Vividly Imperfect, Saltburn Delivers on Design

BILLIE MIRÓ BRESKIN

It's been days, and I can’t stop thinking about Saltburn. No, not the movie (though I’ve thought quite a lot about that too), but about the titular house itself. The grand estate is as much a character in director/writer Emerald Fennell’s provoking film as any of its many stars. Its presence is heightened by its unfamiliarity; the property (actually called Drayton House) has never been shown on film before. The audience’s feeling of discovery mirrors that of the main character, Oliver Quick, when he arrives at Saltburn nearly a third of the way through the movie. 

Set across 2006 and 2007, Saltburn follows Oliver (played by Barry Keoghan), a socially inept, sartorially out of step Oxford student with a grim backstory as he becomes enamored by his rich, titled, beautiful classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). At the end of their school year, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at Saltburn, the family estate. It’s an offer that Oliver can’t refuse. 

As the plot spirals through shocking twists, the film’s design plays a consistently excellent supporting role...