Why everyone is rightly obsessed with Saltburn right now
Up until this week, I had never gone to the cinema alone. I consider myself an independent woman, but there was something about a solo movie date that made me feel uncomfortable.
That was until I started getting video after video on my TikTok for you page, talking about that bathroom scene in new film Saltburn.
The general consensus was that this was a film to go in blind on. Fully sold by these strangers reviews and desperate to avoid spoilers, I found myself alone in an Every Man cinema at 10.30am on a Monday morning.
I want to avoid giving away any spoilers, but to give a brief synopsis, the film is about two students at Oxford University in 2007. One, Oliver, played by Barry Keoghan, is a socially awkward outsider with a scholarship, who struggles to fit in with the snobby elite.
The other is Felix, played by Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi. Felix is a hotter and kinder version of Spencer Matthews in Made in Chelsea. You want to hate him for all his privilege, but taking the slightly odd Oliver under his wing proves that he is a good guy.
After Oliver’s father passes away, Felix invited him to spend the summer at his family’s estate: Saltburn. Once they arrive at Saltburn, it all gets very Jack Nicholson in The Shining and while that bathroom scene was quite shocking, there were three other scenes that left me hiding behind my hands.
Of all the films to see alone, I wish I hadn’t picked this one. That’s because all I want and still want to do, two days later, is talk about it.
Despite searching every Reddit thread, reading every review and watching all of director Emerald Fennell’s scene breakdowns, I still have questions and while you could argue that’s a flaw, I’ve also enjoyed losing myself in a film for the first time in forever.
While it’s nothing like Barbie at all (although I did spot Margot Robbie’s producer credit), Saltburn reminds me of that summer of pink buzz, where we were all so excited to go to the cinema again.
I don’t think I’d had that excitement for auditorium seating since 1993 when my birthday outing was a viewing of The Secret Garden.
In a time when even actors themselves are calling for the end of Marvel films and every studio now wants you to subscribe to their streaming service, films like Saltburn - as divisive as they are - prove that cinema and the general public aren’t actually comatose after all.
While Barbie had us excited to visit the pictures with our friends again, Saltburn moved me to finally break my solo cinema virginity at the age of 37.
Let’s hope this new wave of re-ignited viewing continues. After all, we could all do with a regular two hour escape from reality in these times.
Apologies for an absence of posts on Monday and Tuesday this week. I was recovering from organising our charity beauty sale which took place over the weekend. Thank you for your patience.
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