First look at Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan’s queer thriller Saltburn promises debauchery
A new still from Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan’s film Saltburn has been released. (Twitter/@BarryKeoghan/Daniel Jackson/Calvin Klein Underwear/Amazon Studios/MGM)
The first look at Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan’s queer thriller Saltburn has landed, alongside an official premiere date, and fans are already excited.
Directed by Oscar-winning Emerald Fennell and described as “a wicked tale of privilege and desire”, Saltburn already looks set to steal hearts and awards when it’s released later this year.
According to the official synopsis, the film will star BAFTA-winning Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) as Oliver Quick, a struggling and out-of-place student at Oxford university. He’s drawn to the “charming and aristocratic” Felix Catton, played by Euphoria’s Elordi.
Felix invites Oliver to his rich and “eccentric” family’s sprawling estate in Saltburn, the town which gives the film its name, and the pair embark on a “summer never to be forgotten”. Take that to mean what you like for now…
It’s set in the mid-2000s and will reportedly have “delicious plot twists and a soundtrack of early 21st-century pop bangers“.
Yesterday (7 August), the British Film Institute’s festivals director, Kristy Matheson, announced that the film would open the London Film Festival, which takes places from 4 to 15 October.
“As soon as the credits rolled on Saltburn, it was clear we’d met our opening night film,” Matheson said.
“Academy-Award-winner Emerald Fennell returns with an expertly crafted and exhilarating thrill ride of a film that showcases an enormous depth of UK talents in front of and behind the camera.”
Matheson also spoke about “exceptional performances” from Elordi and Keoghan, while Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike will also star, in a-yet-to-be-revealed role, and Richard E Grant plays a character called Sir James – presumably Felix’s father. House of the Dragon‘s Ewan Mitchell, currently starring in BBC1’s World on Fire, will also feature.
The cast also includes Carey Mulligan, who is reunited with Emerald Fennell for the first time since starring in her comedy crime thriller Promising Young Woman. The film went on to be nominated for five Oscars in 2021, including nods for Mulligan as best actress and Fennell as best director.
The first snapshots from the film include one that appears to show Felix standing on a balcony at his parent’s mansion.
The actor is looking out on to a garden littered with what seems to be the aftermath of a wild party, while a tense-looking butler is looking up at him.
In another shot, two people – assumed to be Elordi and Keoghan – are lying topless and in swim shorts, with a woman – probably Mulligan – relaxing nearby.
Fans have been understandably obsessing over the images, as anticipation builds for the release of the film.
“Probably my most anticipated film for the rest of the year. This is gonna be amazing,” said one fan.
“Barry Keoghan is about to ride to his second Oscar nomination, I know that for real,” declared another.
A third described the snaps as looking like a mix between Call Me By Your Name and Downton Abbey, while a fourth simply declared it to be “the movie of the year”.
Barbie star Margot Robbie is one of the film’s producers, alongside Fennell.
Saltburn is due to open in cinemas on 24 November.
