The Big Picture

Emerald Fennell’s movies, such as Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, incorporate horror elements, including nail-biting dread and creepy imagery. Fennell’s movies create a sense of dread and unease, keeping viewers on edge and wondering what will happen next. Fennell’s potential for creating a legitimate horror film is evident in her previous works, and her next project should explore the genre further.

In the movies by director Emerald Fennell, a woman manipulates one-night stands into a trap for 2022’s Promising Young Woman and a man preys on a wealthy family in Saltburn. While these are glossy psychological thrillers, Saltburn in particular dials up the darkness to prowl into disturbing areas. Her movies may not be part of the horror genre yet, but Emerald Fennell includes tropes horror fans could easily spot, from nail-biting dread and creepy imagery to a spin on classic supernatural monsters. A legitimate horror film should be something Fennell works on next, and from what she does in her two movies currently, she’s getting close to it.

Saltburn Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten. Release Date November 17, 2023 Director Emerald Fennell Runtime 127 minutes Main Genre Drama

How ‘Promising Young Woman’ Makes You Nervous
In Fennell’s feature debut, childhood best friends Cassie (Carey Mulligan) and Nina head to medical school together, and soon after, Nina is sexually assaulted. None of the men involved face consequences, deeply traumatizing Nina until she takes her own life. Some years later, Cassie isolates herself, becoming self-destructive in her desire for revenge on the men and enablers who harmed her best friend. Most nights, she lures in men by pretending to be drunk until she reveals herself to be completely sober. From this premise, Fennell builds a considerable sense of dread in Promising Young Woman, keeping viewers wondering what Cassie will do or what will happen to her. There is the threat of violence occurring during the situations Cassie puts herself in. For one of these hookups, a coke-snorting Neil (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is left shaken at Cassie’s sober state. His freakout is warranted, Cassie is shown tallying the men she targets in a notebook, flipping through pages that look like a kill count.

The plot seems to be leaning into the expectation Cassie will lash out. The rape-revenge horror subgenre would see this encounter reach its goriest outcome, as in the controversial I Spit on Your Grave (1978) where physical violence is relished. First in the lengthy assault on Jennifer (Camille Keaton) who is left for dead, and second by unleashing her onto her tormentors, where she hunts each one down. Having Cassie be in control right away, Promising Young Woman feels like a modernized, less-exploitative version of this setup. An unnerving drone is heard, as the room becomes claustrophobic with Cassie limiting the space between Neil and herself. Then expectations are upended. It isn’t until this sequence that audiences understand Cassie punishes her victims through psychological mind games. She doesn’t maim or execute them as Jennifer did, she is a warning, whether they learn or not is on them.

Cassie is playing with fire should she meet a man who reacts in a volatile way out of desperation. Just because she exits without incident, her safety doesn’t feel assured, something bad is going to happen eventually. A sense of dread can be essential in the horror genre to make the audience feel uneasy. Emerald Fennell creates this through sound design and Mintz-Plasse’s anxiety-ridden performance, who recoils when facing Cassie’s wrath. Fennell is also careful about what she shows to the audience, letting harrowing scenes hit harder. Promising Young Woman has uncomfortable hookup-assault scenes without the camera needing to film the men when they kiss or touch Cassie. The scenes cut to a doorway, lamp, or a shot angled to have Cassie alone in the frame, the men’s wet kisses or breathing have enough of a gross impact. In Fennell’s second feature, she does the opposite, showing more than the audience may want.

The Horror Movie Moments of ‘Saltburn’
Image via A24

Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) seems to be a lonely outcast at the start of Saltburn, who enters the inner circle of the charismatic, and obscenely wealthy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Oliver discreetly kills Felix after their relationship is fractured. Oliver then joins the remaining, distraught Cattons as they gather in their dining room to await the removal of Felix’s body. The curtains are shut to avoid seeing the police, thrusting everyone into a hellish landscape. The fine china, the chandelier, and the faces of the characters are engulfed in a harsh, red light from the curtains’ fabric. It doesn’t matter that his body isn’t seen, Felix’s death is tremendously devastating to his relatives, and his “blood” stains them. Although Fennell avoids showing the lifeless body, the same cannot be said for Felix’s sister Venetia (Alison Oliver).

Related ‘Saltburn’s Most Underrated Character Is Also the Most Fragile Jacob Elordi’s Felix might deserve all the rave, but this other character is just as interesting.

She is found in the bathtub, blood from her self-inflicted wounds, the red vibrant in the water, and with what spilled onto the white tile floor. Fennell doesn’t prepare the audience for the goriest shot in the film, forcing them to sit with it when it does. From this strong use of color, Fennell could have fun making her version of a giallo. While the heyday of those Italian horror-murder mysteries was the 1960s and 1970s, they aren’t extinct, Knife+Heart (2018) and Malignant (2021) continue the giallo’s focus on capturing kills that splash crimson across neon-drenched locations. Other than lingering dread or nightmarish visuals, Fennell has main characters who resemble supernatural monsters of the horror genre.

‘Saltburn’ Uses Human Monsters to Terrify

Horror fans will get a chuckle when The Ring (2002) plays during a movie night, spooking the Catton family while Oliver laughs. The Cattons are afraid of the wrong thing in the room, they shouldn’t be scared by a cursed VHS tape or a little dead girl escaping the well, they should fear Felix’s new friend, sitting in plain sight. Oliver Quick is both a traditional and updated take on the vampire, an icon of gothic horror cinema and literature. One of the rules for surviving this nocturnal predator is to never allow it into the home by invitation. Should they not get one and step inside, vampires suffer terribly, blood oozing from orifices being a possible consequence as seen in Let the Right One In (2008). Hypnotizing the homeowner can get around this, and while Oliver may not use hypnotism, he puts a spell over Felix through the lies he tells.

Felix is the lone Catton who feels compassion for others, and he is easily deceived into believing Oliver’s supposed poor upbringing. When Felix pulls away from their friendship, Oliver lies about the death of a parent. Out of pity, Felix offers the prized invitation to spend a summer with him, thus allowing in the vampire. Oliver lurks throughout the mansion, hungry for the blood, essence, and wealth of Felix and the rest of the family. In a scene that pays tribute to gothic horror, Oliver heads outside during a foggy night, walking toward Venetia, who is waiting for him. “Lucky for you, I’m a vampire,” Oliver tells her, unperturbed by her menstrual blood as he smears it over his mouth. Through late-night seductions, Oliver targets Venetia and then, cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). Each time, the camera’s framing and the night setting transform Oliver into a shadowy figure that seems to be devouring his prey when he gets in close.

Going against the vampire lore, sunlight doesn’t harm Oliver, and his reflection is caught in every mirror or glassy surface. From the blood-sucking interpretations in Nosferatu (1922) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), coffins are vital personal belongings for vampires, and after Felix’s murder, Saltburn flips this idea to fit its erotic tale. Oliver’s obsession and then the loss of Felix culminates with him thrusting his naked body into the fresh grave where Felix won’t be resting in peace. No one gets the chance to impale a stake into Oliver’s heart though, bringing the film to a dark ending. It’s how Fennell seems to love wrapping everything up, a choice horror movies don’t always rely on, but when they do, it can leave the audience rattled.

‘Promising Young Woman’ and ‘Saltburn’ Have Shocking Endings

Cassie doesn’t become a violent vigilante nor does she get to heal. The majority of the toxic intimacy is left out of sight, but Cassie’s death is shown, a horrifying payoff to the suspenseful bait-and-switch of the past hookups. In the afterlife, Cassie truly becomes a vengeful spirit, orchestrating a backup plan that finally gets the police to act. Over in the Saltburn estate, Oliver’s cravings for bodily fluids are not as upsetting as the sight and sound of how Oliver finishes off Felix’s mother, a comatose Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike). He cruelly rips out her breathing tube, calmly sitting back to wait for the last breath to exit her lungs. In each, pop music plays, shooting out a surge of euphoria that can sugarcoat the grim closing minutes where the main characters achieve victories.

Cassie loses her life, but she does get justice for Nina. Oliver is no longer an outsider, manipulating his way into owning the Saltburn estate where he will enjoy a grandiose future. Twice, Fennell has shown herself to be right at home in delivering a downbeat yet satisfying ending. Midsommar (2019) does something similar after Dani (Florence Pugh) spends the runtime struggling with grief over a personal loss and a failing relationship with her boyfriend. She finds the support she has been searching for at last, it just happens to be within a murderous cult. The final shot reads as triumphant and bleak where a broken Dani smiles with all that she has lost and what she has now gained.

Although Promising Young Woman has horror-like moments, Saltburn escalates it with extremity. Among other directors who should make a genuine horror movie, Fennell should too, as the next step in evolving the various tropes and stylized aesthetics in both of her movies. Her imagination could certainly push the darkness she has done so far, making Oliver’s gravesite desecration look tame. If Promising Young Woman or Saltburn indicates anything, a horror film by Emerald Fennell would be a bloody, lush, funny, and depraved time. And luckily for us, it sounds like she’s up for the task!

Saltburn is in theaters now.

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