When I first saw Barry Keoghan in action, it was in Marvel’s 2021 disasterclass The Eternals. It would have been difficult for anybody to shine in what will go down as one of the worst films ever made, but the Irishman did not look individually good either. Being naive as I was, I assumed he was a bumbling low-paying actor hired for a relatively futile role.
Thankfully, my horizons have been expanded – Keoghan was, for example, outstanding in The Banshees of Inisherin last year. It was 2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer, however, which very much set the standard for what we can expect from him in psychological thrillers, and he has certainly made use of the building blocks he put down in that movie in his latest outing.
Keoghan is the star of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, a riveting black comedy full of drama and eye-catching set designs. He thrives in weirdness, expertly moulding into yet another unhinged character whose social ineptitude catapult us into an exhilarating plot.
He is ably assisted by an on-form cast. Rosamund Pike puts every ounce of her acting prowess to use as an obsessive mother to Jacob Elordi’s Felix Catton, and is laugh-out-loud hilarious throughout. She really takes the film up a notch, and plays off Richard E. Grant perfectly – who is equally as funny. Their scenes together are a highlight.
The plot follows Keoghan’s Oliver Quick as he is (apparently) thrust into the grand mansion lifestyle of the Catton family. It veers out of focus at points, but for the most part the story is exciting and difficult to take your eyes off.
The main problem comes from the fluctuating tone – one minute you are in the midst of a psychotic, graphic and charged sex scene or watching Keoghan lick blood from a bathtub, and the next you are holding back giggles at Grant deciding whether to wear a suit of armour to an upcoming party. It makes for enthralling viewing, but Fennell can’t quite decide what type of film she wants to make.
Come the climax, we are then treated to a pretty horrendous ‘twist’ in which it transpires that Quick has been plotting behind the scenes throughout the runtime, deliberately infiltrating the family in a bid to take control of their wealth.
It doesn’t really work – for something like this to pay off, clues need to be littered throughout the movie for viewers to pick up on. Flashback footage revealing the true meaning of certain scenes is little more than a lazy writing technique, and is made even more futile in this case by the fact that it was pretty obvious all along that the main character was up to no good.
However, these are small bones to pick with what is an engaging piece of cinema.
There has been no shortage of directors trying to poke fun at the rich elite in recent times (even though they are often in that bracket themselves), and it looked as though Saltburn was going to be one to add to the list.
Instead, despite some humorous digs at the Catton family’s lifestyle, there is more of a focus on character relationships and the effect that the supposedly low-life Quick has on those around him.
This, combined with the well-executed dark comedy, gives the movie plenty of rewatch value and is definitely worth a look. Napoleon may be stealing the limelight at the moment, but don’t let it overshadow Fennell’s period piece.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
A Critical Eye 