Single White Female meets The Talented Mr. Ripley in this psychological thriller about how the awkward Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) becomes infatuated with one of his classmates at Oxford, the beautiful, wealthy, and popular Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), and begins to wedge himself into Felix's life, eventually getting invited to spend the summer at the palatial estate which gives the film's its title.
With Oliver coming from more modest means, there is a class theme throughout the film, but themes of excess, greed, and obsession play more prominently in the narrative. The audience is quickly clued in that there is something seriously wrong with Oliver far beyond being born into a lower class. The film is well cast with Keoghan working as both the unassuming friend and something far more devious, Elordi as the golden Felix, and Richard E. Grant, Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe completing the other mainstays of Saltburn, with the surroundings and the stylish tone from writer-director Emerald Fennell adding to the feel of the film.