NEW YORK (OSV News) – In his classic 1945 novel “Brideshead Revisited,” Catholic author Evelyn Waugh charted the intense, quasi-romantic and possibly sexual bond between two male students at Oxford University. The premise of Waugh’s work is echoed in the black comedy “Saltburn” (Amazon MGM).
Yet the film’s central relationship has a far more bizarre upshot than that awaiting readers on the printed page.
In 2006, Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) begins life at the fabled seat of learning as an outsider. Hailing from the environs of Liverpool in Northern England, he lacks the economic and social background that would allow him entree into the University’s elite circles.
Eventually, however, Oliver manages to ingratiate himself with glamorous Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), one of his most popular fellow students. They party together throughout the term and, as summer vacation approaches, Oliver accepts Felix’s invitation to visit the lavish country estate of the title, his aristocratic clan’s family seat.
There, quirky characters are thick on the ground. High-strung mom Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) and dim dad James (Richard E. Grant) live in a world of their own. As for Felix’s sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), she’s not exactly a prude, as Oliver soon discovers.
Oliver has already met Felix’s cousin, Farleigh (Archie Madekwe), back on campus where they became instant antagonists, and rivals for Felix’s attention. Still, in the world of “Saltburn,” that doesn’t preclude them from evolving into frenemies — with benefits.
As Oliver negotiates his way through this labyrinth of strange mores — Saltburn’s maze serves as a physical counterpart to and symbol of his confusing new milieu — writer-director Emerald Fennell spins a clever yet acrid tale. Her clear artistic intent, however, is eventually eclipsed, from a Christian perspective, by other considerations.
Principally this has to do with the fact that the always freewheeling sexual behavior on display eventually lapses into stomach-churning perversity. Such gross deviance unfolds, moreover, against the backdrop of Fennell’s relentlessly bleak portrayal of human nature and the British class system.
As depressing as it is disordered, “Saltburn” rests on an elaborate but sinking foundation.
The film contains brief gore, aberrant sexual activity, masturbation, voyeurism, full male and rear nudity, several uses of profanity, numerous milder oaths as well as pervasive rough and occasional crude language. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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