Saltburn

What do you think?

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    33
Very uneven. Rosamund Pike is excellent - “I’ve never wanted to learn anything in my life” :D

But the difference between this and Parasite was that Parasite had very solid social commentary running through it, whereas this just seemed like a bit of nonsense really. Characters didn’t get the fates they deserved and this has left me dissatisfied. Oliver wasn’t a well-realised enough character to either root for or hate.
 
Suomi said:
Very uneven. Rosamund Pike is excellent - “I’ve never wanted to learn anything in my life” :D

But the difference between this and Parasite was that Parasite had very solid social commentary running through it, whereas this just seemed like a bit of nonsense really. Characters didn’t get the fates they deserved and this has left me dissatisfied. Oliver wasn’t a well-realised enough character to either root for or hate.
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I think partly that's because in Parasite you are privy to the thought process of the family, but in this it is a 'twist', so you can't be privy to that. I loved both and think despite the parallels that I drew earlier, they are aiming to do quite different things too.
 
Am I the only person who came away from this movie wanting to be madly rich and live their life? It seems so wonderfully frivolous.
 
Really enjoyed this overall but agreed that it felt slightly uneven and the odd part dragged.

Pike was the highlight- deliciously delivered lines, of which “"I was a lesbian for a while, you know, but it was all a bit too wet for me in the end.” was the highlight for me.

I feel like it wasn’t Oliver’s plan from the outset to end up where he did, but instead it was infatuation that led him to the end result. Firstly wanting to be Felix’s friend, then his boyfriend and gradually needing that more and more.
 
Yeah, the final "twist" of Oliver having planned it all from the very start (using the bike) didn't work for me and wasn't needed.
 
No room at the Finn said:
Oh I didn't take it to be that he'd planned it all from the start - just that he'd always engineered things to work for him. And I say GOOD FOR HIM
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That’s how I chose to view it, but the flashbacks kind of insinuated it could be read another way.
 
Well I enjoyed this but I might need a few days to dwell on it because my feelings on how good or how important it is as a film are kind of all over the place. That’s potentially a good thing - it’s certainly something that has stuck with me, but that might be my trigger of watching a scouser get bullied by a load of posh southerners :D

On one hand I agree with other reviews that said it didn’t do anything new, but at the same time, is that true, because
the way he manipulated everything was a bit of turning the spoilt excess generation story on its head?

One thing I can’t quite grasp though is the later story post the big death -
I think I missed bits of the reveal montage - did he know that Pike was ill or did he slowly kill her? I know he set up the meet in the cafe but did he kill her or was he just fortunate? Also did he kill the father? We’re lead to believe he caused everything but did he…?

I thought his accent was pretty good - I heard his Irish lilt come through now and again but I doubt most people could.
 
jivafox said:
Yeah, the final "twist" of Oliver having planned it all from the very start (using the bike) didn't work for me and wasn't needed.
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No room at the Finn said:
Oh I didn't take it to be that he'd planned it all from the start - just that he'd always engineered things to work for him. And I say GOOD FOR HIM
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Yes I think I am currently a combination of these feelings hence me overthinking it!
 
Also is Pike in the mix for Supporting Actress?

It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking or new but it was exactly the sort of scene stealing, script chewing iconic female supporting role that Hollywood likes to overhype and drool over.

I wouldn’t hate her winning either. I’m as much a sucker for that sort of role as Hollywood is
 
I Saw Funky Kissing Santa Claus said:
Well I enjoyed this but I might need a few days to dwell on it because my feelings on how good or how important it is as a film are kind of all over the place. That’s potentially a good thing - it’s certainly something that has stuck with me, but that might be my trigger of watching a scouser get bullied by a load of posh southerners :D

On one hand I agree with other reviews that said it didn’t do anything new, but at the same time, is that true, because
the way he manipulated everything was a bit of turning the spoilt excess generation story on its head?
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I think the point was that he knew he had to concoct a story of being from a poor and vulnerable background, as the super rich with a saviour complex never would have given him the time of day if they knew he was pretty well off with a loving family. Similar to how Poor Pamela and Farleigh became privileged by association with them.

Although isn’t it explained that Farleigh is a cousin of some sort, yet his mother apparently could barely afford to live?

While Felix certainly didn’t deserve his fate, it just got out of hand and Oliver had to save himself. I have no idea if Pike’s character was actually ill or he managed to orchestrate that. Not sure if we’re supposed to just assume. He clearly waited years to make contact again.
 
Not really a spoiler, but the whole Common People conversation doesn’t quite make sense. She’s claiming the song isn’t about her (to great amusement), but is she in turn pretending that people think it’s about her? Either way, the story is set in 2007 and her children are in their early 20s. So her chat about frolicking with all the Brit Pop bands oh so long ago (12 years maximum) was while she was married with children?
 
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@Elliez Navidad

Re your first para - I totally agree with that and I think you have summed it up better than me, and is probably what the director’s overall intention was - on paper that’s an amazing movie, but I think the execution was probably only 80% of that intention, mostly because of what you describe in the 3rd para - the director painted herself into a corner I think, between keeping it open and subtle, and hitting you over the head with Oliver’s ‘journey’
 
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Sheena said:
Really enjoyed this overall but agreed that it felt slightly uneven and the odd part dragged.

Pike was the highlight- deliciously delivered lines, of which “"I was a lesbian for a while, you know, but it was all a bit too wet for me in the end.” was the highlight for me.

I feel like it wasn’t Oliver’s plan from the outset to end up where he did, but instead it was infatuation that led him to the end result. Firstly wanting to be Felix’s friend, then his boyfriend and gradually needing that more and more.
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I didn't think he wanted to be Felix's friend or even his boyfriend, he did admit that he hated him. My take was that he wanted to be his friend initially, but after Felix invited him to Saltburn he wanted to have his wealth and status and to take over Saltburn, something he didn't really plan on doing until after he arrived.
 
I Saw Funky Kissing Santa Claus said:
I think I missed bits of the reveal montage - did he know that Pike was ill or did he slowly kill her? I know he set up the meet in the cafe but did he kill her or was he just fortunate? Also did he kill the father? We’re lead to believe he caused everything but did he…?

I thought his accent was pretty good - I heard his Irish lilt come through now and again but I doubt most people could.
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I don't think he
killed Sir James, it was quite ambiguous but Elspeth said after reuniting with Oliver that she was surprised he waited so long (after Felix and Venitia died) So he either died of old age or committed suicide.
 
rhythmbandit? I know him! said:
I don't think he
killed Sir James, it was quite ambiguous but Elspeth said after reuniting with Oliver that she was surprised he waited so long (after Felix and Venitia died) So he either died of old age or committed suicide.
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Yes, my read was
he committed suicide
 
I Saw Funky Kissing Santa Claus said:
Also is Pike in the mix for Supporting Actress?

It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking or new but it was exactly the sort of scene stealing, script chewing iconic female supporting role that Hollywood likes to overhype and drool over.

I wouldn’t hate her winning either. I’m as much a sucker for that sort of role as Hollywood is
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She’s ranking about 7th or 8th in most ‘prediction’ lists when I last looked so probably won’t make the list unless there’s a real surprise push for her in the next few weeks.
 
Well. That was something. I'd say it was a total:

0/10
1/10
2/10
3/10
4/10
5/10
6/10
7/10
8/10
9/10
10/10

Terrible. Would recommend.
 
Well I LOVED IT GIRLS!

It was silly, sexy, VIOLENT, there were beautiful people frolicking around to a great soundtrack for a gay of a certain age, lovely interiors AND a bitchy middle aged woman! Did I think it was a BITING SOCIAL SATIRE, no, did I expect that from someone called EMERALD FENNEL? Absolutely not.

I was more than happy to be spoonfed a TWISTED GAY FANTASY, it’s call me by your name on ket basically, who wouldn’t want that?
 
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