Movie fans now have the chance to watch one of 2023’s most controversial films with it set to land on BBC iPlayer in the next few days.
Dark comedy Saltburn, starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, caused quite the stir when it dropped on Amazon Prime Video towards the end of 2023.
Saltburn follows the story of Oxford student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) who finds himself romantically drawn to the aristocratic Felix Catton (Elordi) and his titular country estate.
However, upon arriving at Saltburn, Felix and his family aren’t quite what they seem, leading Oliver into a world of depravity, decadence, and even murder.
The film quickly gained a reputation for its severe sexual content and nudity, as well as its frequent depiction of violence and gore, drug use, and frightening scenes.
A moment towards the end of the film that used Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Murder On the Dancefloor also sent that song back into the charts more than 20 years after its release.
It was celebrated by some critics who called it ‘incisive and invigorating’ but was slammed by other film fans who called described it as ‘astoundingly misjudged’.
Still, regardless of how people might have felt about the Emerald Fennell-directed film in 2023 and 2024, almost all agreed that it was certainly a memorable experience.
An IMDb summary said: ‘Saltburn was one of the most talked about films in the award season in 2024. The film was perhaps the most divisive of all, particularly due to the disturbing nature of the film.’
And movie fans will now be able to stream Saltburn for free, with a new BBC trailer confirming that it will be available to watch on iPlayer from Sunday, June 22.
The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of 71% – new official reviews were still being added to the site almost a year after its release.
Audiences who watched Saltburn reacted positively, with the fan rating currently stating that 79% of viewers would give the film a score of seven out of 10 or more.
The audience consensus, generated by Rotten Tomatoes, warned: ‘Saltburn is really intense and the cast does a terrific job, but if you’re easily grossed out or offended, this probably isn’t the movie for you.’
For Metro, Tori Brazier said Saltburn had: ‘Sex scenes dripping with bodily fluids, [and] a highly sexualised sequence in a cemetery that no film fan is likely to have anticipated – until it’s already unfolding in front of their eyes.
The film’s director Emerald Fennell told Metro: ‘If anyone should be asking any sort of questions about [my] sanity, for example, they should leave them maybe at my door.
‘Everyone who worked on [Saltburn] was completely dedicated and completely understood the sort of film we were trying to make.’
She continued: ‘I wouldn’t ever want to have an awkward conversation [with an actor]. I’d never ask anyone, actor or anything, to do something they weren’t comfortable with.
‘But when you’re talking about desire, when you’re talking about obsession, when you’re talking about power and love, then you do have to go to places that are quite extreme.’
Watch Saltburn on BBC iPlayer from June 22.
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