Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Carey Mulligan, Ewan Mitchell, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Amazon Studios twisted drama written and directed by Fennell. Saltburn (2023) centers on college student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), as he struggles to find his place at Oxford University, finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
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Best Quotes
Oliver Quick: I wasn’t in love with him. I know everyone thought I was. But I wasn’t. I loved him, of course. It was impossible not to love Felix. And that was part of the problem. Everyone loved him. Everyone wanted to be around him. It exhausted him. People just wouldn’t leave him alone. Especially the girls. Christ, the girls! It was embarrassing, really, how everyone fawned over him. I think, honestly, that’s why he liked me so much. I protected him. I was honest with him. I understood him. I loved him. I loved him. I loved him. But was I “in love” with him?
Michael Gavey: So you’re a Norman no-mates too, then, Oliver Quick?
Oliver Quick: Isn’t everyone? It’s only the first night.
Michael Gavey: Look around you. It’s just me and you, mate. And the girl who’s got agoraphobia. But she’s in her room. Obviously.
Oliver Quick: So, you’re picking apart the style of my essay instead of the substance? That’s kind of…
Farleigh Start: Kind of what?
Oliver Quick: Lazy?
Farleigh Start: It’s completely valid to debate the rhetoric of an argument. It’s not what you argue but how.
Michael Gavey: [to Oliver] Did you know there was a college Christmas party tonight? NFI, me, and you. Not f***ing invited.
Oliver Quick: Sounds like an Evelyn Waugh novel.
Felix Catton: You know, a lot of Waugh’s characters are based on my family, actually. Yeah, he was completely obsessed with our house.
Felix Catton: [after Olive tells him his parents are drug addicts] You’re a f***ing inspiration, mate. Seriously.
Michael Gavey: He’ll get bored of you.
Oliver Quick: Excuse me?
Michael Gavey: Bootlicker.
Annabel: I don’t know. He’s just a bit awkward. He’s got zero chat. Like, who would I even sit him next to?
Felix Catton: I don’t know. One of your hot friends?
Annabel: I’m sorry, Felix, but no one wants to sit next to f***ing Oliver.
Felix Catton: Why not?
Annabel: Because he’s a scholarship boy who buys his clothes from Oxfam.
Felix Catton: Harsh. That’s so harsh. You’re such a snob.
Annabel: [referring to Felix, as they’re kissing] Do you think he’ll be jealous?
Oliver Quick: Honestly? I don’t think it will even f***ing register.
Farleigh Start: [referring to Oliver’s rented tux] But still, not bad. I mean, you’re almost passing.
Farleigh Start: For what?
Oliver Quick: I don’t know. A real human boy.
Felix Catton: Do you think you’ll go home?
Oliver Quick: Honestly? I don’t think I’ll ever go home again.
Oliver Quick: So “home” doesn’t mean the same for me as it does for you, Felix. The f***ing filth of the place, the mess, I can’t do it. Just can’t.
Felix Catton: Well, why don’t you come home with me? Come to Saltburn.
Oliver Quick: [after he arrives as Saltburn] Anything else I should know about?
Felix Catton: No. No. Just be yourself. They’ll love you. It’s relaxed. I promise.
Farleigh Start: [as Oliver enters the room] And here he is now! We were just talking about you.
Elspeth Catton: Don’t be silly. Farleigh, you just make up the most awful things. Of course we weren’t.
Elspeth Catton: Hello, Oliver, darling. Oh, what beautiful eyes. Oh, how wonderful.
Felix Catton: Yeah, I told you he wasn’t a minger.
Elspeth Catton: Oh, but darling, you’re kind about everyone. You can’t be trusted.
Elspeth Catton: Oliver, I have a complete and utter horror of ugliness. Ever since I was very young. I don’t know why.
Felix Catton: Maybe because you’re a terrible person?
Elspeth Catton: Don’t be mean.
Elspeth Catton: I’ve lost so many friends to addiction. So, so many dear, dear friends. It’s the root of Poor Pamela’s horrors too, I’m afraid.
Farleigh Start: And the only interesting thing about her.
Elspeth Catton: Farleigh!
Elspeth Catton: [referring to Pamela] No, she is rather dull, actually. But she’s so beautiful. You have to admit, she’s very beautiful. But it’s only ever really been a curse. I mean, the men. Oliver, you wouldn’t believe it. The latest one is some ghastly Russian billionaire. Malignantly ugly, of course. And she’s been holed up here for months hiding from him.
Elspeth Catton: Nothing shocks me, Oliver. Absolutely nothing.
Felix Catton: I had them hang up an old school dinner jacket. We dress for dinner here, so I didn’t want you to be caught short.
Oliver Quick: Dress for dinner?
Felix Catton: Yeah. It’s like black tie.
Felix Catton: I’m really happy you’re here, Ol. I’m sorry that everything is so old-fashioned.
Oliver Quick: No, it’s wonderful.
'Only rich people can afford to be this filthy.' - Oliver Quick (Saltburn) Share on X
Pamela: We met in rehab, so. He was just so lovely at first, and then one of his business partners started sort of falling out of windows, you know.
Oliver Quick: Right. Lucky escape.
Pamela: I suppose so. But he spoke Russian all the time, and it just sounded so romantic. And I don’t know the Russian word for “whores”. So I sort of thought it sounded like lovely poetry. Daddy always said I’d end up at the bottom of the Thames.
Oliver Quick: So far, so good.
Pamela: Yeah. My cousin has a flat.
Elspeth Catton: Oh, that’ll suit you very well. A nice little flat.
Pamela: Well it’s more of a bedsit really.
Elspeth Catton: I loved living in a bedsit in my twenties. It’s so freeing to live all in one room. And much less cleaning to do. Oh, but it’ll be terrible when you’re gone. How will I cope?
Pamela: Well, I could actually stay for a little bit longer.
Elspeth Catton: Oh, no. Darling, no. You must be desperate to be rid of us and find your own place. I quite understand.
Venetia Catton: I wanted to have a look at the moon. It’s nearly full. Do you know what that means?
Oliver Quick: No.
Venetia Catton: We’re all about to lose our minds.
Venetia Catton: I’m cold-blooded. We’re all cold-blooded, haven’t you noticed?
Oliver Quick: You’re not cold-blooded. Your family is so kind to me.
Venetia Catton: Sweet. I see why Felix likes you so much. You’re so…
Oliver Quick: So what?
Venetia Catton: I don’t know. Real. I think I like you even more than last year’s one.
Felix Catton: Do you think Harry, Hermione and Ron all have threesomes?
Venetia Catton: What?
Farleigh Start: Oh, without a f***ing doubt.
Felix Catton: You think they all f***?
Farleigh Start: They’re missing out on an opportunity if they’re not.
'I don't think you're a spider. I think you're a moth. Quiet harmless, drawn to shiny things, batting up against the window, just desperate to get in.' - Venetia Catton (Saltburn) Share on X
Duncan: Lots of people get lost in Saltburn.
Elspeth Catton: I was a lesbian for a while, you know. But it was all just too wet for me in the end. Men are so lovely and dry.
Oliver Quick: It can’t have been easy for Venetia. With you being her mother.
Elspeth Catton: Why?
Oliver Quick: Because…
Elspeth Catton: Because what?
Oliver Quick: Because you’re so f***ing beautiful.
Elspeth Catton: [referring to Pamela] She’s gone. James thought it would better to peel her away this morning without too much of a scene. Only so many hints you can drop.
Oliver Quick: Yeah, she did seem a bit lost.
Elspeth Catton: Ha, very tactful. She’s a complete limpet. The wettest of wet blankets. And very hard to know from looking at her because she’s so stylish. You’d think she was a riot to look at her. But there’s absolutely nothing going on underneath.
Elspeth Catton: [referring to Pamela] I know she’s had a hideous time the past few years, but, honestly, she did go on about it.
Oliver Quick: If all of it was true.
Elspeth Catton: What do you mean?
Elspeth Catton: Thank goodness for you, Oliver. You’re so perceptive.
Oliver Quick: I could just eat you.
Venetia Catton: Ollie. It’s not the right time of the month.
Oliver Quick: And is that something you think I’m worried about? It’s lucky for you I’m a vampire.
Farleigh Start: Who is coming to dinner again?
Venetia Catton: The Henrys.
Farleigh Start: No, please!
Oliver Quick: Who are the Henrys?
Venetia Catton: Dad’s friends. They’re all called Henry.
Sir James Catton: Not all of them. Just most.
Elspeth Catton: Oh, Oliver, I was going to say, we should do something fun for your birthday. A proper party. No Henrys. Something actually fun. What do you think, darling?
Sir James Catton: If Oliver would like it, I think it’s a splendid idea.
Farleigh Start: I think Oliver looks like he’d rather throw himself out of a window.
Elspeth Catton: [referring to his party] About a hundred people?
Oliver Quick: A hundred?
Elspeth Catton: Or two. It invariably ends up being two, doesn’t it, with this sort of thing? Invite whoever you want. All your friends?
Farleigh Start: What friends?
Sir James Catton: [referring to Oliver’s birthday party theme] I can wear my suit of armor, Elspeth.
Elspeth Catton: Good idea, darling. We could have a theme. What about Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Sir James Catton: Lovely.
Farleigh Start: Bring on the slutty fairies.
Felix Catton: [after he’s revealed he knows about Oliver and Venetia] It’s just f***ing cringe, mate. I mean, really, you’re my friend. You’re supposed to be here with me.
Oliver Quick: Look, I didn’t want to embarrass Venetia.