Emerald Fennell on Saltburn’s queerness: ‘It’s undeniably about same-sex desire’

Spoilers for Saltburn to follow… you have been warned

Emerald Fennell has addressed the queerness of new feature film Saltburn, which has been labelled by many as a “gay thriller”. 

The picture follows hardworking loner Oliver’s (Barry Keoghan) full-blow obsession for aristocrat Felix (Jacob Elordi) as they both arrive at Oxford University.

The pair grow close, and Felix soon takes pity on Oliver’s not-all-as-it-seems sob story, extending an invite to his family’s “f**k off castle” for the summer. 

When probed about the film being dubbed by some as a “queer thriller” she was hesitant to give it a direct label. 

“It’s also about loving someone who, for whatever reason, maybe isn’t capable of loving you back” – Emerald Fennell on Saltburn

She said: “I haven’t labelled it as such, just because I haven’t labelled the film as anything. It’s really complicated. 

“The thing is, for me, it’s a film about power and sex, which is a love story. Another film, The Remains Of The Day, is a good example, in the genre of a love story that never happened.”

But Fennell confirmed there is there is a lot about Saltburn that is “undeniably about same-sex desire” from all directions. 

“It comes in every kind of conceivable way,” she continued. “It’s also about loving someone who, for whatever reason, maybe isn’t capable of loving you back. 

“The thing is, for me, the sex stuff in there is stuff I think is really sexy. It’s moving and I think it’s powerful. There’s also a lot of solitary sex moments in there too,” Fennell reminds us. 

“All sex, and all love is very complicated and often is fluid and isn’t limited to either a person or gender. That’s how I feel. 

“That is probably reflected to some degree in the film. I don’t want to put words in anyone else’s mouth, but it’s clear to me that the desire from all Oliver’s point of view is absolutely for Felix,” she went on. 

“All sex, and all love is very complicated and often is fluid and isn’t limited to either a person or gender”

In the film’s opening scene, Keoghan’s Oliver declares that he loved Elordi’s Felix, but was not in love with him.

What follows is a visual treat, a montage of the film’s heartthrob, dripping in sweat (there’s even an eyebrow piercing and ‘Carpe Diem’ tattoo), which quickly disproves Oliver’s cutting words as fact. 

“Do we believe him?” Fennell is doubtful. “When Oliver says, ‘I hated him,’ it’s the most aroused he’s ever been. He’s throbbing, he’s shaking with desire.”

She also touches on the relationship between Oliver and competitor for the aristocratic family’s attention Farley (Archie Madekwe) who find attraction between their intense dislike of each other. 

“It’s the same route, there is a sort of intense anger to really insane desire,” she notes.