"If somebody looks like Jacob Elordi, the best thing you can do is give them a Carpe Diem tattoo and a Livestrong bracelet!"
Since it was added to the Prime Video library just before Christmas, Emerald Fennell's second feature, Saltburn, has made quite a splash – becoming one of the most talked-about films of recent times.
The psychological thriller stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an outcast Oxford student who is invited to spend the summer at the estate of Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a popular aristocratic classmate with whom he has developed an obsession – only for a shocking sequence of events to be set in motion that leads to several memorable scenes.
One aspect of the film that immediately stands out is its mid '00s setting – made clear by both the costumes and soundtrack – and during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com ahead of the film's theatrical release back in November, Fennell revealed why she opted for that period.
“When you're dealing with like… very, very rich, beautiful characters, you're kind of wanting to sort of make them feel more human," she explained. "And there's nothing more humanising than 15 years ago, because wherever you are in history, it looks terrible!"
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She went on to explain that this was particularly relevant when it came to Jacob Elordi's character Felix Catton.
"If somebody looks like Jacob Elordi, the best thing you can do is give them a Carpe Diem tattoo and a Livestrong bracelet and two long sideburns," she said.
Fennell continued: "You know, that kind of thing means that you're looking at these characters and these places that are timeless and actually, weirdly, it has the effect of making it feel more modern than, I think, if you set it now – where it would just be people in beautiful clothes, because we don't really have a context for now in the same way yet."
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Saltburn is now streaming on Prime Video. Check out more of our Film and Drama coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
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