Director/screenwriter Emerald Fennell appears to relish pushing all our buttons when she targets class envy and relentless obsession in this dark 2023 hybrid of black comedy and psychological thriller. Same as her directorial debut, "Promising Young Woman", the story centers on a fractured personality, this time a shy but resourceful Oxford scholarship student named Oliver, who latches on to Felix, a handsome party boy who comes from a filthy rich aristocratic family, the members of which lead vacuous, insulated lives. Plotwise, it's pretty obvious where the story is going, especially if you've seen "The Talented Mr. Ripley", but Fennell displays a wicked and often cavalier sense of humor in sorting out the fates of her ethically challenged characters. The film's more pressing problem though is how superficial the plot remains with only a minimum of emotional investment allocated. Regardless, the cast is game with Barry Keoghan properly elliptical as Oliver and Jacob Elordi effortlessly charismatic as Felix. However, as Felix's clueless parents, Richard E. Grant and especially Rosamund Pike steal the film with their shrewdly observed turns. Carey Mulligan shows up briefly as a forlorn Bohemian party guest. There are nice satirical jabs and genuinely uncomfortable moments, but the film just refuses to go deep.
Saltburn
(2023)
A Wicked Sense of Humor Doesn't Quite Offset a Superficial Thriller
27 December 2023