I’m very grumpy about what I’ve seen in cinema in general. Mega long films, pretentious in their non-linear narratives, Art without subtlety and no power of synthesis. There is no justification for the average film to be almost all 3 hours long. Not even at home can we last this long without losing concentration, especially at the cinema!

There’s nothing wrong with long stories, well photographed or even told in a non-linear way. What we have to do is use everything as a formula and forget that to have a good story you don’t need to be a pamphleteer or seek inspiration from (only) biographies. And once again, who proves what I argue here is the excellent director and screenwriter Emerald Fennell and her controversial Saltburn. Simple, direct, surprising, and perfect. It’s the best film of 2023 with the best performances too. Thank you, Emerald!

The actress-director already took us by surprise two years ago when she brought Carey Mulligan as a vengeful psychopath in Promising Young Woman, for which she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (and garnered Carey’s nomination for Best Actress as well). His new film, Saltburn, should repeat the feat of receiving nominations for screenplay and acting, as well as direction, art direction, and even film. I would give all the awards today to her. I know you ask me if Saltburn is all that. For the reasons it chose not to be, it is.

The psychological thriller presents a simple proposition of following a shy, poor student struggling to find his place at the snobbish University of Oxford. There he finds a shortcut to the aristocratic universe through an unlikely friendship with a rich colleague. And nothing is what it seems, especially when strange things start to happen.

At this point, if he’s not on Mars, he’s already read the controversial (and graphic) sex scenes and nudism, some scatology here and there, which are the least important. Barry Keoghan (The Batman), Jacob Elordi (Euphoria and Priscilla), and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) are sensational in challenging roles, with incredible nuances. They would close the Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress categories for me.

Oliver Quick (Keoghan) is a scholarship student at Oxford who befriends the popular Felix Catton (Elordi), a cool, rich kid, who invites him to spend the summer at his castle, Saltburn. There, Oliver meets Felix’s snobbish and dysfunctional family: the self-centered Elspeth (Rosamund Pike); intellectual Sir James (Richard Grant), Felix’s troubled sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), his cousin Farleigh (Archie Adekwe) and weird butler Duncan (Paul Rhys). Ironically, that school shyness seems to be far from Oliver infiltrating the Cattons’ daily lives with ease, participating in the intrigues, and gaining the trust of a vain Elspeth.

Eroticism and perversion are part of the oxygen in Saltburn and Oliver clings to that reality that would never be his, seducing men and women, lying, blackmailing and even killing to get what he wants. Yes, Oliver is not our hero, sorry for the SPOILER. But even if he knows, he will be surprised at his path to getting what he wants.

It doesn’t seem complicated at all, because it isn’t. The story of a social climber is told in an intelligent, direct, and calm way. Just as in Promising Young Woman we were shocked by the story’s revelations and conclusions, in Saltburn the director proves that she doesn’t need to be a pamphleteer or reinvent the wheel. I’m a fan. And I’m grateful to show that it’s possible to be creative with little. Here’s my recommendation.

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