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Popular, suave, and wealthy, Felix (played by Jacob Elordi) is everything that Oliver is not. At Oxford, Oliver quickly becomes obsessed with Felix and all that Felix represents to him, and the audience largely encounters Felix through Oliver’s perception of him as a larger-than-life figure. While Oliver is drawn to Felix’s social status, Felix finds in Oliver a friend who has grown up with none of the privileges that Felix enjoys. He listens with rapt attention and sympathy when Oliver tells him about the alcoholism, drug use, and criminal behavior that marked his early life.

At Saltburn, however, Felix alternates between showering Oliver with affection and growing tired of him. Like his mother, he brings interesting people into his life but then distances himself when they begin to bore or irritate him. Though he is occasionally embarrassed by his family’s privilege, apologizing to Oliver for their condescending behavior, he also shares some of his family’s elitism, defending to Farleigh his father’s decision to cut off Farleigh’s mother financially and revealing that he does not know the names of the Black footmen employed at Saltburn. After Oliver’s deceptions regarding his background are revealed, Felix is hurt, confused, and repulsed by Oliver, rebuffing his attempts to maintain their friendship. In the end, Felix underestimates the extent of Oliver’s scheming and becomes a casualty of a struggle for power at Saltburn.  

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