First half an hour or so was decent, but once they get to Saltburn and shit like the bathtub scene started happening I was just rolling my eyes. This reminded me of Babylon where they had a bunch of explicit scenes that served no purpose other than to be shocking. Not to mention it just got repetitive and boring in the second half. Don't waste your time.
shareThe premise w/o diving too much into the plot sounds like a Tom Ripley movie that doesn't feature Tom Ripley.
shareYea, it should have been called Saltpeter.
shareSo edgy films just aren't the OP's thing. Ok.
shareNot when they try so hard to be edgy for the sake of it.
shareWhat's the difference between an edgy film and one that, in your opinion, tries to be edgy?
shareIt doesn't feel so forced. What did the "shocking" moments in Saltburn serve a purpose for other than just being shocking for the sake of it.
shareWhy did those moments feel "forced" to you?
shareThey could have just shown him licking up a drop of cum or gotten the guys cumrag and sucked on it (which I've seen in other better edgy movies), and in the grave humping scene, he could have again just jacked off (and been more secretive since anyone could have witnessed that).
These scenes seem to go into territory as as a contrived attempts where I could hear the wheels turning in the filmmaker's mind as opposed to the actual movie working on its own, with characters that have come to life. Even if it's a shocking type of life.
And the weak characterization and dialogue and the very thin, extremely cliche plot were all such a let down.
I think something like the series "Euphoria" was so much better. Also, "Call Me by your Name". There's been so many over the past 20 years that break explicit ground and show outrageous behavior but are so much better.
The unfortunately restrained but brilliantly plotted version of the thriller aspects of "Saltburn" would be "The Talented Mr Ripley"
But "Saltburn" sure was filmed beautifully! And the production design was top notch too. And for what they were given, the actors tried.
Well said.
shareLOL I was thinking nearly the same thing. Although my exact thoughts as I was watching the bathtub/menstrual blood scenes was, "Thanks a lot, Call Me By Your Name. Now every 'edgy' movie thinks it has to out-gross the previous ones." IMO it all started with the peach scene in CMBYN. Still LOVED this movie though! 9/10
sharegod i hated that Babylon movie, and you're right, you can compare it in a certain degree; pompous pretentious wannabee arty
by shocking while lacking a good story with substance.
mostly agree movie went downhill from saltburn arrival onwards.
Ironic that both also came out around the same time last year.
shareWhile I didn't dislike the movie, I tend to agree with you. It starts off very well but kind of lost me along the way. The bathtub scene was a distinct turning point--not because it was disgusting (although it was), but that's really when the story strayed from intriguing to contrived. It began getting weird just for the sake of being weird. I hate to use the term "pretentious", but I did also get a vibe that the film thought it was better/more intelligent than it actually was, particularly during the third act.
I just finished watching this, so my opinion isn't quite fully formed yet, but the more I consider it, the less I like it. There was a point early on in the movie where it felt like a solid 8/10, but as the entire experience continues to sink in I'm not sure my overall rating would be higher than a 6. While there's much to admire from a technical standpoint, the film is ultimately style over substance.
Heartily agree.
shareAbsolutely agree with you. I love shocking content, gore, crazy stuff (Takashi Miike or the letter L for Libido in ABC of Death are good examples) but this nasty shit was NOt something I ever wanted to see. I wouldn’t even want to imagine it in my head. I didn’t care much about the film but the 3 scenes and the final scene made me HATE it.
shareThe final scene with him dancing naked wasn't even gross or shocking, it was just stupid.
shareTotally agree! If it was done by a cool actor in a good film the scene would worked. But this little human pretending to be a great actor dancing around naked was, well, I don’t really like using that word but, cringe.
share