In Saltburn, Barry Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, a student trying to find his niche at Oxford University. When he falls into the world of charming aristocrat Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), he’s invited to the sprawling estate from which the movie takes its title, and things – and baths – will never be the same again.
The film’s 71% Rotten Tomatoes rating indicates how divisive the movie was on release last year: people tend to either really love it or really hate it, without much ground in between. But if you’re in the mood for something a little different that’s as audacious as it’s entertaining, this best Prime Video movie is worth streaming.
What did the critics say about Saltburn?
“This Brideshead soup needs more seasoning”, The Guardian said: “the script could have used another all-nighter in the library.” The film is very watchable but “sometimes weirdly overheated and grandiose”. Empire felt much the same, arguing that the film is “a satirical thriller that leaves you holding your breath and rolling your eyes in equal measure… It doesn’t stick the landing, but the ride right before the nosedive is a properly enjoyable one.”
The Skinny recognised its flaws but had a great time nevertheless: “Derivative it may be – the plot is a salad of ideas pinched from Evelyn Waugh, Patricia Highsmith and Pasolini – you won’t be bored for a second.” And for MovieReelist: “This is a third date movie, where you’re comfortable watching other people put their genitals all over each other.”
While many critics felt that the film was patchy, their praise for Barry Keoghan was pretty much universal. The Observer spoke for many when it said that “the power of Barry Keoghan’s center-ring performance cannot be adequately over-praised”. The Wall Street Journal was similarly impressed. “Mr. Keoghan has an uncanny ability to come across as shifty and devious even in repose, and his performance is the key to the movie,” it said. MovieCrypt.com agreed: “Barry Keoghan is the star of this film, and he damn well knows it… well-acted, diabolical, and decadent, there’s an underlying sense of it being more of a dark fairy tale than anything taken too seriously.”
