Five movies to watch if you loved ‘Saltburn’
Saltburn is causing quite a stir online. Emerald Fennell unleashed her latest project to a serious love-or-hate reaction. The obsessive revenge flick is strange, seductive and downright shocking in places.
Borrowing from classic gothic literature tropes, Saltburn is full of twists and turns. Starring Barry Keoghan as underdog student Oliver, he’s taken under the wing of Jacob Elordi’s Felix, an uber-charming rich kid with a major house and ridiculously good looks. Throughout the summer, Oliver’s obsession becomes leaching as he’s welcomed into their family home. Also starring Rosamund Pike of Gone Girl fame, it’s another perfect addition to her filmography of charming bad guys and complex characters.
Fennell has spoken at length about the inspirations behind the movie. Borrowing from the gothic sub-genre of country house horror, she references books like Brideshead Revisited and Wuthering Heights. But when it comes to films, Saltburn is the latest in a long line of deliciously weird blockbusters.
For fans of obsessive tales, unlikeable characters and big plot twists, Saltburn is a perfect movie for cinema lovers who want to root for the villain. For those who loved the movie and are hunting out their next fix, these five films hold the same psychotic mindsets and gripping tales.
Five movies to watch if you loved Saltburn:
The Talented Mr Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)
The similarities between Saltburn and The Talented Mr Ripley are obvious. Both tell the tale of obsessed men weaselling their way into the lives of the obscenely rich; both are beautifully shot, and both descend into terror.
The 1999 original stars Matt Damon, Gweneth Paltrow and Jude Law in what is potentially one of the most stylish films ever made. Set in the backdrop of Mongibello, a seaside town in Italy, the seductive and suspenseful drama is as beautiful as it is gripping. Undoubtedly a source of major inspiration for Saltburn, this feels like essential viewing for fans.
I Care A Lot (J Blakeson, 2020)
While Gone Girl is the film most associated with Rosamund Pike, she’s just as brilliant in I Care A Lot. An absolute master at dark comedies and slimy, nasty female characters, Pike is a triumph here. The 2020 movie sees Pike play Marla Grayson, a con artist targeting lonely old people.
Manipulating the guardianship system and convincing old fogies to trust her and sign over their home and possessions, it’s a scandalous satire. “I’ve been poor. It doesn’t agree with me,” Grayson tells one of her victims. Full of sharp and witty one-liners from an excellently written script, it has all the dry humour of Saltburn, all the tension and all the Pike brilliance.
The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)
There is a reason why The Favourite, and in particular Olivia Colman’s role in it, won so many awards. For those that loved the vast and looming setting of Saltburn manor, The Favourite will scratch that itch as the historical setting enacts its chaos over the ground of a castle.
Starring Coleman as the Queen, Emma Stone’s character of Abigail manipulates her affection to regain social status. Subverting all the seriousness of a typical historical drama, this 2018 is packed with the weirdness that makes Saltburn so divisive. As it’s directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the man behind The Lobster and The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, it naturally holds an unusual quality that at once makes you shiver while being unable to take your eyes off the screen.
Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992)
For fans of the outright revenge and wild crimes in Saltburn, Basic Instinct is a must-watch. With all the same seductive power as Fennell’s latest film, the 1992 erotic thriller has it in spades. Following Michael Douglas as an unravelling police officer, a violent murder leads him to Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist played by the supremely hot Sharon Stone. As her novels mirror the crimes being committed, paranoia and obsession ensue.
Featuring one of the most iconic scenes in crime movie history as Stone’s character is interrogated by police, it’s an all-time great. Perfectly merging outright violence and drama with more psychological themes, the suspense doesn’t let out for a second. In the same way that Keoghan’s character manages to get inside everyone’s head and keeps you conflicted about his own innocence, Stone’s role as Tramell is just as conflicting and manipulative.
Disco Pigs (Kirsten Sheridan, 2001)
For those who loved the outright emotional chaos of Saltburn, especially the emotional distress and underlying evil of the second half, Disco Pigs is one to add to your list. Before Keoghan reigned as the ultimate cinematic Irish weirdo, Cillian Murphy had the crown. In this 2001 film, he emerged as an exciting one to watch, beginning his career of odd characters and daring projects.
Following two friends who call themselves Pig and Runt, it’s the tale of a totally obsessive and unhealthy connection. Born around the same time, in the same hospital and raised in houses next door to each other, the pair are utterly co-dependent. But when they hit their teenage years, and other connections come in, Murphy’s character can’t handle it. Spiralling into upset and vengeance, it’s all the same obsession that fuels Saltburn but on a bigger, lifelong scale.
