Previous

Key Facts

Director 

Emerald Fennell 

Lead Cast 

Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton 

Supporting Cast 

Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, Paul Rhys, Ewan Mitchell, Sadie Soverall, Millie Kent, Reece Shearsmith, Dorothy  Atkinson, Shaun Dooley, Lolly Adefope, Joshua McGuire 

Writer 

Emerald Fennell  

Producers 

Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara 

Genre 

Black Comedy, Thriller  

Language 

English  

Date of Release 

August 31, 2023, Telluride Film Festival  

November 17, 2023, United Kingdom and United States 

Setting 

The University of Oxford in Oxford, England between 2006 and 2007, and Saltburn, a fictional English Country House, in the summer of 2007.  

Foreshadowing 

Oliver standing outside of the dormitories at Oxford and staring intensely at Felix through a window, foreshadowing the later revelation of his obsessive and scheming nature.   

Major Conflict 

When Oxford student Oliver Quick is invited by popular fellow student Felix Catton to spend the summer at Saltburn, an English country house owned by his wealthy family, Oliver is dazzled by the wealth and pedigree of the Cattons. He soon learns, however, that the Cattons quickly tire of their guests, and he resorts to extreme measures in order to secure his place at Saltburn.   

Rising Action 

Oliver gets close to Felix at Oxford and is invited to spend the summer at Saltburn. Though he struggles to adapt at first, he slowly ingratiates himself with Felix’s wealthy family while trying to hold Felix’s interest.  

Climax 

When Felix learns that Oliver has been lying about his background, he pushes Oliver away and demands that he leave Saltburn after a party planned by the family for Oliver’s birthday. On the morning after the extravagant party, during which Felix again rejects Oliver, Felix is found dead in the hedge maze at Saltburn.  

Falling Action 

The family blames Felix’s cousin Farleigh for his death, Felix’s sister Venetia commits suicide, and a distraught Sir James bribes Oliver to leave Saltburn quietly. Years later, after the death of Sir James, Oliver joins Lady Elspeth at Saltburn and, when she falls terminally ill, he confesses to poisoning Felix and prompting Venetia’s suicide before turning off Lady Elspeth’s life support, killing her and inheriting Saltburn.  

Previous section Context

Take a Study Break