Murder On The Dancefloor: Saltburn and What Lies Underneath Aesthetics
WARNING: Spoilers ahead
I'm a little late to the party but I finally watched "Saltburn" and...I have some things to say.
Emerald Fennell delievers another breathtaking visual dreamscape. With fantastic costuming, glittery makeup and outrageous party scenes, "Saltburn" is a still taken from the Y2K Tumblr aesthetic handbook. Similar to her 2020 hit "Promising Young Woman" which earned Fennell the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, "Saltburn's" aesthetics don't necessarily have to play a part in the film's plot, but add an extra layer of creativity. The cherry on top of a sundae. You can enjoy the film on its own without all the Easter eggs, yet they're fun to decode like a Taylor Swift music video. However, behind the stunning cinematography, we may be missing something.
What I have gathered from social media, the fandom surrounding this film has gone a little overboard with...well...the fan edits.
Yes, "Saltburn" is a visual masterpiece, but it seems to me the central conflict has gone over quite a few heads. Before even sitting down to watch the film, my Instagram has been flooded with memes, mostly about the ending dance scene featuring the Sophie Ellis-Bextor song, and thus I expected the film to be more campy. Think Darren Criss dancing to 'Easy Lover' in American Crime Story.
"Saltburn" was creepy. All the glamour and light had completely dimmed by the final scene. Even Oliver's (Barry Keoghan) dancing was stiff and lifeless. And I believe it all to be an intentional directorial choice. However, horror movies still can be funny and quite beautiful at times.
Let's take a look at Fennell's "Promising Young Woman". The Barbie dream house aesthetic does not take away from the intense, yet important lesson the audience learns by the film's end. And in "Saltburn" we got the wonderful pink and blue clothing symbolism once again (did you catch it?). Then there's the music of Melanie Martinez and Lana Del Rey. Martinez sings about traumatic experiences including sexual assault and eating disorders, yet her music videos have a pink, bubblegum, coquette aesthetic. Lana: dark and disturbing lyrics, dreamy melodies. "The Virgin Suicides" directed by Sophia Coppola is another film that does not glamorize the horrific subject matter through fanciful imagery. Coppola, Martinez, Del Rey and Fennell, all show the complications of girlhood: pretty on the outside, tortured on the inside.
Now that we have two male leads at the center of "Saltburn", these lines are blurred and memes are made:
Let's not allow these funny videos to minimize what actually happened in this film: a mastermind manipulated his way into getting everything he wanted. Oliver saw an opening with Felix, knew exactly how he operated and how to gain his friendship. Then, he won over the family's matriarch and wormed his way into being the heir to her fortune. These are abuse tactics. By earning the trust of the Catton family and murdering those who stood in his way, the fictional Oliver and "Saltburn" exemplify a horrific reality. And we shouldn't be giving this film a pass because Oliver's target is a white boy from a rich family. Anyone of any gender, race, or socioeconomic status can fall victim to abuse. And specifically, financial abuse. We all remember the Tinder Swindler right? One of my best friend's was nearly Saltburn-ed by an ex boyfriend, but unlike Jacob Elordi's Felix, she lives to tell the tale. But Felix was not (to his knowledge) in a romantic relationship with Oliver. He was just his buddy. Doesn't matter. Abuse is abuse.
And are Oliver's murders justified because Felix and his family were rich? "Saltburn" presents us with a lead convinced he's owed something and the Cattons represent the kind of snobby 1% that treat people like Oliver as a charity case or a little prop. And how the family reacted to Pamela's (Carrie Mulligan) death was Oliver's green light. Although, he was from an upper middle class family, Oliver played the part Felix and the Cattons wanted. The family's aloofness and delusions allowed them to be pawns in Oliver's game. That's why we can't let the beauty of "Saltburn" distract us. Just like the Cattons, we can miss what's right in front of us.
Fennell presents us with a new Shakespearean tragedy. I loved the almost five act structure with the climax happening around the half way mark. I also want to give props to composer Anthony Willis for his sinister score, plus the soundtrack is delightful. The sounds of MGMT over a montage filled with naked sunbathing and drunk tennis? What can be better. And, finally, 'Murder On The Dancefloor' will never be and shouldn't be heard the same way again. In fact, even the title 'Murder On The Dancefloor' holds the perfect juxtaposition to describe "Saltubrn". The darkness of murder and the light of a dance floor.
Check out this piece from Screen Rant about
how Pamela and Elsbeth mirror Oliver and Felix:
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