50 Fun Facts About Saltburn

Who wrote and directed Saltburn?

It was her second feature after Promising Young Woman, and she produced it too.

What is the name of Barry Keoghan's character?

Oliver arrives at Oxford apparently poor and with no idea how the upper classes behave.

Which actor plays Felix Catton?

Fennell said the Australian actor's audition was a genius piece of observational comedy about a spoiled little boy.

How is Oliver funding his place at university when he arrives?

His inexperience with upper-class manners is what makes him stand out, and what makes Felix take pity on him.

In what year is the main story of Saltburn set?

Fennell chose the recent past to knock the glamour off the country-house genre; the epilogue jumps to 2022.

Who plays Lady Elspeth Catton?

Pike earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for the role and was widely said to steal the film.

Which actor plays Sir James Catton?

Sir James eventually pays Oliver to leave Saltburn, and his own death in 2022 draws Oliver back.

Who plays Felix's sister, Venetia?

Venetia is the one member of the family who eventually accuses Oliver of destroying them.

Who plays Farleigh Start, Felix's American cousin?

Farleigh and Oliver were already uneasy classmates at Oxford before the summer at the house.

Which Promising Young Woman star plays Elspeth's friend 'Poor Dear' Pamela?

Her casting was revealed in December 2022, months after the main cast was announced.

Who plays Duncan, the Saltburn butler?

Duncan hovers silently over almost every scene at the house, including Oliver's arrival.

What does Oliver tell Felix has just happened to his father, prompting the summer invitation?

The lie unravels when Felix drives Oliver to see his family, and finds his father alive and well.

In which town does Oliver's family really live?

The Merseyside town is home to a respectable middle-class suburb, nothing like the chaos Oliver described.

Why is Farleigh thrown out of Saltburn during the summer?

Oliver later confesses he used Farleigh's email to make the Sotheby's offer himself.

Where is Felix found dead the morning after Oliver's birthday party?

Oliver later admits he poisoned Felix's drink there.

How does Oliver claim he killed Felix?

He tells Elspeth this on her deathbed, along with every other thing he engineered.

How does Venetia die?

Oliver confesses he left razor blades beside her while she was bathing.

Where does Oliver 'accidentally' run into Elspeth years later?

He engineered the meeting after reading of Sir James's death in a newspaper in 2022.

How does Oliver finally kill Elspeth?

By then she has already bequeathed him all her assets, including the house.

Which song plays over the film's closing dance through the house?

The 2001 track re-entered the UK singles chart in January 2024 with its best-ever streaming week.

Who originally recorded the song used in Saltburn's final scene?

The scene sent the track back into the UK top ten more than two decades after its release.

What UK chart position did the film's closing song reach when it re-entered in January 2024?

It had the best streaming week of its life, after a huge New Year's Eve on Spotify.

Which piece of music opens the film?

Handel's coronation anthem felt pointed: the film premiered less than four months after Charles III was crowned.

Who composed the score for Saltburn?

He had also scored Fennell's Promising Young Woman, and the score earned a BAFTA nomination.

In what aspect ratio is Saltburn presented?

Fennell said the boxy frame gives the impression of peeping in.

Who was the cinematographer on Saltburn?

The La La Land and No Time to Die cinematographer shot the film in a single stately home.

Which real stately home stood in for Saltburn?

It had never been used for a film, and the contract banned anyone from revealing the location or the owners.

In which English county is the house that played Saltburn?

Fennell deliberately avoided estates audiences would recognise, and wanted the whole shoot in one place.

Which of these Oxford colleges was NOT among the filming locations?

The three colleges used are all listed in the production notes; Christ Church, the usual Harry Potter stand-in, was not among them.

At which festival did Saltburn have its world premiere?

The warm Telluride response persuaded Amazon to move the US release a week later to build on the buzz.

Saltburn opened which festival in October 2023?

It also premiered in Australia at SXSW Sydney later that month.

How much did Amazon MGM Studios reportedly pay for the distribution rights?

The film made a small fraction of that in cinemas, but became one of the streamer's biggest debuts.

On which streaming service did Saltburn arrive on 22 December 2023?

Viewership quadrupled in the two weeks after launch as the film went viral on TikTok.

Which studio handled Saltburn's release in the UK and Ireland?

Amazon kept the US and streaming rights while Warner Bros. put it in British cinemas on 17 November 2023.

Roughly how much did Saltburn gross worldwide in cinemas?

Its theatrical run was modest; the real audience arrived on streaming.

Which two cast members received Golden Globe nominations for Saltburn?

Keoghan was up for Best Actor in a Drama and Pike for Best Supporting Actress at the 81st Golden Globes.

How many BAFTA Film Award nominations did Saltburn receive?

They covered Keoghan, Elordi, Pike, the score and Outstanding British Film.

Which Barbie star was one of Saltburn's producers?

Robbie produced with her LuckyChap partners Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, confirmed in May 2022.

Fennell summed up her class satire as which film 'meets indie sleaze'?

She also cited The Go-Between, Rebecca and Joseph Losey's The Servant as influences.

Which Patricia Highsmith novel is Saltburn most often compared to, despite Fennell downplaying it?

Critics saw Tom Ripley in Oliver; Richard Brody saw Brideshead Revisited instead.

Which House of the Dragon actor plays Oliver's first Oxford friend, Michael Gavey?

Gavey is the maths obsessive Oliver drops the moment Felix pays him attention.

Which member of The League of Gentlemen plays Professor Ware?

He is the tutor who greets Oliver's early essay with withering enthusiasm.

What kind of film has Fennell herself called Saltburn?

Critics saw echoes of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula in the garden scene in particular.

What CinemaScore grade did US audiences give Saltburn?

PostTrak polling was warmer, with 75% positive and 42% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Roughly how many views did Saltburn-themed videos rack up on TikTok?

Deadline credited the streaming success to viral marketing and word of mouth rather than the cinema run.

What did Oliver's Oxford roommate-era rival Farleigh do that Oliver claims caused Felix's death?

The insinuation gets Farleigh cut off financially and banned from the house for good.

Which band's 2005 track Destroy Everything You Touch trended after the film?

It sits alongside Mason's Perfect (Exceeder) and Tomcraft's Loneliness on the film's very 2000s playlist.

Why did Emerald Fennell say she chose the boxy 4:3 aspect ratio for Saltburn?

Filming began on 16 July 2022 with Linus Sandgren behind the camera, and the format reinforces the film's voyeuristic mood.

Saltburn was Emerald Fennell's second film as writer-director. What was her first?

The new project was announced in January 2022 as 'a story of obsession', with Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara producing.

Critics linked Saltburn's Gothic style to Bram Stoker's Dracula and which Kubrick film?

Others saw echoes of Pasolini's Theorem and Kubrick's Barry Lyndon in its treatment of class, power and seduction.