Prime Video: This is one of the most sultry and scandalous movies of the year, and it’s a must-see

In Saltburn, the character Oliver, played by Barry Keoghan, is described as hay: “Calm, harmless, attracted by the light, knocks on the window and begs to be let in.” an image that suits him wonderfully. We can also talk about a vampire or lek, because the young man, mysterious and dangerous, is ready to do everything to monopolize everything around him.

When he meets Felix, the most popular student at Oxford University and the son of an aristocratic family, Oliver falls under his spell. The two students become friends and spend the summer at the grand estate of the young man’s parents. Very quickly, many troubling events will distort the perfect life of this micro-community, blinded by wealth and its privileges.

Sexy, gritty and politically incorrect, this thriller marks the second directorial effort of Emerald Fennel, who won the 2021 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for a promising young woman. With Saltburn, the filmmaker pushes every slider to the max. He imagines a manipulative and perverted character in a colorful, baroque and deliberately exaggerated world.

For her role as Oliver, which borrows heavily from Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith’s anti-hero, Emerald Fennel trusts Barry Keoghan, one of the most talented actors of his generation. The Irishman, whose filmography is already dizzying, is used to evil roles, which he already proved in Killing the Sacred Stag or The Batman, where he – briefly – transferred his qualities to the Joker.

“What interests me is the humanization of these charactersBarry Keoghan tells AlloCiné. I want to bring them to life, make them real, and not interpret them with labels. Above all, I seek truth and honesty.” The actor clarifies that his approach to each film is the same, “The same commitment, the same energy and the same process of discovery“. “The difference with Saltburn is that the film requires a lot more because it’s the main role, which requires a certain stamina.“- he adds.

It’s in every shot, fleshing out sequences that are as fun as they are provocative, like that final dance scene, which requires no less than eleven shots or that sequence in the bathtub. There is no room for improvisation on the set. Everything is carefully prepared and rehearsed. “I think improvisation can sometimes come into play when there isn’t enough material. But with Saltburn, everything was there.”

The emerald finish creates a film of stunning visual beauty that combines inspirations from 20th century literature such as Back to Bridehead, to modern popular culture with films such as Sexual Intentions. First of all, it creates a real homoerotic tension between its two main actors, Barry Keoghan and Jacob Ellord, revealed in the series Euphoria, which shines in every frame in which it appears.

“Exciting“, “erotic“, “Exciting“… That’s how Barry Keoghan describes Saltburn, a veritable ticking time bomb with sharp humor that ends 2023 in style.

Commentaries collected by Thomas Desroches, Paris, December 2023.

Saltburn is available on Prime Video.