12/29/23 - Saltburn (2023) - 5+/6-/10

Emerald Fennel provokes and jabs at sexual mores & politics like its her job. Now if that actually works all the time is debatable. I have mostly found her work thus far intriguing and entertaining, but I understand how it might not work for a lot of people. Horned up talented Mr. Ripley for your 20s was quite involving, slithering and writhing with a heat and expectation through most of its running time. Now, when it was time to wrap things up, I think it sunk a level to mustache-twirling class-heavy sociopathy instead of caustic character study of frailty & desire intermingling with wealth & status. That bit was venomous enough to mortally wound the picture, but shades of depth and the illusion of ambiguity were sloughed off like radiant skin too long for its host. 

Keoghan is just the right mix of intensity and multi-leveled, but I fear he is being pushed between simpleton and sociopath in his roles, but he always does a fantastic job. I think the direction and cinematography let the grandeur of the setting and its cadre of elites appear heightened.

Maybe the grave flings, floppy cocks, menses munching and tub tonguing dissatisfied some but I had no problem with its uncomfortability or disquieting erotic charge. It's different, prodding and polarizing in a way that excited me. I didn’t love the film as a whole but I thought it was intriguing and enjoyable.