Countless English protagonists have for decades been making their way to grand country estates where their lives are irrevocably changed. 鈥淏rideshead Revisited.鈥� 鈥淭he Go-Between.鈥� 鈥淩emains of the Day.鈥� 鈥淩ebecca.鈥�
These are some of the books that Emerald Fennell grew up devouring. And when the dust had settled on her incendiary Oscar-winning directorial debut, Fennell, too, wanted to make her way to a fictional stately manor.
鈥淚 really wanted to make a movie that was a take on the classic English gothic story,鈥� Fennell says. 鈥淚t felt like an incredibly well-worn and therefore intriguing genre to start looking at and applying pressure to.鈥�
In which opens in theaters Nov. 24, Fennell applies her particular and potent brand of pressure to the one of the longest standing British genres. And given of her provocative debut, it鈥檚 safe to say that things get quite a bit bumpier at Saltburn than they ever did at Downton Abbey.
Fennell has already been a memorable part of one conversation-starting film this year. That was her as Midge, the pregnant doll, in (Fennell, alas, said she couldn鈥檛 comment on her role in 鈥淏arbie鈥� due to the .)
Like that film, 鈥沦补濒迟产耻谤苍,鈥� which Fennell wrote and directs, includes Margot Robbie as a producer. It stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an Oxford University freshman on a scholarship who鈥檚 drawn to a dashing, aristocratic classmate named Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Their relationship has strong echoes of 鈥淭he Talented Mr. Ripley鈥� to it.
In the summer of 2006, Felix invites Oliver to his family鈥檚 estate where he fits in sometimes awkwardly and sometimes smoothly but increasingly eerily with the extravagant flow of life. Things get steamy, weird and dark as Fennell toys with class as she did with gender in 鈥淧romising Young Woman.鈥�
Several in the cast give standout performances 鈥� especially Rosamund Pike, who plays Felix鈥檚 mother. But it鈥檚 also a rare leading performance for Keoghan, himself coming off Already some of his scenes 鈥� one involving some leftover bathtub water, one a fresh grave 鈥� have added to the early buzz around 鈥淪altburn.鈥�
鈥淚 saw Barry in 鈥楰illing of a Sacred Deer鈥� and I just couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥� Fennell said in a recent interview from London. 鈥淭hat performance was so amazing. It鈥檚 a kind of once-in-a-lifetime arresting performance. I just thought immediately: Who is that?鈥�
The opportunities were many for Fennell after the success of 鈥淧romising Young Woman.鈥� The film, a blackly comic feminist revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan, was one of the most talked about movies of 2020. In that first pandemic year, it went on to be nominated for five Oscars including best picture and best director. Fennell won for her script.
鈥淣one of us had anticipated how amazing the response would be,鈥� Fennell says. 鈥淏ecause of COVID, I was in a bubble with my young family. So it maybe didn鈥檛 feel as surreal as it might. I mean, everything was surreal, so it kind of felt like another surreal thing.鈥�
Once the pandemic subsided, Fennell鈥檚 focus turned to 鈥沦补濒迟产耻谤苍,鈥� a film that seemingly could have pulled from her own experiences. Fennell, who attended the elite boarding school Marlborough College and studied at Oxford, is the daughter of jewelry designer and socialite Theo Fennell and author Louise Fennell.
Fennell, though, is reluctant to draw any connections between the high society of her youth and 鈥淪altburn.鈥� Yes, the 37-year-old grants, she attended Oxford around the same time as the characters in the film.
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 afraid the similarities end there,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t definitely wasn鈥檛 quite as sexy.鈥�
Did she consider herself an outsider like Oliver or more of an insider like Felix?
鈥淚 was kind of like Oliver, mostly outside of it but occasionally having seen it as well,鈥� Fennell says. 鈥淭he fascinating thing about these sorts of systems in general, both in America and in England, is that nobody ever really knows whether they鈥檙e in or out.鈥�
To her, 鈥淪altburn鈥� is more about those anxious undercurrents among family, friends and hangers-on, each playing by unspoken codes of money, class and privilege.
鈥淭here was a world where 鈥楽altburn鈥� might have been set in the Hamptons,鈥� Fennell says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e allowed in these places, it鈥檚 never a one-way ticket. Honestly, it could be set anywhere. It could be set in Los Angeles and the court, rather than being a stately home, is a compound of an incredibly famous actor and actress. It all works the same way. It鈥檚 power. Who wants it and who鈥檚 got it.鈥�
Fennell, who was the showrunner and an executive producer for the second season of 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� often used the phrase 鈥減oison popcorn movie鈥� to describe 鈥淧romising Young Woman鈥� 鈥� an entertainment laced with more disturbing issues to contemplate.
She remains committed to eliciting that kind of dual response 鈥� something that people are eager to watch and just as eager debate after on their way home. Her current favorite film, which she says she鈥檚 seen 20 times, is 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 truly the greatest film of the last 10 years and I鈥檓 obsessed with it,鈥� Fennell says.
It would be giving too much away to describe how 鈥淪altburn鈥� unspools. But to Fennell, it鈥檚 ultimately about the deep longing and ambition of Oliver, a young man yearning to live. It鈥檚 a love story, she says.
鈥淭his movie feels to me like the closest thing to wanting something,鈥� says Fennell. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a particular type of need and want that you feel at a certain point in your life when it鈥檚 the first time you felt it, whether it鈥檚 about a person or a place. The intensity of the desire to make yourself. That, to me, is what the film is about.鈥�
