was “going to behave”. Oliver was never able to get that sexual relationship/domination over Felix until his death, which was why he finally fucked his grave. he took Felix’s life as his ultimate act of domination over him.

i like to think his obsession is first shown when he’s trying to sleep with who felix was dating in college

as a brit, the part where they’re sat at the table after his death is sooo english. the “carry on” attitude of english ppl genuinely makes me feel like i’m in an alternate universe. it’s a universal experience to have been through an utterly life changing experience but still being told to remember your manners. keep your feelings inside.

My only issue with the ending is that it explicitly says and shows how Oliver had planned it all from the beginning and walks the audience through it. It seemed like it didn’t trust the audience to be smart enough to put 2 and 2 togther and realize that he had puppetmastered this outcome. I think they could’ve cut that stuff out and shown him dancing around and arranging the stones and we would’ve been able to horrifically put it togther rather than lazily having it handed to us

I always took the ending as Oliver was so obsessed with Felix and it spiraled out of control so when he's speaking at the end he's trying to justify everything he did. He's trying to get himself to believe the lies. And a little theory I had was that when Oliver poisoned Felix, he wanted them to go out Romeo and Juliet style but when Felix said "you make my blood run cold" went to go throw up what he has just drank. Thus (lol) leaving Felix to die alone. There's a lot of Shakespeare references in here as well as Greek mythology. It's a beautiful and disturbing film. 10/10

I’ve read that the fucking part of the grave scene was actually Barry’s idea lol. Like Emerald just had a sobbing Oliver in mind but Barry was like “let me try something” so it’s all on him 😄

Barry Keoghan definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance. He was so chilling in his role.

The period scene i feel like is integral because the blood imo is symbolic of the blood relationship between the two siblings and how the blood relative was the closest thing he had to actually having intercourse with her brother.

Trin screaming, crying, and throwing up at the bathtub and vampire scene while also loving the scenes is the definition of the ‘Saltburn’ experience 👏

I REALLY wish instead of the evil and conniving sociopath plot twist, they would’ve leaned fully into Oliver as a moth. Not as someone hellbent on destroying the Catton’s and stealing their wealth, but as someone who cannot resist his own nature, just as a moth does not create holes with the intent of destruction. The demise of the Cattons then wouldn’t be because Oliver intentionally killed them, but as a result of his utter obsession with Felix. Oliver’s actions lead in one way or another to Felix’s death and incite a chain reaction. Venetia kills herself, Farleigh is kicked out, Sir James dies of grief, and Elspeth becomes a shadow of her former self. She begs Oliver to stay with her until her own eventual death years later. Oliver is never written into the will and has to leave Saltburn to return to a “normal” life, maybe even blissfully unaware of how his actions caused the downfall of an entire family, just like how a moth is unaware of the damage it causes. If Oliver is a moth, he cannot inherit Saltburn because it defeats the analogy. Moths destroy the very thing they’re drawn to, and you cannot have your cake and eat it too. I think the twist takes a lot of wind out of the movie’s sails while simultaneously spotlighting some plot holes, like how perfectly everything had to work in Oliver’s favor for his plan to pan out like he anticipated. I would’ve much preferred a narrative about his obsession with Felix and how, despite his intentions, it causes the death of the entire Catton family. Lastly, this dynamic would’ve given Oliver’s sexual encounters with Venetia and Farleigh some merit instead of feeling shoehorned into the plot. If Oliver is obsessed with Felix’s perception of him, he will do whatever it takes to make sure nothing jeopardizes that. That means establishing dominance over family members who could influence Felix’s perception of Oliver, like Venetia and Farleigh. This would again further the moth analogy as Oliver creates more and more holes in the Catton family without realizing the ramifications. Moreover, it would tie back into the puppet symbolism as Oliver manages to one by one seduce the entire family, all for the sake of his obsession with Felix.

I saw this four times in the cinema, and I can say the best part about this movie is watching other people watch it

I love the scene where they find Felix in the maze… seeing him as the fallen angel while his murderer was leant on the statue of the Minotaur… ICONIC

everyone talked about the bathtub scene on Tiktok but oh my god how can anyone ignore the scene with the sister and the grave scene those two scenes shocked me to my core 10/10

The movie is one of the most brilliant explorations of human desire I’ve seen. Oliver was obsessed with Felix the moment he saw him. This can be equated to the concept of “love at first site” where the experience of “love” at this point is unjustified and centered around infatuation. So Oliver, the manipulative genius, hatches his plan to get closer to Felix. His plan was not entirely premeditated and I personally believe he never would have gone through with killing any of the Saltburns if Felix had reciprocated his feelings or if he wouldn’t have sent Oliver away after he found out about the lies. I base this reasoning off the context of the information we’re given during the ending “reveal”. If you notice, his speech has two parts, the part where he says he ‘loved him’ which shows us the initial steps of his plans and the moments he was most attracted to Felix, and the part where he says he ‘hated him’ where we see his plan turn sinister but more importantly we’re shown that when he says he ‘hated’ Felix, the moments that accompany the edit are the moments he felt most rejected/unreciprocated by Felix. Oliver was obsessed with Felix but it’s the kind of obsession people often confuse with love since in the moment the desire and the passion feels all consuming. This obsession however isn’t love or at least not unconditional love where you can accept being unreciprocated and embrace the autonomy of the other. Oliver’s “love” or more accurately his infatuation was conditional on being kept in Felix’s life. When Felix was done with Oliver, Oliver killed him and his family because he knew that if he couldn’t have Felix he could at least possess everything Felix has and represents. In the end loving Felix mattered less than possessing him which is why he was able to go through with the killing in spite of his desire. This desire however was still strong in Oliver which is why we have the grave scene. Again, he didn’t love or respect Felix’s grave, he still wanted him in spite of everything and f-ing his grave was his most desperate expression of wanting something he couldn’t have. I know this scene was controversial to some but I thought it was brilliant as it’s the perfect way of showing how Oliver, mad with obsession, prioritizes the satisfaction of his own desire over honoring Felix’s life. He never loved Felix but he sure did want him.

I also think it was a wasted opportunity to not to insinuate more how Saltburn was some sort of spiritual, symbolic extension of Felix and by inheriting it in the end, Oliver finally got together with his almost lover. I do believe the director had this idea in mind because both the vampire scene (consuming his sister's blood) and the bathub scene (well, we know what he consumed lol) alluded to that. But it all kind of washed in the end and they made it seem like it was always about money and wealth and I don't believe that's the case

I totally agree with the "wtf happened to the original plot of the movie." I was getting the obsession plot, but then suddenly he was a criminal mastermind?

also as someone who loved this movie, my two cents on why the plot twist ending is not satisfying is because it robs us of oliver’s corruption arc and the aspects of the obsession trope, because then it was basically retconned (in a pretty lazy way imo) so that all of what we just watched for the first hour and a half didn’t matter at all. i love a morally gray and even evil protagonist, but the way that oliver’s evilness was just always inherent and not a result of corruption makes it so much shallower and means he has no autonomy as a character.

the way you...walked us through the grave scene had me DYING

I think it was never really Oliver’s plan to take over Saltburn and to kill almost everyone. I read some articles about the movie and in one interview, Emerald, the director, said that Oliver initially only wanted to meet Felix and to be friends with him. He obviously had this obsession with Felix already. Then he wanted more, he wanted to be his best friend and then he wanted to stay best friends with him and then he wanted more, and more and more. He’s manipulative and he can read people. He arranged the meeting with Felix and he knew what he had to do so that Felix would feel sorry for him. In addition, I think Oliver actually was this kind of shy person (at the beginning) but with Felix by his side and him living at Saltburn, he gained more confidence and shortly after, he realised that it was pretty easy to manipulate the family (prey becomes the predator). I think he did love Felix and he was in love with him and when he realised that Felix doesn’t want to be around him anymore (because he lied about his family situation), he kills him because Felix will never love him the same way he loves Felix. Felix wanting Oliver to leave seems like another reason for him to kill Felix (he didn’t want to leave Saltburn and Felix could have told his family that he is a liar). I think if Felix never found out about Oliver’s lies, Oliver probably wouldn’t have killed him and the others. Maybe Oliver wanted to take over Saltburn to still feel close to Felix, like the mansion being an embodiment of Felix. Or he wanted to take over Saltburn to continue living a life like Felix. Like he didn’t just want to have Felix but to be Felix. Emerald also said that the ideal happy ending from Oliver’s perspective would have been him being married with Felix and living at Saltburn. And Oliver owning Saltburn is like the best happy ending that he can have. Also I think Oliver fucked the grave to finally be close to Felix and have sex with him since he couldn’t while Felix was alive. Thanks for coming to my TED talk :D

the thing about the bathtub scene and grave scene is they make more sense *without* the existence of the plot twist ending, whereas the vampire scene fits better in the context *with* the ending, which is why i think it feels somewhat incongruous to include all three

It’s so frustrating having people just disregard the idea that Oliver loved Felix because the way in which it ended and made him out to be a predator doing anything to take down his family. He was in love with Felix - but he also hated him. In my interpretation, he doesn’t suck up the bath water etc for power reasons or the idea of consuming them or their wealth. But infact the dying need of wanting to be close to Felix - which is repeated in the graveyard scene which although what the did - shows the oxymoronic love / hate story

I think that Oliver eating Venetia out despite her being on her period showed that literally nothing, not even something as smelly and taboo as period blood, would get in his way of controlling that family and securing his place among them as their favorite charity case.

the way that barry improvised the grave scene too....he didn't even have to do all that!! crazy little man

I definitely interpreted Felix’s costume as Juliet in terms of Felix being perceived as this near perfect, almost angelic object of love and desire. Especially when he *spoiler* dies from being poisoned which mirrors Juliets death (her first one in the play and both in the 1996 movie). As for Oliver, I saw this really cool theory about him representing the minotaur! Apparently the myth goes that the minotaur was created to terrorize this one specific family and was kept in a maze/ labyrinth to prevent him from getting out. The minotaur’s number one goal was to terrorize the family while ultimately being cursed to be isolated in his loneliness. I think this theory really fits well with Oliver’s over-arching plan and ending, plus there’s a minotaur statue in the middle of Saltburn’s maze!

I felt that they bashed the audience over the head regarding showing Oliver orchestrating meeting Felix and setting up the murders. It would have been better had they been as subtle as they were in the beginning

A very similar movie that came out was parasite (SK movie). And compared to that experience i realised my main qualms with Saltburn. Saltburn frames the story as a hate letter to the rich, and how they treat the poor, but unlike parasite, they dont really show that in most situations, the poor are at a disadvantage. Parasite shows that disadvantage and that the real parasites are the rich, while saltburn is more 'fear the poor'.

I think all the disturbing scenes were integral bcs it makes us realise that this movie isnt just about Oliver's obsession with Felix, but with his lust for status, power and control, and how far he will go to achieve his goals. He is willing to lie, manipulate and do depraved things that would disgust the average person. Occam's razor. The reason those things are shown and aim to gross us out is so that there is no doubt in the viewers mind that Oliver is a disgusting human being. Also ngl probably for shock value too, but that doesnt bother me. The bathtub scene showcases how obsessed he is with Felix and how much he wants to be him, sleep with him, touch him, possess and consume him. But at the same time he views him as this angelic untouchable god so he has to keep his distance. Instead he seeks to control and his family members. So he manipulates and negs Venetia. Makes her feel like shit, dominates her verbally and sexually. He then does the sme to Farley. He pushes their boundaries and imo gets off when these people of higher status submit to him. In addition, the reason he tries to get rid of Farley and then kills Felix and Venetia is bcs, while he doesnt mind using them as pawns, when they get a glimpse of the real him, they start posing a threat and he has to get rid of them. I think Felix being alive grounded him in a weird sense. There was one thing he wasnt willing to do and that was murder. But as soon as hes done that, why not use it as yet another tool in his arsenal? Just another way to get what he wants?

The way Trin slowly describes the grave scene trying to justify his actions as they get weirder and ,ore depraved and her slowly becoming more disgusted is so funny

I think you’re also supposed to doubt Oliver when he says that he was never in love with Felix. The confession reveal scene with the Mom tells us that he might be a bit in denial as well, which is scary because sometimes obsession manifest without actual awareness. This definitely was a plan from the beginning to become apart of saltburn and the family, but I don’t necessarily think all of the deaths were planned from the beginning. It’s almost out of necessity because he realizes that his connection to saltburn through Felix is gone and as he realizes that the other connections are slowly dwindling. He resorts to being the last one standing.

I do actually think the grave scene was necessary, kind of like the bath scene. One of Oliver's main ways of asserting dominance over Felix's family was physical/sexual; he did it to farley and venetia but he never was able to do it to Felix, the one person who he obviously desired the most by far. That is why he makes love to the grave: that was his way of being able to dominate another member of the family - the one he was extremely obsessed with - after his death. This scene is where Oliver gets a sort-of closure to the sexual aspect of his obsession with Felix, but his obsession is only slightly altered, and it never dies out completely. His obsession is, and always was, never just about felix (as you said) - his obsession is also with his lifestyle, wealth, class, family, etc. He wants felix, but he also wants to be felix, and so he still maintains his obsession and is motivated by it - which is why I disagree a little with the fact that his obsession with felix disappears mostly in the third act. Plus, he can still be seen doing things that are weird and obsessive towards felix - in the scene where he is talking to venetia in the bathtub before she dies, she says that Oliver is wearing Felix's aftershave. He is still using Felix's things, trying to be him and lust over him at the same time. Anyway I still really liked your video :) I'm still curious though, I'm trying to figure out the symbolism of the minotaur in the maze. If anyone can help with that, lmk

I think it's so interesting that Farleigh loses everything (even though it was tenuous that he'd have that wealth for the rest of his life) but gets to live, so he and Oliver switch positions by the end

I don’t think the vampire scene was needless I think it’s foreshadowing the idea of him being a “vampire” and leeching off the family untill they’re all dead, and the classism represented from the eggs scene was really interesting for looking at the relation Oliver has with privilege before the twist was revealed

honestly despite the disturbing scenes, this is a comfort movie for me. the characters, the score, the twists and turns. it’s just so hauntingly beautiful

27:27 they way trin describes the scene, so tragically, so confused and traumatized all in one was amazing bravo, I felt like I saw it with out seeing it, so now I’m also traumatized

I think that along with Oliver being an unreliable narrator throughout, he’s lied to himself too. I don’t think he really “planned it all along,” but that’s what he’s told himself. It’s the story he’s living in by the end. But the whole time he’s just been trying to get close to Felix and everything to do with him, by whatever means necessary. He still is the moth, but he sees himself as something else.

aren’t they all supposed to be dressed up as a midsummer night’s dream characters during the party scene? i don’t remember much about the play but i assumed oliver was dressed as puck (mischievous fairy with horns) and felix just put on some wings and called himself a fairy (a reference to the comment about slutty girls coming as fairies earlier in the movies and another reveal of oliver as an unreliable narrator because, even though the movie (oliver’s view) sees him in this godlike way, he’s just a guy wearing a tank top and jeans)

Felix costume also made me think of Greek mythology. When his dead body lies in the middle of the maze and you can only see his wings and the Minotaur in the background. In the story of Daedalus he help the creat the monster the Minotaur and then builds the Maze to keep him contained there. Him and his son Icarus are then held hostage by King Minos. Daedalus builds wings for them to escape but Icarus doesn’t listen to his fathers warnings and flies to close to the sun so the wax on his wings melt and he falls to his death. To add to this. In the beginning of the movie Ollie talks about the story of Apollo and Daphne. In this story Apollo is struck by an arrow of love and Daphne by an arrow of lead. She tries to run away from him to save her life and calls her father for help. He turn her into a tree but even that doesn’t stop Apollo. He hugs and kisses the tree and declares it his. Foreshadowing Ollie’s obsession with Felix the Bath and the Grave scene. Apollo is know as the god of the sun and Ollie is a representation of Apollo. And how does Ikarus die being to close to the sun.

“What is Felix dressed as?” JULES FROM EUPHORIA.

@28:48 - Wuthering Heights was my favbook when I was in junior high and this scene is based off a scene in that book. Heathcliff, tears apart a grave to get to his love that he was never able to have physically. Emerald quoted this book as the inspiration. Genius

I feel like as much as we don't always fully understand the nature of Oliver as a character, he slips up in that scene with Venetia because he tells her exactly who he is. He is a vampire. Vampires stalk their prey in the night, and drain them of their life force in order to empower themselves. Vampires are also famously immortal because of this, and in the film Oliver embodies all three qualities. He stalks Felix at Oxford, partying w him at night, voyeuristically watching him have sex with other girls through the window. Every sex scene is Oliver TAKING life force (sex/sexual fluids/sexuality are all metaphors for life force energy) and using it to empower himself and make him feel a sense of status and power. The bathtub scene, he takes Felix's privacy and self energy (masturbation). Venetia, he takes her menstrual blood and forces her to literally eat for him, then he eats her, taking more. With Farleigh, he again takes his life force in order to assert his control and dominance seeing as they start the film in relatively similar spaces of social insecurity. The only difference in their character motivations is that Farleigh has everything to lose, and Oliver has nothing to lose. That's why he wins in the end. The only time we see who Oliver really is at his core, and who he actually loves is the grave scene. Notice how in every other sex scene he is taking from them... But in this scene, it's the only scene where he actually gives. Now I know it might seem like a stretch but think about it. Him having sex with the grave, means he knows there is no life force left to take. He knows it is a completely one sided act and he will gain nothing from it. But he does it anyway and the only life force given is his own. He never tries to control Felix, or overpower him. He only wants to be as close to Felix as he possibly can. Even the bathtub scene he is taking but not in a way that is dominant, it's passive, it's accepting whatever leftover crumbs he could have and it's given by Felix of his own free will, it's not coerced out of him. Obviously at the end with Elspeth he finds a way to make her sick and drains her of her life force as well and kills her. I also thought it was interesting that all their deaths mirror way he manipulated them. Felix: drinking his sperm filled bath water vs. drinking his poison alcohol and ejaculating on the grave. Venetia: vampire scene vs dying in a bath of her own blood (beautifully foreshadowed by her over flowing wine glass in the previous scene). Farleigh: framed for stealing the paintings vs. framed for killing Felix. Elspeth: tricking her into trusting him vs. Tricking her into signing over the estate. This could also be read as being a stand in child for her, and then inheriting the estate as well. His last manipulation of Elspeth is where he finally embodies all three qualities of a vampire. By inheriting Saltburn he will finally be immortal because he will have a legacy through owning Saltburn which will allow his name to carry on immortalized assuming he has children. Something else I noticed that I wanted to touch on is that Elspeth and Sir James are shown repeatedly being very cavalier about tossing people out once they've overstayed their welcome (PDP and Farleigh) but did you notice how when Felix died, Elspeth explicit says "you're not leaving us are you? You're not leaving Saltburn?" Referring to Oliver... I thought that was a very interesting way of showing that he in fact DID belong there, at least from her perspective, she had grown to appreciate his presence in a way. Obviously, sir James disagreed and paid him off. But he got his comeuppance in the end as well. Overall I loved this movie for sooo many reasons even though I agree with the critiques of the screenplay, it could have been more clean and could have had a sharper execution. But the colors, the lighting, the cinematography, the performances, the nods to gothic, German expressionism, with a hint of neon noir, set against the back drop of the mid-naughties, with a sprinkle of the bourgening gen z gaze, was chef's kiss for me. The themes and characters were a bit inconsistent, but overall it was a fun, wild, shocking ride, that was breathtaking to consume, and I am hopeful that Barry Keoghan (Kee-oh-gan) gets some well deserved recognition for his impeccable performance.

If you liked Saltburn I would recommend “Neon Demon”. It’s a similar concept, focuses more on narcissism and obsession with how someone looks as it is centered on the beauty industry. It’s also deeply disturbing, makes this movie look like a Gospel film in comparison. But it’s good, I really like the message it has and how well crafted it is. I am also super fascinated by the concept of obsession and what it does to a person, and I think “Neon Demon” is such a good commentary on it.

"WHAT IF THERE WAS A CLOT OLIVER?" trin please i cant breathe

Felix’s angel wings tattoo and costume were a foreshadow to me that he was going to die from the very beginning. And reflects how angelic he comes across in Oliver’s eyes. Oliver’s costume I think reflects on the Minotaur at the center of the maze and I think is a mask for how innocence he first appears but has a streak of violence in him.

funny thing about the grave scene! Barry Keoghan was the one who ‘escalated’ the scene. The actions were similar in the script but one day on set Barry told Emerald Fennell ‘I think he’d unzip.’ The set was closed for the scene, obviously (just Emerald, Barry and a couple essential crew members) but yeah Barry Keoghan is a talented, freaky lil genius. (Source: i attended a talkback with Emerald Fennell when Saltburn was screened at this year’s Austin Film Festival)

oliver's obsession with felix goes beyond wanting him tbh, thats what his sister talks about on the moth scene, oliver wants felix but he also wants to be felix, he loves him, he hates him and he wants to be him, thats why the movie keeps going after his death and only ends after saltburn is his.

I think Felix was also kinda attracted to Oliver but not in the same intense way as Oliver. I mean why else would Felix leave the door open while he’s loudly moaning and masturbating? (He knew that Oliver‘s room was right next to the bathroom). I think he knew that Oliver was attracted to him. Felix was used to being desired and adored and enjoyed Oliver‘s attraction towards him. Maybe Felix would’ve had an affair with Oliver but he probably wouldn’t have wanted to be together with him, unlike Oliver. He was only another toy for Felix/potentially someone to have an affair with and he probably would have gotten bored of Oliver at some point. Also in the labyrinth, it seemed like Felix wanted to kiss Oliver but he was obviously also scared of him (plus someone mentioned how Felix was shaking after Oliver‘s confession because he may wanted to kiss Oliver despite him being scared).

HAS ANYONE NOTICED WHEN VENETIA TALKS ABOUT SHELLEY’S DOPPELGÄNGER APPEARING IN THE WINDOW, A DOPPELGÄNGER OF FELIX APPEARS IN THE WINDOW BEHIND HER!!!! I was so beyond excited when I noticed that 😂

I'm going to confess something: I knew from the way Olli cried over and caressed the dirt that he would fuck it. I thought it was the best way to show how much he wanted him and how much he wanted to posses Felix. It made clear to me that he loved him in a terrible way and didn't want to flat out admit it to himself at the end (I also agree that the lifestyle that the family had and resentment were key factors, but not the only things that fuelled Ollie's obsession with having Saltburn for himself). I never thought i would say this about a grave-fucking scene, like... ever, but i would have thought that something was missing if it was just him laying on it. Even if that alone was also hard to watch and raw. I think that scene is all about the YEARNING and maybe? maybe, regret (regret that he didn't touch Felix earlier? that he was caught in a lie too soon? that he killed him?) I thought about Icarus when we see Felix inside the labyrinth from above and the wings shine. I think that there's deff something there, the Minotaur is right there too I'm going on a tangent here. hear me out i'm surprised noone (that i have seen) is talking about Dionysus, or Bacchus, ancient god of wine, insanity and festivity, between other things. He used to be associated with goats and bulls, that were sacrificed on his rituals. Bacchus was portrayed as kinda fruity (if you know what i mean) a few times and there's one of them that stuck with me: he promised that he would make a man his lover if he guided him through the underworld, but the man died before Dionysus could perform his part of the deal so he...... created a wooden penis to represent that friend and fucked himself over said man's grave. Is it weird? yes. is it even more weird that I thought of this after watching saltburn? yes. was it probabbly just a story that some christian made to make him look even more like a degenerate? yes. BUT it's about the yearning, right? about love that is hard to understand, about insanity and MAYBE """regret""" (and gratitude, and friendship, and loyalty.... that don't fit very well with this story) Thank you for reading my ramblings :)

this comment section is helping me to not feel so alone lol. for me, i left the theater pretty underwhelmed, and it was because they had oliver narrate his entire plan at the end. if i omit that scene from my memories, then the film is really perfect

My interpretation of Oliver’s actions in the ending is the fact that he knew he wasn’t able to get Felix directly so he’ll settle for anything that just has his essence, what made Felix him: his wealth, his family, etc.

One detail I noticed is that the hedge-sculpture in the maze where Felix is killed. It's a huge horned-figure. But before you fully see it, there's a shot of it's shadow looming over Felix's dead body, and it almost looks like the shadow has deer antlers like Oliver. Also potentially a reference to The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which Keoghan also stars in? He plays an absolute freak in that movie too, which is why this role being suggested to him doesn't seem too far off imo, lol.

TRIN SALTBURN COMMENTARY RELOADED THE REUP!

I think those shocking scenes can be described as Oliver relishing in the most personal parts of the family. The bath scene he violates Felix's privacy, Venetia he crosses all of her boundaries and it's as if he's draining the life from her / the family. Farleigh he affronts his whole identity and resistance to his place being lost in the family. Yeah they are shocking, but it's like he's crawling underneath their skin to try and understand them fully, to study them. Kind of how Venetia calls him a moth, he makes his holes in them and fits in those holes however he can (ew). In those shots he seems to be basking in the glory of Felix I really think he's watching him in almost a comical way, laughing inwardly at how Felix has almost no care in the world, he just gets to sit there and look pretty. There's really nothing horribly special about Felix, but he's rich and somehow that elevates him to this godly level and Felix is studying the phenomenon.

I loved that I went into this movie thinking it was a movie about romance but came out realising it was about the darkness of human desire - class, status, earthly possessions etc… obsession fueled by hate as opposed to the initial thought of it being fueled by a longing for love. The consumption hate had over Oliver, that manifested into physical consumption (all the bodily fluids). We never actually know who Oliver is bc he creates a version of himself to fit the needs of the person he wants to dominate next e.g Venetia with her low self esteem has someone accept her body and celebrate it. Felix wants to be a saviour and prove to the world that he has more substance (even though we get glimpses that he actually isn’t) so Oliver creates a narrative that he is fragile from a broken home that needs to be cared for. Idk tho that’s just what I interpreted it as

for the party scene, felix had a lot of icarus imagery associated with him and his death, like the wings on his costume (which evoked sun imagery because of the golden color), the labyrinth that he died in, and the minotaur statue that stood over his body. i really loved this costume as part of the obsession plot, with the idea that someone flies so high and burns so bright that it destroys them (or leads someone to destroy them), but i'm not 100% sure how it fits into oliver coveting the estate itself. i read one analysis of oliver being theseus in the labyrinth and getting what he wants through the death of others or tossing them aside when they are no longer useful to him, which i can definitely see. i agree with trin that the obsession oliver had with felix was genuinely so gut-wrenching and visceral that it was beautiful; even the most infamous and disgusting scenes in the movie looked like worship

I too think Barry just swinging around was integral to my viewing experience

My interpretation of Felix’s angel costume was he likes to save people - Oliver chose his persona around Felix as someone to be saved-someone that needed help and Felix ate it up. As a rich person he wants to be good and the only way he knows how to do that without sacrificing his wealth is to “save” others and be an angel.

i feel like not only is the angel costume for felix symbolism but it’s also foreshadowing him soon dying

Also his costume could be interpreted as a Minotaur. There is one in the scene with them in the maze. And baby boy dies right next to it.

all I know is that Jacob Elordi with angel wings did something to me

The thing I noticed upon second watch is the waiter in the cafe at the end is wearing a facemask, and then Elsbeth dies while on ventilator. So it's being implied that she dies of Covid19. Idk why but I really like that - a realistic cultural moment in time. I felt similar to seeing them reading Harry Potter 7 if the school year started in 2006, the summer break would be July 2007, in which case everyone WAS reading that.

This movie is giving Call Me By Your Gone Girl's Name. I started your video, got intrigued and then watched the movie and now I'm back. I absolutely loved it. I only wish it had been a little gayer with Ollie and Felix actually doing sooomething. I jokingly wait "imagine he just starts humping the grave" and then two minutes later what do ya know.... I cackled. I also LOVE Rosamund Pikes character. She's so wacky but iconic

I totally get being grossed out by the “vampire scene”, but I think it does have just as much significance to the story as the bathtub scene. In the same scene where the mother explicitly tells Oliver that Venetia has an eating disorder, she also mentions that she was hyper sexual from an early age. I could see how Oliver could take that to mean that in order to make an impact on her he needs to do something dramatic to set him apart from her previous experiences, or to meet the expectations of her imagination. Venetia plays the role of a classic gothic heroine. She drapes herself around the house, walks around outside in night gowns to look at the moon, etc. It’s not crazy for Oliver to deduce that Venetia has a darker, unrealistic expectation for romance. She’s been waiting for her Byronic Hero; her Dracula. This movie hits so many classic tropes of a classic gothic, so to make Oliver a “vampire” is in line with the rest of the symbolism in the movie. He sucks the life out of the whole family one by one.

It was so interesting watching these actions become increasingly concerning and “rationalizing” it as obsessive love and then finally getting to the grave scene and realizing it’s not so much love as it is power and control. R@pe typically comes down to a person wanting control, it’s not about the sex and I think that’s what they wanted to show. It was his chance to finally take physical control over Felix having never been able to do that except in Felix’s death.

Fun fact: Barry keoghan actually improvised the grave scene. 👍 It was meant to originally mirror a scene in wuthering heights, but Barry decided to take it further as Oliver. So it’s not emerald fennel that owes you an apology lol 29:46

i saw a comment on tiktok about how oliver was in love with saltburn and not felix, and I do feel like that explanation justifies the continuation of the story past felix's death. it ultimately shows that oliver's intentions were never to get felix, his end-goal was always saltburn

I think Felix’s costume is Icarus and Oliver is the Minotaur. According to Greek mythology Icarus's father Daedalus, a very talented Athenian craftsman, built a labyrinth for King Minos of Crete to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself and his son in the labyrinth because he gave Minos's daughter, Ariadne, a clew (or ball of string) in order to help Theseus escape the labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur. Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings for himself and his son, made of metal feather held to a leather frame by beeswax so they could escape. He warned his son not to follow his path of flight and not fly too close to the sun or too close to the sea, but, overcome by giddiness while flying, Icarus disobeyed his father and soared higher into the sky. The heat from the sun melted the beeswax, causing the wings to fall apart as he flew. Icarus ultimately fell into the sea and drowned. By Felix dying inside the labyrinth at Saltburn it becomes a parallel with the story of Icarus. (Also Felix’s father as a parallel of Daedalus). Felix went too close to the sun (the truth) so he would never come out alive from his attempt of leaving the labyrinth (or his twisted relationship with Oliver) just like Icarus did. Oliver, on the other hand, was the Minotaur. Forever locked in his scheme just like the Minotaur inside the labyrinth. Also there’s the fact that Oliver (the Minotaur) didn’t kill Felix with his very own hands, but let him die of poison in the champagne (liquid) by his own stupid decisions, just like Icarus fell and drowned at sea due to his own stupid decisions. This was Oliver’s plan/known territory just as it was the Minotaur’s in the labyrinth. He literally became the “beast” in and of the labyrinth.

This has to be the funniest movie review yet, I'm sitting here dying of laughter 😭😭

hot take? this movie was so phenomonal in it's scenes. even the most disturbing and disgusting scenes are just perfection.

babe the song farleigh chose is like really not random. it’s the reason it’s embarrassing and the different ways oliver and farleigh sing the song show how differently they see and react to being in that dynamic with the family

I think the scene with Oliver and Felix at the birthday party is a weird alternate nod to Romeo and Juliet. Romeo being Oliver and Felix being Juliet, the wings as a nod to the film version. Oliver poisons the alcohol bottle he has in his hand and drinks from it passing it over to Felix in order for him to drink it, but Oliver vomits it out knowing it could kill him. Juliet pretends to be dead but awakens to find Romeo dead but in saltburns version Romeo knowingly gives the poison to Juliet but she dies and Romeo awakens alive and unscathed.

The deer costume perhaps calls back to Barry Keoghan's role in The Kiling of A sacred Deer, where he plays a boy seemingly obsessed with a wealthy family as well (although for very different reasons)

For the deer antlers, i think it was supposed to resemble a minotaur. the minotaur ate people to survive, while oliver ate the rich. eating the rich stemming from “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.”

I was eating when the bathtub drain thing happened and I almost lost my food 💀 I understand the feeling of wanting to do something like that but I probably wouldn’t have rimmed the drain like that…or do it at all. The drain part is when I gagged though

The only thing I didn't like about the ending was the whole bond villain monologue which really cheapened the whole experience. The way it was directed made me feel like I was watching a totally different movie. If they cut the reveal scene and left it as it was, leaving it to our interpretation whether he really killed everyone etc, it would have been a perfect ending.

You’re description of the grave scene is truly the best performance of the year

The ending was predictable but I enjoyed watching this and it honestly wasn’t as weird as I had heard (maybe I am lol). There weren’t any moments where I was bored or uninterested. Fun watch, great actors, fantastic cinematography. Rosamund Pike killed it as always

Trin has had some amazing comedic moments but 14:27-14:33 non context might be a golden globe award 😭😭😭”and who the hell are you……WHAT THE FUCK?!?”

I went into this movie thinking it was a sweet love story… I DID NOT EXPECT THIS

“What if there was a clot” I woke up my house laughing

I think the grave fucking scene provides insight into the nature of personal obsession. It might be perceived as being about the object of obsession, but it's only ever about personal gratification for the obsessed, which helps to better understand the character, and provides some motivational foreshadowing to his later-revealed actions

I love how Saltburn not only tricks Felix into seeing Oliver as what he wants him to be. Saltburn also tricks the viewers into seeing Oliver as who we wanted him to be. Instead of who he really is.

I have not been able to get this movie out my head.

I feel like felix wearing an angel costume foreshadows his death in the movie bc angels are usually associated with death and the afterlife etc and the deer antlers that Oliver wears kind of try and make us perceive him as an innocent, weak and more harmless person than he actually is, maybe to try and redeem himself to felix after he found out about his lies and stuff ( but idk ) that's just how I perceived it when i watched it.

I was not expecting to hear half of what was said and almost threw up. 10/10 experience lol

I still don't get how people keep calling that ending a plot twist. It was plot reinforcement, if anything - the movie felt the need to explain in very simple language what we just watched, when there was never a need. As soon as Oliver planted that seed in Elspeth's head about Pamela's stories possibly being fake, I thought, "Aha! The movie is now very explicitly telling me that Pamela isn't the one with the self-pity and emotional blackmail, 'tis you Oliver Quick!" Everything that follows made sense and it eas unsurprising that he'd planned everything out as he did. His trysts with Farleigh and Venetia in particular were just part of his machinations to consume Felix wnd everything he stands for, to Oliver. He needed Farleigh out of the way, he needed to ingratiate himself to Elspeth, he had to maintain the image of a boy who's had a tough life that the rich people will pat themselves on the back for for extending their hospitality. Learning that Oliver is actually (at the very least) from a upper middle class family, was a little surprising only because his compulsion to consume Felix & all things Saltburn made a little more sense if he was truly impoverished/working class; he coveted all these things he'd never experienced before and saw himself as more worthy/fitting of them. I thought he was a poor guy who just *weaponised* his poverty and difficult circumstances, not someone who lied about them. (Also, is it just me who thought that Ollie killed Venetia and made it look like a suicide? I really thought he'd killed both the Saltburn kids.)

I thought about Oliver's costume as related to Theseus in a midsummer nights dream. He is the lover of Hippolyta (who Elspeth is costumed as) and compares his upcoming marriage to her as a long-awaited inheritance. This harkens to the relationship he will grow to have with Elspeth at the end of the movie which is also alluded to at his arrival of Saltburn when he pays Elspeth a compliment about her looks. In Greek mythology, Theseus' story portrays him slaying a minotaur (a horned creature that is half bull, half man). This really seals the deal for me when considering Oliver's costume and his real duality in the movie. His lightness and darkness is shown both in the actual lighting of the scenes as well as his actions and his love/hate for the family. Also, circling back to Theseus in the play, the complicated relationship between love and lust for value is also a theme in Oliver's character.

At 29:00, it’s such a compliment as an actor when people read a horribly disturbing and complex character and immediately think of you to fill the role 😂

this is the BEST Saltburn commentary idc! you thrive in this format, that you've lowkey pioneered 👀, your pov is always so entertaining and educational bc you go into filmmaking details & the writing, acting etc ❤

I agree that the vampire scene was put as more or less shock value. But I think the grave scene is in line with the bathtub scene. I think it shows just how much Oliver wanted to be with Felix. Not even in a sexual way, though the scene itself was, but how you mentioned he never touched Felix in more than a friendly way; he never got to have his obsession. So to me, the grave scene feels like a last resort. The one and only time he'll get to really be close to Felix

Did anyone notice that the very last shot of the movie shows Oliver playing with the puppets and behind him you can see he kept an item of each person who died at Saltburn like a serial killer with his tropheys? He's got Elspeth dress, Sir James armour, I think Felix wings and I dont remember what from Venetia. It kinda mirrores Venetia's statement that he is "attracted to shiny things" and "made his holes everywhere"

Barry Kehogan is the one who chose to ask for a closed set to “see what Oliver did.” An actor like Barry isn’t method, but in that moment when the scene is going, he is that person.

I screamed when she said and what if there’s a clot 😂😂😂😂

This movie reminded me of the movie “The talented mister Ripley” where the main character was in love with the upper echelon character Dickey to the point where he wanted to control him ended up killing him and then taking his identity.

On the edge of my seat… for this video!! Love you Trin 🤍

I agree with you that the ending of the movie was weird for abandoning the obsession with Felix so fast. I do however think there is another context to the final moments of the movie and that's Oliver's obsession with status. Oliver purposely lies to Felix about his family both to gain favour with Felix but also to put a magnifying glass to the social status that Felix has. I think if you view Oliver's obsession with Felix through the lens of him admiring the standing in society and the money and influence he and his family has, it would make sense that in the end his ultimate goal would be to strip all that away and take it for himself. I also love a good mastermind manipulator.

Another thing about the angel wings is he died shortly after. The deer thing also has 'deer in the headlights', he was caught in his lie and now Felix is mad at him, deer are definitely seen as very innocent and fragile and harmless, but if you hit one with your car you're still coming out pretty worse for wear and those horns can still do major damage.