Emerald Fennell’s 2023 thriller Saltburn follows Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) as he becomes enamored with Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) and the unimaginable lifestyle that his upper-class family leads. Felix’s mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) and father (Richard E. Grant) agree to let Oliver stay at their stately home, Saltburn, over the summer. This is a direct response to Oliver’s supposed poverty-stricken home setup, and Oliver manages to interweave himself into the Catton family’s inner circle. While staying at Saltburn, Oliver meets Felix’s sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and American cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe), and equally slots himself into their lives.

Eventually, things take a turn as Oliver’s motives are (fairly ungracefully) revealed, showing him to have picked off the Catton family members one by one until he finally manipulates his way to be the sole owner and occupant of Saltburn. The plot is as grand as its characters, however, Oliver’s time at Saltburn is not as simple ‘eat the rich’ narrative, but an examination into UK class structures, the prominence of class disparity in UK universities, and the insecurity that is held amongst upper-middle-class social climbers.

The Insecurity of the Well-off

There is a deep insecurity in many social and academic circles concerning the boundaries between the upper middle class and the truly upper class, marking a thick boundary between classes that can be climbed to, and that have to be given as a birth rite. Oliver represents this insecurity, fabricating his entire identity at The University of Oxford around a fictional lower-class identity.

Oliver appears to embody the status-hungry element of a specific niche of upper-middle-class students, appearing to be jealous of the ‘othering’ that is forced upon many lower-class and/or Northern students at UK Universities.

I experienced this kind of ‘othering’ first-hand on my first day at university. I joined my Undergraduate cohort at the University of Birmingham in 2020. When I entered student accommodation for the first time, the very first conversation that I had with a university peer was (along the lines of) the following dialogue. As you are reading, please pair my ex-flatmate’s lines with a suitable RP accent that is half intrigued, half pitying:

Me – “Hi, I’m Jess”

Flatmate – “Oh wow, you’re a Northerner aren’t you..?”

Me – “Yep…”

Flatmate – “I can tell…”

Of course, on paper this interaction does not sound like a lot. However, now in my fourth year at UoB, I don’t think I’m going to forget it. In a way, it massively shaped my preconceptions about my University cohort from the get-go. Even though I believe that I have had a privileged upbringing, simply put, my status as a state-schooled northerner was enough to spark this level of shaming intrigue in my flatmate. Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of this introduction to University life, this interaction encapsulates the response that Oliver sought to elicit in his fabricated personality. It is an entirely real attitude.

There is a deep level of shame at UK universities surrounding the geographical North-South divide; something with which I did not believe existed amongst my age demographic before coming to University. This is furthered by a deep class divide that looms over students through their every academic and social pursuit. The lower classes are seen as shiny and new, fetishised through a lens of trendiness. Upper-middle-classes are in a form of social limbo, far from the ‘otherness’ of the lower classes, yet still out of reach of the other ‘other’: the unattainable upper class that can only be handed down to you by blood.

The Allure of Mixing with Muggles

One of Saltburn’s methods of portraying these class structures is through how the Catton family use those of lower classes and less privileged backgrounds to show aesthetically interesting playthings – contrasting Oliver’s fleeting appreciation for puppetry.

The character of Pamela (Carrey Mulligan) is a guest at Saltburn who took up residence before Oliver and is cast out during his stay. She is mentally troubled, and the Catton family find light-hearted amusement in her stories of struggle and emotional hardship. Pamela is a character of visual representation, once appearing at the dining table in a pseudo-clown ensemble, sporting a ruff that almost suffocates her and aggressively red frizzy hair.

While at Saltburn, Pamela’s appearance is of key interest to the family. She is allowed to show her piercings and tattoos, features that direct members of the Catton family are strictly prohibited from displaying: as seen through Felix removing his piercings and hiding bodily alterations when returning home. This, evidently, is due to the fact that she is temporary entertainment, the last in a long line of fleeting guests who serve their purpose and exit Saltburn for good.

Farleigh, however, is a different story. He represents a cross-section of the line that Oliver is attempting to cross. He is othered by the Cattons, yet is allowed fairly permanent access to their world; That is, until Oliver shows up. As a mixed-race American, the Cattons find it easy to other him and wield his financial dependence on them to their own will. However, he was born into their world, hence, he is allowed privileged access to the highest tier of the Catton’s line of strays that are invited in. Oliver will never be able to climb as high as Farleigh, exuding shame surrounding the privileged nature of his upbringing and home life due to his exclusion from this by-birth-only boys club.

Saltburn is by no means a film that hinges on realism, yet, Fennell’s approach to UK class dynamics is rooted in a structure that stems far from the confines of Keoghan and Elordi’s intertwinement.

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