We take a look at what is being said about Emerald Fennell’s new film.
The Guardian: *** “The heavily drawn-out ending feels uncertain, requiring a new tragic mood of solemnity and composed of a broadly guessable twist which relies on there being an absence of anyone in or out of authority showing a normal level of curiosity. Well, the entire cast give it their very professional all, and what great stuff from Pike.”
The Independent: **** “Saltburn is a tale of hubris, and the half-bull, half-man monstrosity of ancient myth was a punishment by the gods for Crete’s ungrateful riches, created through an act of perverse sexuality. Oliver is Saltburn’s very own Minotaur – an unnatural force birthed purely to gobble up the wealthy and spit out their bones. It’s a delight to watch him roam.”
New York Post: ““Saltburn,” itself, sheds light on what makes Fennell tick as a filmmaker. Lest you think she is a writer and director mostly concerned with feminist stories (in addition to “Promising Young Woman,” she also wrote Broadway’s “Bad Cinderella”) or, more broadly, big issues, her latest film shows a different side — Fennell is a supremely gifted entertainer.”
Rogerebert.com: *** “deliciously, wickedly mean—seductive and often surreal—with lush production values and lacerating performances.”
The FT: “Whenever this half of the cast appear, the tone shifts into a light comic register, relaxing an otherwise try-hard movie. Inspired one-liners glint from the script, with the sense of the Tatler inside track. The result is a hugely enjoyable 20-minute sitcom.”
The Telegraph: ***** “With echoes of Brideshead and The Talented Mr Ripley, Emerald Fennell’s anarchic class satire is the shot in the arm British cinema needs.”
Empire: *** “Appropriately for such a decadent setting, Saltburn looks divine. Fennell’s eye is extraordinary, and alongside cinematographer Linus Sandgren, she captures the grand beauty of her architectural locations impeccably. Reflections, overhead angles, kaleidoscopes and more put you in Oliver’s fractured state of mind.”
BBC.com: **** “Still, if you see it as a lurid pulp fantasy rather than a penetrating satire, then Saltburn is deliriously enjoyable. It’s the dialogue and the performances that clinch it. Oliver is awestruck when he sees the priceless Old Masters on the house’s oak-panelled walls. Every scene in which Pike, Grant and Mulligan compete to be the most obnoxious may prompt the same reaction in the viewer.”
Evening Standard: **** “There’s an embarrassment of riches in the film’s aesthetic, from the satisfying mid-Noughties needle drops ranging from Girls Aloud to Bloc Party and MGMT, to the visual language owing a debt to Call Me By Your Name as much as Euphoria. It’s in service of the dizzying adventure of a story, undoubtedly wrestling with class and deception as much as desire and the plain silliness of youth. It’s all there, but one of the greatest pleasures of Saltburn is just being invited to the party.”
Variety.com: “Confronted with a sea of blandly indistinguishable content, Fennell wants to make an impression, embracing the “bizart-house” strategy (pioneered by boundary-pushing A24 movies) of baiting audiences with something they’ve never seen before, and which they’ll be obliged to discuss with others. It’s all part of the meme-ification of movies, and Fennell seems fairly savvy about loading the film with salty one-liners and visual zingers.”
The Daily Mail: *** “At its funniest it’s a proper hoot, and at its darkest, it’s still strangely compelling.”
Saltburn is out in cinemas now.