Saltburn: Breaking the Curse of Toxic Family

Enter the bizarre universe of "Dogman" and "Saltburn," where freakish protagonists take center stage. While "Dogman" treads the familiar path of revenge against a toxic family, "Saltburn" flips the script, breaking the curse of its peculiar protagonist's family in unexpected ways.

The latter is the brainchild of Emerald Fennell, who gave us the thrilling "Promising Young Women" in 2020. Now, she's back to bewilder us with the story of Oliver (played by the daring Barry Keoghan), an Oxford University student of the mid-2000s with a penchant for his charismatic classmate, Felix (the charming Jacob Elordi). Oliver's grand plan involves some infatuation, a touch of murder, and a dash of identity theft, all centered around the lavish Saltburn estate. It's a classic tale, think "Brideshead Revisited" or "The Talented Mr. Ripley," but with an online fanbase that's been buzzing since its November release, thanks to Fennell's eerie aesthetics and Keoghan's audacious performance.

Honestly, it was just the dark and daring elements that lured me into the film. Little did I know, the true gem lies not in the eerie scenes but in Oliver's whydunit saga (the motivation behind his actions). His confession to Felix unveils a toxic family tale—a not-so-nice dad who is recently deceased, a perpetually intoxicated and drug-addicted mom—it talks about a recipe for dysfunction. Convinced by just this backstory, we, the audience (and poor Felix), fall headfirst into Oliver's (or let's say, the director's) narrative trap, developing an uninvited sympathy.

The story takes an unexpected turn when Felix unravels Oliver's secret. On Oliver's birthday, Felix insists that he go home with Oliver to visit his mother, only to run into a surprise. It turns out that Oliver isn't from a lower-class background at all; his dad is alive and kicking, and he hails from a loving middle-class family with educated parents.

Surprise level? Off the charts. We all share the shock of the plot twist and applause for the script.

Now, here's what makes it hilariously tricky. Oliver's excuse of a dysfunctional family is a masterstroke. As many stand-up comedies rightly mock, just drop the "I have family issues" bomb, and voilà—suddenly, all your absurd actions are met not just with empathy but with understanding. It's the biggest trap in the film's storytelling arsenal and Oliver's secret weapon to execute his plan against Felix and family. His sob story becomes the talk of the town, stirring sympathy from the wealthy, allowing him to innocently infiltrate the upper class and finally turning into a parasitic feast, devouring everything the privileged class holds dear, including their identities. The director cleverly plays on this, manipulating the audience's emotions.

We all live in such an era: Lucky folks get all traumas healed with their childhood memories, which for the unfortunate ones are exactly the traumas themselves. It seems to make so much sense as to become a lazy go-to for filmmakers and audiences to explain characters with a bit of psychological drama.

"Saltburn" flips the script on this so-called "common sense," adding a dash of freshness to Oliver's peculiar family dynamics. Behind this freshness, the film unabashedly unveils a reality check: no need to make excuses of a toxic family. Someone might just succumb to jealousy and madness when faced with towering class differences.