Opinion: The 'Saltburn' hate says a lot about the state of film-making

Apparently it’s the season of goodwill. But nonetheless, as the first fairy lights go up, glaring battle lines are being drawn between rival camps of film fans, divided by one of the biggest films showing in London cinemas at the moment: Emerald Fennell’s thriller, ‘Saltburn’. 

The critics are lukewarm to positive. Time Out’s Phil de Semlyen praised its ‘elegant yet enjoyably rowdy line in blue-blooded chaos,’ while the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called it ‘watchable but sometimes weirdly overheated’. But on social media? It’s a bloodbath. ‘Saltburn: How embarrassing for absolutely everyone involved,’ tweeted Alex Heeney. ‘Do not go for some Jacob Elordi eye candy because you will leave traumatised’, said Nadia on TikTok. 

It starts out like a cross between Brideshead Revisited fan fiction and a breathless Caroline Calloway Instagram caption

‘Saltburn’ is deeply messed up in a way that none of the marketing can quite prepare you for. It starts out like a cross between Brideshead Revisited fan fiction and a breathless Caroline Calloway Instagram caption. Nerdy, out-of-his-depth English student Oliver (a compellingly creepy Barry Keoghan) turns up at Oxford University and is captivated by suave rich kid Felix (the suitably smouldering Jacob Elordi). Then things careen into disturbia, with [spoiler alert] Oliver lapping at Felix’s used bath water like a dehydrated spaniel, before the plot lurches into graphic scenes of murder, suicide, and necrophilia. It’s OTT, unexpected and, unsurprisingly, polarising opinion. At the very least though, it’s nice to see a filmmaker taking risks. 

But while film fans have issued a collective indulgent shrug at male-authored follies like Ridley Scott’s deeply flawed ‘Napoleon’, the ‘Saltburn’ hate goes deeper. And it feels personal, targeted squarely at its creator. As kenzie XCX put it on Twitter/X, ‘the way yall hate on emerald fennell is insane lmao even directors who have committed actual crimes aren’t treated like this what did she do to yall personally.’ ‘Ur American,’ replied one of the comments, crisply summarising the feelings that Fennell’s success stirs up for British audiences who are fed up with the class-ridden society we live in. After all, Fennell is a classic ‘nepo baby’, the well-connected daughter of Theo Fennell, the jeweller to the stars (and royals). Her 18th birthday was even written up in Tatler. 

Wealth and celebrity connections are a massive asset when it comes to breaking into a film world that’s wracked by both social and gender inequality (only 17 percent of 2022’s top grossing films were written by women). The female writers and directors that do manage to cut through get obsessive cult followings, with Girls on Top t-shirts letting fans emblazon their allegiance on their chests to the likes of Andrea Arnold or Céline Sciamma.

Maybe people are so angry at Fennell because it feels – perhaps unfairly, since she’s been taking acting roles for a decade – like she’s been catapulted right to the top of the film industry. When there are so few female auteurs getting the limelight, there’s no room for them to be middling. Either they’ve got to be knock-your-socks-off amazing, or there’s a lingering sense that they’re sucking up oxygen in a shrunken arena. 

It’s a quiet reminder that landed gentry, Oxbridge-educated elites are still in charge of the UK in a way that’s neither sexy nor fun

‘Saltburn’ is undeniably a good, silly time. But it’s also a quiet reminder that landed gentry, Oxbridge-educated elites are still in charge of the UK in a way that’s neither sexy nor fun – and that this country has an ever-worsening social mobility problem that intersects with sexism to shut a huge amount of female and working-class talent out of the film industry. It all feels pretty tone-deaf. Still, even if we’re hate-watching ‘Saltburn’ through clenched fingers, we’re still giving it our time and energy – and showing how much hunger there is for female-authored films. If only there were more to pick from, perhaps it wouldn’t be so unthinkable to produce one that deviates from the expected script as much as this.