I Got Lost Down the 'SALTBURN' Drain | Explained

so a few years ago I made a video about a movie called promising young woman by Emerald fennel it's a pretty divisive movie for how it handles its premise and a lot of people take great issue with its ending but I still really valued the jumping off point it provided for conversation and I am very proud of that video it was a video that required a lot of care and nuance and thought on how people might engage with that type of subject matter and salurn is not that but boy is there's still so much to talk about largely set in 2007 saltburn is a psychological black comedy written in directed by Emerald fennel that locks Us in with Oliver an awkward Oxford scholarship student who quickly becomes obsessed with the Charming and Wealthy Felix Katen when school ends for the summer Felix invites Oliver to saltburn estate where he's overwhelmed by the katton family's eccentricities and detached Behavior this is the type of wealth that doesn't really exist outside England exceedingly old family money that comes with the type of status that can't be purchase that just leads to people who have no real self-awareness or care to develop it but all too quickly the situation spir as the lines of control begin to blur it's a Gothic infused story of obsession and allc consuming desire demented first loves in the way we clutch to things that may not love us back and the destruction that that can cause then pushes The Fallout of those ideas further than you may have anticipated flipping the expectations of who's dominating who as Oliver just infects this family a wild ride of a movie that's just hoping to make you feel anything at all and based on these swaths of social media posts of varied reactions I'd say it succeeded because the audience engagement with this movie is almost as important as what the movie itself is doing our entertainment our shock our disgust and confusion why some people will walk away completely disgusted by Barry's character and others will end up being like mildly confused at how attracted they are to him or not confused about it at all if you're a little bit [ __ ] up the side note on emotionally similar material I believe that saltburn would make a great double feature with Eileen which is something I talked about almost a year ago at this point but it is finally released and we' just got Thomas and Mackenzie being a creepy little weirdo and maybe you'll get a full video on that if if you're interested let me know down below I had a blast catching this in theaters as a shared experience but I do think releasing it to a streaming service over the holidays was the perfect choice because we all got to watch the internet burn a little bit salt burn if you will that wasn't even set up I'm just an idiot it's easy to see why something like Cruel Intentions had such a huge place in Emerald psyche while she was working on this while it might feel more comfortable to reach for something like The Talented Mr Ripley I know a lot of people were looking for this movie to go deeper in that class area or upset that fennel didn't really leave much to chew on and maybe that's a fair critique but hey at least she left us with plenty to slurp on no I'm not sorry this is Cinema but unlike the cens I'm guessing you don't have swaths of multigenerational wealth so today's sponsor Ruck money is here to help you keep that hard-earned money rocket money is the personal finance app that helps you cancel subscriptions lower bills and manage your money better I know budgeting is something I have an impossible time with there's just so many little things that add up in a month that it can just feel so overwhelming to even try Barona money will analyze your spending and use that information to customize a budget that matches your lifestyle and makes it easier to see the areas you might be overspending I know I spend way too much money on food delivery which is something I'm sure some people can relate to but with rocket money you can set up goals in different spending categories and they'll send notifications when you're getting close to those limits so not only do you save money but you actively get to see the progress you're making and one of the bigger benefits they'll track and manage your monthly subscription so if there's things you're paying for that you're not using they make it easy to cancel in just a couple clicks putting that money back in your pocket there's really no better time a year to start taking control of your finances so let rocket money give you the tools to make it happen by heading to Rocket money.com Amanda thee Jedi or clicking the link in the description down below to get started for free no complaints aside I do actually think there's a fair amount to engage with in this movie it may just not be in the way you want it the movie absolutely uses class and power imbalances but it's not trying to be an Eat the Rich story that so many people want it to be or believe it was though I suppose in the literal sense it's absolutely an ether story I'm sorry I just think it's way more interested how that status interacts with desire it's not about dismantling or changing the Status Quo it's Obsession for things we love and can't have and how destructive that can be which is kind of a good thing because Oliver the closest thing we'd have to an audience insert is completely [ __ ] unhinged and that's where the fun is however I am unintentionally going to go down some thought holes in this video that sounds like I'm fighting for my life in an English exam when my main takeaway about this movie was wow that was wild what a little weirdo beloved or hated I think the strengths of saltburn come more from the ride that it takes you on I can understand an argument about it being more style than substance that some of the logistics get sloppy but I also think some people are just like really misreading aspects of the movie and yeah some of that might be the movie's fault but the more I found myself trying to justify every little thought I've had with pieces of the script things emerald and the cast have said things happening in the background of shots the more I started to annoy the hell out of myself what started as a little hey it's not perfect but I had fun became some convoluted mess that I haven't been able to pull my myself out of I have all these pieces and now I'm lost in them quite all right lots of people get lost in salurn just completely spiraled with it like I went through my pictures from 2007 to immerse myself in the digital camera error Vibes and found that I had for some reason taken a picture of a super bad billboard before the movie even came out just like they're watching it before a screener copy was ever available is the movie trying to communicate with my past the numbers Mason what do they mean so I'm going to go through it all mostly and try to take you along that Journey the iconic moments that have earned their own titles like the Vampire scene in tubs slurp some creative details character choices I'll even weave in some of the script it may not be perfect but Emerald knows how to write a Snappy piece of media and pulls you into the mood of the world she's operating in and I appreciate that maybe people are overamping the twist that isn't that twisty and I've seen people compare it to a bigger budget CW Show but you know what if Riverdale had Emerald finel as a writer maybe things would have turned out different I don't know what I'm saying anymore but before I keep Ram ring let's just dive in with some light thoughts I had now I know people are really focused on the more shocking moments for understandable reasons but I do think some of the stuff that hits the hardest is a lot more subtle like the egg scene or karaoke night and then there's just the funny moments that I'd like to see more highlights on I was a lesbian for a while you know but it was all just too wet for me in the end men are so lovely and dry one of my favorite things about this movie is how well each actor works with their character you can see how they helped flesh out the vision that they really care about them even when they're terrible but it obviously all hinges on Barry kyogen and yes he pronounces the G in his name I've been sass for that before but not today anyways it hinges on him and he is perfect he masterfully works through every aspect required of his character he's got a face and posture that can be used in so many different ways he Cycles through unassuming an awkward uncomfortable and creepy Sinister and threatening handsome and charming and he's doing it all in this movie but always with a little unsettling undercurrent something that ends up being the downfall to so many in this movie because they just couldn't conceive a situation where they weren't in control you'll notice this movie does a lot with Reflections and double images with Oliver making the distinction between what people see on the surface and what's scheming underneath we'll touch more on some of those performances as we go but let's dive into the movie which means spoilers now I feel like there's one major misconception about this movie's ending that I'll be addressing but I feel like I need to say what the misconception is now and then work my way through the movie to back it up I won't tell you everything about the ending but I will give you a chance to kind of like maybe go watch it and come back if for some reason my spoiler warning wasn't up but the general idea is that by the end most of the cens are gone and Oliver is the new owner of saltburn weaving an elaborate explanation of how it was all a grand plan but I don't think that's really the case and emerald finel would agree this is primarily a twisted first love that's just founded in that like lust and Obsession and what makes it spiral out of control so just to clarify cuz I know I've seen people being like I didn't see any love there it's not like a traditional like pure love Oliver is a little wacko and that obviously translates into how he would Express and feel and engage with love but the movie opens with him talking about Felix it seems like he might be getting interviewed but we get the impression that he's no longer around and Oliver is trying to stress that while he loved Felix he wasn't in love with him this is a very important piece of information because it lets us know he absolutely was in love with Felix and that we can't trust everything he says because he's lying to himself right from the Jump the movie is letting us know that Felix is the essential piece to the story not saltburn the montages that accompany this opening scene really just drive that home how perfectly he sees Felix smiling Charming then twisting to the moments of Oliver stalking around and smashing mirrors bringing us back to him arriving at Oxford and him immediately being othered he's awkward and nerdy not the put together man we just met people insult his clothing clicks are long formed and nobody wants anything to do with them except this exceedingly aggressive young man named Michael I don't even like MTH really I can just do it ask me a some you're okay come on no I believe [ __ ] me at this point we feel bad for all of he's clearly happy to be at this prestigious University he's a dedicated student but isn't being seen the way he wants even his Professor is more interested in seeking glamour than doing his job gossiping with Felix's cousin Farley about his mother she's going to be thrilled that up being tuted by one of her friends oh no not uh friend more uh admirer no one in this movie is free of desire and lusting for more and well the disame between Farley and Oliver is mutual Oliver can't help but be drawn to Felix whether H his looks easy charm Lively social group or all that and more Oliver is enamored and Jacob Ali just really pulls off that wealthy charmer with nothing to prove because Felix never considered needing to there's no insecurity because he avoids self-reflection and he's always gotten what he wants and that lack of awareness means that he can treat people with a casual cruelty he doesn't even realize making him naive to potential consequences I don't necessarily think he's a bad person I just think he's severely disconnected but Felix remains completely oblivious to Oliver's existence until he comes across Felix with a flat tire and lands him his bike I'll just get from you later you're my college so am I yeah earning Oliver receded the pub despite Farley's protests this is my [ __ ] hero right here I was just telling everyone how you saved my ass yesterday in my all accounts Felix seems like a great guy he realizes that Oliver might not have the money to pay for shots so he pretends to find Oliver's money on the ground so we won't feel embarrassed pay but tomorrow I know what you're talking about me thank you o but it sets the stage for this kind of Savior complex that Felix has and Oliver becomes the prime Mary outlet for with his drug dealer parents overcoming it all to get to Oxford your [ __ ] inspiration mate seriously thank you very cool and just like that Oliver swept up into an exciting world of parties and friends it's everything he wanted he finally fits in he belongs or so he thinks while Felix does seem to enjoy Oliver's Company the feeling may not extend to the whole group and it becomes clear that Felix might kind of see people like accessories he'll get bored of you excuse me we're giving the impression that it's happened before and now he's doing it to ol the same day he does it to a girl he's been seeing the same girl that was judging him for being poor but the shared betrayal pushes them together as substitutes for who they'd rather be with that desire for someone they can't have the way they want to have them she's just not quite as aware of that fact do you think he'll be jealous I don't think I'll even [ __ ] register it's a moment for us and Oliver to see who Felix really is but instead of moving on it just makes him more desperate to get back in Felix's Graces this is Obsession he's as deluded as he is infatuated almost equal desires of lust for him as there is to be him so Oli realizes that his mistake was probably trying to clean Felix's room he doesn't like feeling like a child even though his entire home life involves people cleaning up after him only rich people can afford to be this filthy only [ __ ] stop I'm not a [ __ ] child I can do it myself so Oliver needs to find a way to flip that Dynamic back and uh conveniently his father dying provides just that opportunity you think you'll go home I don't think I'll ever go home again Felix just feels so bad that Oliver doesn't feel like he has a home to go back to so he invites him to salt burn so off to the land of riches he goes and just knowing Felix is wealthy can't begin to prepare him or us for exactly how wealthy that old money is it's literally a castle completely overwhelming and if you thought being a guest would earn him respect no Duncan the butler just has instant disdain for him then it's just the way that Felix casually tours through the estate as if it's a spare bedroom and not this Grand Castle loaded with history the catons are the ultra ultra wealthy luxurious but also try to downplay it in weird ways like huddling together in a small room on a small TV but then having Black Tie dinners every night dress for dinner yeah it's like it's like black tie and then it doesn't seem like anybody wants to engage with him as an actual person like venisha the sister views him as a specimen eleth the mother a former model is just so horny for the details of his life tragedy veiled his concern an echo of what we saw Felix do earlier in the movie sounds awful really was it was it was it awful I can't imagine anyone more perfect for elith than Rosman Pike there's just an Elegance to her as as she says the most disconnected things to the people around her like her casual comments about people thinking the song common people was written about her but she came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge it couldn't have been me I've never wanted to know anything which in line she apparently helped right but it echoed Felix's statement that a lot of evil and W characters are based on his family Brides had Revisited probably came to a lot of people's minds that were familiar while watching this movie even when she's dishing out an insult it can come across as a compliment which just makes it all the more uncomfortable but it's just so many little interactions that leave Oliver feeling embarrassed and shamed even though he has no way of knowing how they do things can I get a full English breakfast too please breakfast is on the side Dunning but just like with Felix he wants these people to like him so he's willing to entertain and put on a show to cement his welcome because everyone outside the direct family is performing for their place Farley's mother was cut off after she wasted through her money in America and a chunk of Felix's father's too so while he does live at saltburn and Sir James funds' education he still needs to play the game to maintain his lifestyle there's also the added layer that comes from Farley being the only not white family member while also being the only one that has to beg for what he feels was his from birth my father has been more generous than most people would be also drawing attention to how ridiculous it is that Sir James wants Farley's mom to learn to support herself when he's never had to work a day in his life then there's ele's friend poor dear Pamela who clearly overstay her welcome but doesn't quite have the ability to leave partially because she doesn't know how to take care of herself and partially because she's hiding from her violent Russian billionaire Ex two fun facts about that I love that Carrie Mulligan read this script as a friend and said she's for me and then I also love that she's always referred to as poor dear pamet in the script as her title but the second that Oliver arrives you can see that picking order shift Oliver's the new toy while Pamela's been relegated to tracking down tea then I just feel like saltburn itself becomes an entity Emerald finel points out that the entire house is built for voyerism these Estates are designed so the wealthy never see the staff but the staff needs to see everything to do their jobs and slip out unnoticed so no matter where you are and what you're doing there's a chance someone's watching can I help you they then took this one step further by building that bathroom so the tub could be dead center instead of tucked in a corner mirrors on both sides so you can always see behind you making way for the infamous bathtub scene Oliver watching Felix pleasure himself bathed in light then slurping up the remnants before they escape down the drain and for me it's not necessarily the slurping that goes too far it's really the tonging the dirty drain and obviously that was getting a lot of reactions but I must let you know that Emerald sees this whole scene as deeply erotic and not particularly shocking and I feel like I just want to have a conversation with her about that but uh you know at least we're not forgetting what a little weirdo he is that there's definitely more at play here than just I want big house and in some ways I do kind of see where she's coming from that Oliver's desire and obsession is so extensive that it would push into acts that are wildly intimate and also revolting something no one should see in a Time interview finel Loosely quotes Katherine Brea's movie romance that sexual tension isn't between two people it's between desire and revulsion and I don't know if this is quite what that would apply to and I'm certainly not saying that Oliver isn't a creepy little weirdo in this moment and it is just the tension between that desire and revulsion that this movie is aiming for yeah that's right we just aim for some Nuance with ctub we're having fun but I find the idea of voyerism in this movie just really interesting in relation to the time period like it's taking place in 2007 a moment just before smartphones kicked off and changed the way we engage with the world entirely now so much of what would normally be in potentially should still be private is blasted out for the world to see the lack of self-awareness this family experiences their distaste with acknowledging exactly how ridiculously out of touch they are easily could have been undercut by one ill- worded tweet but this is where we start to see Oliver playing the game he sees how Pamela overstate her welcome even if they don't directly say it and she knows it too you must be desperate to be rid of us and find your own place I quite understand add in how he's been told multiple times that Felix has a tendency of getting bored with these different summer projects I think I like you even more than last year's one nice so he doesn't just need to stay interesting to Felix he needs to gain everyone else's favor too sneaking around the estate to read books about things Sir James is interested in do you mean Bennett paly the 16th century Hugo ceramist yes do you know him learning that venisha has an eating disorder and manipulating that to make her feel vulnerable so we can build her back up that we just have to comment on how eleth describes her own daughter's disorder oh have fingers for pudding I I didn't know but exactly hasn't even helped complete waste of time like this is just Petty gossip and not her daughter's physical and mental well-being this whole scene is fascinating her wild comments all of her seeming to go for seduction before Switching gears when the pause lasts beat too long because you're so [ __ ] beautiful commenting that elth shouldn't feel bad sending Pamela away because it seemed like she may have been exaggerating her stories for sympathy for foreshadowing I thought you noticed it too oh yes I had absolutely something she absolutely hadn't thought of but takes great comfort in his comments to clear her guilt but it shows how much of a cautionary tale poor dear Pamela is for him he can't get by on being pathetic and less fortunate alone he has to be what they all want or at least what he thinks they all want with venisha it comes down to wanting to be seen to be beautiful and Oliver gives her that in the most extreme way with the Vampire scene it's lucky for you I'm a vampire which again transgresses into that area of disgust of shock of going too far but it's used so Venicia sees that he finds every piece of her to be beautiful and arousing even the parts others would find disgusting I think he probably could have just left it to the finger banging but Emerald really wanted to push that idea of worshiping every aspect of her body but to that I say no thank you keep those spies away from my mouth at this point he's already made her vulnerable by revealing that he's aware of her eating disorder going that step further isn't something she's experienced before and now she's the one looking for his approval but back to voyerism this whole event happened in plain sight of Farley's bedroom you stupid little boy and obviously goes right to tell Felix knowing he'll be upset because this same situation as ruined a friendship before but with no struggle oi lies right through it topped off with little compliment for Farley so Felix doesn't even have to be stressed about further conflict so much to show us that Oliver is nowhere near as vulnerable as we may have initially assumed but it's clear that Farley is a direct threat so Oliver calls him out and extends a little bit of a flirty Olive Branch leading right into that karaoke scene that is so impactful Farley has him seeing rent by the Pet Shop Boys and Oliver is the last one to realize what he's been set up for as an awkward embarrassment settles around the room I love you you pay my rent wooo this is your song as well Farley come finish it he's right that it also applies to Farley but it is still an ego blow Oliver is livid every time he thinks he's getting a little bit of control something happens to just cut him down he can't handle that so Farley's going to have to go are you going to behave from now on Farley no this definitely does it for Farley in some way but this wasn't to seduce him like with venisha Oliver just wanted access to his cell phone because the next morning Farley's being ushered away for trying to sell off rare items from the estate they confirmed that Oliver was behind this later but it felt very obvious in the moment but even with Farley gone there's just no way to keep everyone equally entertained at least not in the way that Oliver is approaching it like he immediately had to back off Venicia and she has no interest being a secret he loves her the second he started paying full attention to Felix the next day I mean he never liked sharing his toys even the ones he doesn't want to play with anymore Sir James is still mostly neutral Duncan never come around on him but it all falls apart when Felix's surprise for oie's birthday is visiting his mom to repair their relationship you've been ignoring our calls for weeks and I I just thought that maybe I could help the Savior complex that built Oliver up is the exact thing that's going to break them because the big reveal is something that I find bigger than what we end up seeing at at the end Oliver's family is completely and totally average there's no drugs no poverty just aggressively normal like the script says oh and his dad very much alive it's so awkward but also this was foreshadowed when the rock Felix gave him to throw on the water as a funeral tradition didn't go in the river because he wasn't actually dead well that can't be good Oliver wanted an inn he wanted to be interesting to Felix he really wanted to be overcoming some kind of adversity and there is nothing interesting in aggressive normality right after someone said their family was the basis for the works of a famous author so he spins this lie and it just kept growing I just wanted to be a friend it is absolutely unhinged Behavior like we know he's been lying to get what he wants while he's at saltburn but now we know how far that actually extends they didn't know what to do with imit his school it was so clever you know it's kind of a normal thing to see University as an opportunity to reinvent yourself but there's a limit now some people think he exaggerated everything like right from the moment he arrived but I do think he spent most of his life being this awkward nerd without many friends who kind of rejected his family just based on what his parents have said and he's even putting them through lies saying that he was the top scholar he's doing plays on the rowing team it's also terribly awkward and I feel so bad for the parents but just Oliver got this taste of the reality he wants the person he wants to be and now it's just being ripped away but to keep up appearances Felix says they need to make it through Oliver's party and this is where everything hard shifts Oliver's humiliated multiple times when realizes that Farley's been invited back I the can't oh Oliver this place you know it's not for you humiliated again when not one of the guests knows his name [ __ ] I can't remember his name Happ all topped off with his final please for Felix to accept and forgive him to see what he's done for him just completely shut down I just gave you what you wanted everyone puts on a show for Felix so I'm sorry my performance wasn't good enough you make my [ __ ] blood run cold it doesn't matter what he does how hard he tries all his little manipulations he'll never be one of them but before he can be sent on his way the following morning Felix's body is found in the Maze dead of an overdose exactly where Oliver left him so whatever went down Oliver seems equal parts guilty and devastated but we are about to see the extent that elth and Sir James ignore unpleasantness it was touched on when they sent Farley away what happens if I bring them up they W what a glorious day then there's the comment made after they find out Pamela died I'm not died she do anything for attention which is particularly cruel considering she was probably killed by her ex-boyfriend one of his business partners started sort of falling out of Windows daddy always said that end up at the bottom of the TS this whole estate runs onc concealing reality the way the mirror is repaired by the time Oliver gets back to his room as if nothing ever happened and now just insisting that they eat lunch as their son's body is being carded out of a maze casual conversation to avoid having to deal with any of it and Oliver just plays right along I don't normally like chocolate cake yes it can be gling can't it and it's just so unsettling how casual he's able to be like people are barely holding themselves together Venicia just spilling over the glass with wine the blinds bathing the whole room in a blood red we haven't finished lunch but lunch is cold will you be quiet sit down and eat the bloody pie just eat it before Farley is permanently banished from saltburn after Oliver reveals that he's the one who had drugs at the party I would mention this to the police that's all you'll get ever again but even with Farley gone it's not enough for Oliver to be in the family he can't mourn the loss with them and like obviously dude you're just this guy they brought home for the summer along with Reflections this movie also ties in doppelgangers as death Omens they have a whole conversation about a maid seeing the poet Shell's doppelganger only to have him die a few hours later while abroad and while this conversation is taking place someone who looks just like Felix walks by the window window foreshadowing his death and symbolic replacement Shel walked past the window and waved at her though you could say that the way the movie starts was just always referring to Felix in the past tense that you could have assumed he was already dead but it was fun but it leads to the third scene that people just can't stop coming back to fornicating with the grave and as absurd as it sounds there are a range of emotions here it's weeping over the loss of this love and Obsession the grief he feels the desperation to be close to Felix again trying to get something out of a situation that's never going to change his body racked with sobs Barry said that it's not about getting off with the grave it's just that Oliver literally has no idea to do with all that energy from the obsession anymore that he knows what he's doing is wrong and appalling but it's just raw emotion the destructive side of loving things and people that can never love us back finel specifically wanted the moment to tie back into Catholic literature where Sex and Death are so often linked specifically mentioning heathcliffe trying to dig to Catherine's confin in withering Heights which is funny because I hated that book so much in high school but it is exact ly what that moment reminded me of yes obviously it's also funny in an uncomfortable way it's disgusting and a violation but it plays through that absurdity by immediately having him pick dirt off his pants in the next scene yeah obviously they're going for a degree of shock value even if they don't want to like openly say that but you know I'm fine with that this is where I feel like the desire for saltburn itself starts to build if Felix was his obsession and connection to this life he loves those emotions have to go somewhere new and if he's going to keep getting shut out by it what is the thing those people who are shutting him out care about the most most and with Farley making it abundantly clear that none of this is for him the fixation makes sense at this point the only Lifeline he has is elsabeth wanting him around for Comfort everyone else thinks it's a little bit weird he's still here and the scene with visha was really fun to read because he's still not sure where he falls with her is she upset and trying to provoke him into intimacy will they find comfort in each other is it a game or just cruel honesty you only knew him for 6 months you hardly knew him moly she just sees him as something so little little an infection that's worked its way through the entire house and he just he hates that feeling of humiliation but then she's gone too she said it herself she couldn't live without him and what follows is super Twisted Sir James wants him to go so that they can grieve their children as a family but elsabeth just kind of been like clinging to him for support to ignore it and Oliver uses that to refuse leaving you won't go I don't see how I come so Sir James has to pay him off presumably with enough to set up a nice life and then he finally agrees to go and then not until years later when Oliver sees that Sir James has passed that he reconnects with eleth but you're all grown up you of course you're grown up of course it's heartbreaking being so happy to see him doing well than realizing he grew up and that her children never will but it's in that moment of shared unhappiness that she invites him back to saltburn when it's revealed that it's her body in a coma that he's been talking to I once again had to switch location and decided to do some ambient lighting for the occasion so this is absolutely where things get messy but allow me to work through my thoughts Oliver starts revealing this grand plan of all the ways he manipulated the family that we didn't directly see but you have to remember that this entire movie started out with a lie him lying about his emotions for Felix his desire to downplay those emotions and refusal to see his own issues will absolutely affect how he's presenting things to us so when he poked the hole in Felix's Tire a lot of people took that as him targeting saltburn before he'd ever been there but he clearly just wanted a reason for Felix to talk to him to see him positively I love you I love you I love you I loved them by God I loved them and then he lies about not having money so Felix can repay the kindness and then he says his dad dies to regain the attention and then he finds ways to manipulate people in the family to like him and then he sets up Farley to be kicked out for humiliating him and then and then as fenel says it's the rejection the constant humiliation being denied that life he so badly wants that evolves into the desire for saltburn to take away what they love after Felix is dead you can say there wasn't a clear enough transition from wanting Felix and to fit into wanting saltburn itself and that's fair there's absolutely things could be fleshed out more and the movie potentially prioritizes the oh my God no way experience but I don't think this was trying to show a perfectly executed decade long scheme Sir James didn't die for about 15 years after Oliver left salurn he had no hand in that he just uses it as an opportunity to orchestrate running into elith because I think those 15 years built up a lot of animosity the exact thing Farley told him would happen at the party it is an anecdote you'll bore your fat kids with a Christmas and you'll cling on to it but you don't get it back Oliver is just not someone who's ever going to honestly engage with the things he's done how hurt he actually was by it all so he's going to reframe it so it seems more like this triumphant master plan the only full moments of honesty we're getting from Oliver is when he reflects on the moments he hated Felix because Felix didn't love him back because he discarded him a hate that can only come because of how all consuming those emotions were but again not a pure love it's an obsessive desire that leads him to drugging the champagne that killed Felix he refused to be rejected in that way again unhinged then we get to Venicia and she is already breaking down when Oliver says he leaves the razor blades next to her in the tub she belittled him so he nudged her along not to downplay what happened but a lot of people think he physically did it but I don't think that's the case I think he just like left things there for her to do it herself up to now where it seems like he's slowly been poisoning elith based on how quickly she declined but not until she names him heir of saltburn I just think it's easier to tell himself that he always hated all of them when he did so badly want to be one of them he doesn't want to admit how parasitic he is as much as the cens refuse to acknowledge how they treat people and I think the scene with eleth is actually one of the more unsettling just ripping out the breathing tube is absolutely his biggest Act of desecration and I know some people's instant reaction was like oh damn that's crazy but he's still performing this isn't honesty he's rewriting history so he's the Victor and not the one who was made to feel humiliated and small that he lost his obsession in the idealized life that came with it so I think this reveal moment was absolutely for shock value it gets messy the more you think about it there's so many different ways that people can get lost in different assumptions but I won't say it wasn't a fun ride before we cut back to saltburn thesis killing the minur definitely some added symbolism here it seems like Oliver is the minor the body was even based off his just looming over Felix but then it seems to flip Felix or the family as a whole as the minaur to be defeated and like thesias Oliver going on to usurp the crown but he sends to his throne by dancing around naked to murder on the Dance Floor a recall to the tour Felix gave all those years ago and yeah he's a creepy little weirdo he Dove back into Lake to get all their funeral rocks and props them on the cat and Dancer box perfectly in their places to finally be performing for him very fun little moment but I know one of the things throwing people off is Emerald saying that if they done their jobs right you're on Oliver's side and I'm just going to take take that as people loving a good villain that you just get so swept up in the weirdo stuff you can't wait to see what he does next not that you think he's actually good or should win cuz he doesn't really do that he may have established the territory and thinks he's having the last laugh but he didn't get what he wanted so he tried to become it instead I promise I'll look after this house just as Felix would have as fun as that was I prefer the original idea for the ending that he heads down to breakfast saltburn his only to have Duncan serve him the same runny sunny side up eggs instead of the OV easy he asked for doesn't matter what a piece of paper says he'll never be what he so desperately covets he'll never have full control and Duncan is very aware of what he's done and I know they changed it because they wanted him to have this triumphant moment but I don't think he needed a complete one like let him have the fun dance but then sober it with the eggs because even Emerald's the first to say that this is a hollow Victory so I suppose my main complaint would just be to do a little bit more for something that shows so much in the end I think it lacks some connective tissue to make parts of it feel more satisfying I also think that would help with people walking away thinking his entire intention was to get saltburn and that's what every aspect of his manipulation was for tell me friends what does tub slurping have to do with getting a house but I can't deny that I got swept up in that style there's all sorts of little visual nods oliv the deer prey that was actually the Predator the changeling boy fought over for entertainment eleth as Queen tatan wanting to help her less fortunate projects but I guess i' take a little bit less of that metaphorical inclusion just to really iron out a few more moments with those characters in the story and all that was really just to say I thought that was a fun ride I had a blast I know it's not perfect but I don't care as long as there's enough substance to tie that style together which I believe there was I'm going to let it ride I think you can argue that there's movies who do a lot of these core ideas better or engage with it in a different way and are trying to make a point but I don't think everything needs to be trying to say something on like a higher level I think it's fine for it just to be about destructive Obsession and how the Caton's disconnected entitlement made them naive to the threat and it's obviously fine if you did want a lot more and this movie just doesn't work for you I'm not going to call you out on that I'm just saying why I enjoyed it but let me know what you guys are thinking down below did you love this movie did you hate it did you fall somewhere in between it's been a lot of interesting discussions around this movie but thank you all so much for watching thanks again to Rocket money for sponsoring the video check them out down below thanks as always to my patreon supporters and YouTube channel members subscribe to the channel if you're new leave a like on the video if you're into that kind of thing all my social medias are down below if you want to follow me there I hope you're all having a fantastic day I'm mostly okay and we'll catch you all later

Channel: Amanda the Jedi

Views: 328,868

Keywords: Saltburn, saltburn movie, saltburn review, saltburn is wild, barry keoghan saltburn, jacob elordi saltburn, saltburn grave, saltburn tub, felix and oliver saltburn, greek tragedy saltburn, amanda the jedi saltburn, emerald fennell, promising young woman amanda the jedi, carey mulligan, rosamund pike, i lost my mind in saltburb, you're wrong about saltburn

Id: wGG4_nHAb7Y

Length: 34min 40sec (2080 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2024