The Symbolism of Saltburn (2023)

Note: I don’t have very much time to dedicate to writing these days. This is a mostly unedited summary of my thoughts after watching the movie Saltburn.

Obviously, there are spoilers in this analysis, so you have been warned.

Saltburn is Paradise Lost. Of course, this is just one reading and there are plenty of other interpretations and influences that you can view this movie through. But I think it’s really interesting that there doesn’t seem to be too much discussion online about the Christian religious imagery, so it seemed like it was worth my time to write about it. It is very clear that Felix is supposed to be an angel, and Oliver is supposed to be the devil, based on their costumes for the birthday party. Saltburn mansion is hell.

Notice that Oliver is leaning against the evil-looking statue. Evil has won.

Why is Paradise Lost a good way to interpret the movie?

While watching through the movie for the first time, Paradise Lost was running through my mind the whole time, and I think it’s a good way to interpret the movie because it gives you a lot of predictive power over the events of the movie. I’ve seen other people comment on the fact that the ending seems a little absurd, convoluted, and unexpected, but it all makes sense through the lens of Paradise Lost.

If you view Oliver as the human embodiment of Lucifer, and the Saltburn mansion as the physical embodiment of Hell, then it makes perfect sense that the movie must find a way to let Oliver be the sole unchallenged ruler of the mansion by the end of the movie. He becomes the owner of Hell.

In addition, it means that by the middle of the movie it is already inevitable that either Oliver must kill Felix or Felix must defeat Oliver. Oliver is the human embodiment of an angel, and Oliver ends up killing Felix because Satan destroys anything that is good. In Paradise Lost, it is explained that Lucifer is the fallen angel; he was once accepted and loved by the other angels, but then experiences a downfall due to his own actions. I see this as parallel to Felix and Oliver being great friends at the start of the movie, but having more and more conflict as it progresses. Their conflict is the battle between good and evil.

Oliver, like Lucifer, actually comes from a good background. Their evil comes purely from within, not from external circumstances.

Gender and Sexuality

There’s some discourse on the gay erotic relationships in this movie, but in my opinion the motivations behind Oliver’s sexual encounters has less to do with the other person’s gender, or even much to do with sexual attraction in the normal sense, but rather it has everything to do with power.

Oliver doesn’t have sex with the other characters because he finds them attractive, but because the initiation of sexual encounters gives him power. When Oliver is the one initiating, the other person gives him power over them by following.

Oliver’s first sexual encounter is illustrative of the point. When the college girl tries to get with Oliver, she is the one initiating. She asks, “do you think he’ll be jealous?”, in reference to Felix. Oliver responds, “I don’t even think it’ll even register”. I think this is because Oliver doesn’t like it when other people have more power than him; in this situation, the girl’s actions are motivated by getting back at Felix, and she is using Oliver as a pawn in order to achieve her goals.

Through this lens, it makes a lot of sense that the very last scenes of the movie depict Oliver swinging his dick around in his mansion. There isn’t another person around to have sex with. It was never about the other people; it was always about power.

The Colour Red

Red is the key colour in the movie. It is the colour of hell. Plenty of things are red, hinting at their true nature: the title, the rooms in the mansion, blood (specifically Venetia’s, in multiple ways), the party, and the curtains in the dining room.

I think that the image of the full scene is too graphic to post here.

One thing that caught my eye during the movie was the numerous shots of staircases. I was really curious about the choice of including the shots, but then it hit me — being at the bottom of a staircase and looking up shows you how far you’ve fallen. It means you’re in hell.

Oliver is halfway down the stairs before he kills Felix. This is the point of no return.

After Felix is dead, we are now at the bottom of the stairs.

One of the most crucial scenes in the movie is the family having lunch in the dining room. Initially, the room is well-lit by the sunlight through the windows, and everyone is trying to pretend that everything is normal and okay. But as Felix’s body passes the windows, the only remaining bit of good that was present at the mansion also leaves. There is nothing left but pure evil; the curtains are drawn, drowning the whole room in a sea of red. It’s now obvious that things won’t be okay. Farleigh can’t pretend anymore, and breaks down. This scene, in conjunction with the staircase shots during the party, shows how far the family has fallen.

The Garden

Oliver is depicted as a snake, sneaks up to Felix, and ends up killing Felix with poison in the garden. This is obviously a reference to the story of Adam and Eve, where Satan disguises himself as a snake, sneaks into the Garden of Eden, and tempts Eve into the fall. Oliver wears pointy antlers in the party scene, evoking the imagery of Satan’s horns.

A Totally New Way to View the Movie

What’s crazy about the ending is that you realize that Oliver isn’t just tricking everyone around him in the movie, Oliver is also tricking you, the viewer. On the first watch, you’re totally fooled into believing one thing, while the movie goes in a completely different direction by the end. Oliver’s opening monologue over the montage tricks you into thinking the movie will be about learning painful lessons from a gay relationship. By the middle of the movie, you’re now thinking that the movie is a confession by Oliver to the police; he is powerless. The ending shows that all the previous interpretations are wrong. It’s a confession, but in a way that Oliver has all the power and is now fully in control of the narrative.

I think with this understanding of the true nature of Oliver’s character, a re-watch of the film will provide an interesting re-interpretation to many scenes. For example, in the scene where Oliver is improvising a karaoke song, his embarrassment seems to come from the fact that he is singing something that might offend his hosts. But on the second viewing, it seems like the embarrassment might actually come from the fact that he doesn’t like having to rely on other people “to pay his rent”. It’s all a power game to him. His look gives it all away:

Oliver now feels in control and ready to execute his plan. This isn’t a look of embarrassment.

I thought Oliver’s stare was similar to the roast pig’s eyes. I have no clue what this means.

Further Discussion

I think there’s still a couple of unanswered questions I have about the movie. Do the other characters in the movie represent the seven deadly sins? What’s up with the nerdy character in the beginning that never comes back? What’s up with the animal imagery in the movie? I have some thoughts about these questions, but I haven’t been able to formulate anything conclusive about any of them.

Thanks for reading. I hope this gives you things to think about and inspires a worthwhile re-watch of this fascinating movie.