How many secrets can one family have? Filmmaker Emerald Fennell returns with “Saltburn,” a darkly comedic drama centered on a group of wealthy Oxford students who escape to a lush estate for the summer. A follow-up to her critically acclaimed effort “Promising Young Woman,” the upcoming project sees a hapless college student search for a welcoming clique; what he discovers is another student offering a different world and the prospect of an irresistible invitation. “Saltburn” finds a powerful producer in Margot Robbie — the actress not only led one of the year’s biggest films with “Barbie” but received a producer’s credit on the pop culture phenomenon.
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Fennell’s new film has an all-star cast — with Barry Keoghan starring as the lowly Oliver Quick; Keoghan received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Jacob Elordi, from “Euphoria” fame, portrays Felix Catton, the aristocratic student who brings Quick into his world.
Elordi can also be seen in the upcoming Sofia Coppola project “Priscilla,” which is premiering during the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan round out the cast of “Saltburn.”
What’s the tone? “The thing is, we’re all disgusting perverts, aren’t we?” Fennell told Vanity Fair this week about the way the film may make you squirm.
“If it feels real, if it feels like something you really might do alone in the grips of desire, then it doesn’t feel too much for me,” Fennell told VF. “For that completely overwhelming carnal desire to take hold, there has to be an element of revulsion; there has to be an element of transgression.”
The film’s official synopsis:
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.
A family estate is full of secrets in “Saltburn.” The film opens in theaters on November 24. Watch the new trailer below.
