#which is wild because i feel like this should've and could've been visually sumptuous and layered

[pynkhues]

My friend and I went to see Saltburn and went in completely blind (typically we read the whole storyline prior to going). We were not expecting all of that. We agreed that Choices™️ were made that we wouldn’t have made ourselves, haha.

So interested to hear your thoughts if you want to share 🩷

Oh gosh, yeah, haha, I feel like going in blind must've been a bit of a shock.

I kinda knew what to expect because a friend of mine had already told me it was 'if Talented Mr Ripley was dumb' and I'd seen a bit of the press for it so was expecting certain scenes, and look - - I was just commenting to @nakedmonkey, but I do think the worst crime a movie can commit is to be boring, and I don't think it was boring, so it had that going for it at the very least, haha.

Some of the performances were fun (Rosamund Pike in particular is always great), but overall, I just think it was just a really shallow film that was less interested in character arcs or relationships than it was in shock value. It flirted with these rich themes of class and race, power, attraction and intimacy, control and freedom, and it just chose the cheap shot every time. It was more interested in making the audience gasp or cringe than it was in actually having the characters evolve or devolve in a way that - - y'know, told a compelling story, and any shift in a dynamic was handled so limply that it had no real emotional impact.

I don't know. I still had enough fun watching it (my cinema was packed and the audience skewed pretty young, and their response was hilarious), but I just ultimately don't think it had as much to say as it pretended it did.

#the cousin being biracial and born of scandal and trying to get back in was particularly weakly handled tbh #you could tell ef just wasn't particularly interested in exploring the nuances of the different dynamics #also to pretend j*cob el*rdi has an ounce of the beauty talent and charisma as 1999 jude law... #honestly too it confirmed for me i don't love linus sandgen as a dop/cinematographer either #i find his style as lacking here as i did on la la land and american hustle #and i think the only time he's visually interesting or meaningful is when he's imitating other cinematographers #which is wild because i feel like this should've and could've been visually sumptuous and layered #and yet... #of course a part of that is ef's direction too #film asks #definitely low on my 2023 movie list #not the lowest though haha