‘Saltburn’ Director Emerald Fennell Addresses Explicit & Disturbing Scenes In Jacob Elordi & Barry Keoghan’s Dark Dramedy: “Wanted To Make People Feel Something”
Emerald Fennell has finally opened up about the heated debate around her film Saltburn, which stars Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.
‘Saltburn’ Director & Writer Emerald Fennell Opens Up About Explicit & Disturbing Scenes In Jacob Elordi & Barry Keoghan’s Dark Dramedy!(Photo Credit –Imdb)
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Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan starrer Saltburn has been the talk of the town for its explicit scenes and disturbing graphics, which, as per writer and director Emerald Fennell, have been curated to make people “feel something”. The twisted thriller, released on November 17 in the UK, despite its shortcomings, has excited viewers with critical responses and strong word-of-mouth. Also featuring Rosamund Pike and Alison Oliver in pivotal roles, the film is set to expand worldwide on November 22, 2023.
The dark dramedy, set in England in the mid-2000s, follows a young university student, Oliver (Barry Keoghan), who is smitten by his wealthy schoolmate, Felix (Jacob Elordi), and gets lucky to be invited by Felix to spend a summer at his family’s exquisite house. During their summer adventure, a twisty game of obsession and manipulation ensues, which serves as the central plot for the film. Driven by ambition, obsession, and hunger to strive for a better future, Oliver aims to overcome class differences, while his fascination with Felix forces him to question his s*xuality.
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Talking about titillating graphic scenes in Saltburn that have been labeled disturbing by moviegoers , director Emerald Fennell told Variety that her aim is to make people sitting in a dark room with strangers feel something and talk about her film, welcoming the fact that everyone can have a different take on it.
“We just wanted to make people feel something. Some people are screaming, some people are squealing,” she said. “Some people are turned on, some people are freaked out, and some are furious. Some people don’t really care. What you want is for people to spill out into the street and want to go and have a drink and talk about it,” she continued.
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Further sharing more insights into the film, Fennell shared that it is about people who are taken over by grief, horror, love, and sadness, which forces them to do crazy things.
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In a conversation with Pinknews, Emerald also revealed that while there are no explicit LGBTQ+ characters in Saltburn, queerness is imbued into “the fabric” of the story. “This is a film entirely about desire, and that desire takes every conceivable manifestation, and it’s so important. Yeah, of course, [queerness is] part of the very fabric of Saltburn,” she concluded.
Emerald Fennell is known for writing and directing critically acclaimed projects like Careful How You Go and Promising Young Woman. She has also acted in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and the historical drama The Crown.
