A student at Oxford University finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, who invites him to his eccentric family’s sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.

‘Saltburn’, Emerald Fennell’s follow up to ‘Promising Young Woman’ is a deliciously dark and comedic tale of lust, betrayal and the incredibly wealthy, that is instantly much more than the modern take on a period drama that you may have worried it was from the trailer. Centering on a young university student who becomes infatuated with a fellow student, this is a sharply written psychological drama that firmly demonstrates that Fennell’s success with her debut was anything but a one-off.

‘Saltburn’ stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, in a role that further cements his growing reputation as one of the best actors around today. He has recently started at Oxford University in the mid-2000s and he immediately feels like one of the odd ones out, coming from a poorer background and lacking the connections that many of his fellow students have. One of those students is Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a charming, good looking and popular guy who is the classic example of ‘the girls want to be with him and the guys want to be him (or perhaps with him too!)’, and Oliver is no exception. He starts to develop a friendship with Felix after a chance encounter with a punctured bicycle (‘on a hillside desolate’), which leads to an invite to spend summer at Felix’s family estate called ‘Saltburn’, and this is where the games really start.

I liked a lot about ‘Saltburn’, from the brilliant 2000s indie soundtrack to the excellent casting (Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant as Felix’s parents are both brilliant), but where it really excels is in its terrific screenplay which had me in the palm of its hand from the minute Oliver stepped through Saltburn’s front doors. It plays around with our perceptions of who is manipulating who, who is obsessed with who, and can two people be playing each other at the same time, with Fennell not afraid to really push the boundaries. There are shades of ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ in how sexuality and identity both complicate and drive the relationships between these characters and I was gripped from start to finish.

‘Saltburn’ is an excellent follow up to ‘Promising Young Woman’, and another brilliantly entertaining movie from Emerald Fennell.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Emerald Fennell

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Paul Rhys, Ewan Mitchell and Carey Mulligan

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt17351924/