Emerald Fennell's scandalous satire Saltburn has had people talking ever since it hit theaters back in November 2023. (The film arrived on streaming just in time for Christmas and you can now watch it at home with an Amazon Prime subscription.)
From that Saltburn's iconic bathtub scene to that graveyard grind session and that shocking ending (more on that in a bit!), the psychological thriller starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi captured much attention and garnered many headlines for its provocative plot points.
One such scene is, of course, the now-famous nude dance that Koeghan's Oliver Quick—an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with a fellow pupil, Felix Catton (Elordi), and comes to stay with him and his aristocratic family at their sprawling estate for the summer—performs at the film's end, after he's taken down the whole Catton clan and christened himself the master of Saltburn mansion. Fennell discussed Oliver's unclothed jig (and, no, that was no body double for Keoghan) during a recent interview with TheWrap:
The director continued by saying that the "complicated feelings" that the audience has for the character of Oliver and his very questionable actions are the direct result of "Barry's beautiful work" in the film. (The Dublin-born actor recently scored a 2024 Golden Globe nomination in the Best Actor category for Saltburn, but lost to fellow Irishman Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer.)
Fennell directed the similarly controversial Promising Young Woman—in which Carrie Mulligan stars as said woman who avenges the assault of her best friend by righting the wrongs of crooked men—so the actress-filmmaker is no stranger to stirring up a little scandal. She tells TheWrap that she welcomes audience reactions to her films, whether they're positive or otherwise:
Scandalous or not, Fennell's flick is a hit both with viewers—enough folks tuned into Keoghan's naked dance that Saltburn was one of Prime Video's top 10 worldwide film debuts, per Deadline—and critics. The movie is up for Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design at this Sunday's Critics Choice Awards.