Saltburnis not the kind of movie for everyone, with its divisiveness being a key reason why it feels as though it’s up there with the most discussed releases of 2023. It takes an unsettling and darkly comedic look at a disturbed protagonist: a young man who becomes infatuated with a fellow student, and slowly inches his way into said student’s circle of friends and family. From there, numerous shocking plot twists and a fair few gross-out scenes occur.
It’s dark and disturbing at times, sure, butSaltburnis alsoaesthetically pleasing to look at, and its fast pace, use of dark humor, andgreat performances ultimately make it very entertaining. It’s also a film that takes both direct and indirect inspiration from other acclaimed films, remixing and reimagining certain tropes and narrative beats in a way that still feels fresh. Nevertheless, this fact does mean that fans ofSaltburnwill be glad to know there are other films to watch that scratch similar itches, with the titles below being some of the best.
10’The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1999)
Director: Anthony Minghella
To get the most obvious comparison out of the way first, yes, there are definite similarities when it comes to the premise of bothThe Talented Mr. RipleyandSaltburn. Both deal with obsession and a sense of wanting to become like the target of one’s obsession, and though 1999’sThe Talented Mr. Ripleyis the most well-known adaptation of the novel of the same name, it’s not the first, nor is it the only great one (1960’sPurple Noonis also very good).
Matt Damon’srarely been better than he was in this film’s titular role, though the supporting cast ofThe Talented Mr. Ripleyis also worth noting, and includesJude Law,Gwyneth Paltrow,andPhilip Seymour Hoffman. Some might feel thatSaltburnfeels dangerously close toThe Talented Mr. Ripley, especially in the first half,but the 2023 film does go in some interesting alternate directions the further it goes along(to say more would feel like divulging too much).
Watch on DirecTV
9’Parasite' (2019)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
A darkly comedicthriller/social satire movie that won Best Pictureat the Oscars,Parasiteis a film that’s been praised to the moon and back (possibly further), so it’s hard to even know what to say at this point. It’s a masterful blend of genres and tones, proving funny, suspenseful, and very emotional when it needs to be, and its story about the clash between two families belonging to two different classes is fascinating and absorbing.
Much ofSaltburnrevolves around its protagonist,Oliver Quick, wanting to work his way into the lives of classmate Felix Catton and his wealthy family, andParasitekicks off with the less wealthy family wanting to work their way into the lifestyle of the wealthier family. Both films also blend comedy, drama, and thriller genres quite effectively, and each has things to say about class and societal divisions in society.
Watch on Max
8’Promising Young Woman' (2020)
Director: Emerald Fennell
Three years beforeSaltburn, filmmakerEmerald Fennellmade her feature film directorial debut withPromising Young Woman,another provocative 2020s releasethat was widely discussed and somewhat divisive(though not to the same extent asSaltburn). Its protagonist is a woman with a tragic past, with the film gradually revealing her history to the audience while showing her elaborate revenge plot against a group of men responsible for upending her life.
Promising Young Womancould be read as darkly funny to some extent and in some places, but there is less comedy here than inSaltburn, and its thematic content is heavier, too. That being said, it has the same kind of energy and unpredictable plotting that characterized Fennell’s more recent film, and is more than worthy of a watch for anyone who likedSaltburnand hadPromising Young Womanfly under their radar several years ago.
Promising Young Woman
Rent on Apple TV
7’Triangle of Sadness' (2022)
Director: Ruben Östlund
As movies likeParasiteandSaltburndemonstrate,satirical movies about class and societal divisionhave proven popular in recent years, andTriangle of Sadnessis another fairly recent release that can be included alongside such films. Much of this 2.5-hour-long movie is centered on the experiences of passengers and staff on board a luxury cruise, though disaster strikes at a point and shifts at least the final act into more unexpected territory.
It’s largely comedic, perhaps more broadly so thanSaltburn, though the issues it explores are still serious and very much topical in today’s day and age. It’s not an example of satire done perfectly, with certain things feeling a little questionable and parts of the final hour dragging a little, butTriangle of Sadness, for better or worse, is memorable and certainly contains sequences of greatness.
Triangle of Sadness
Watch on Hulu
6’The Servant' (1963)
Director: Joseph Losey
A classic from the 1960s,The Servant– as its title suggests – unsurprisingly deals with divisions of class, doing so whileprimarily being a drama; more of a societal critique/observation than a satire. The narrative is a slow-burn one, revolving around an aristocrat in London hiring the titular servant and expecting things to go a certain way, only for certain power dynamics to shift as the film progresses.
The Servantmight not be flashy or action-packed by any definition,but it is engrossing and quietly tense throughout, being another movie that looks at class through a story about someone from a lower standing in life entering the world of someone who lives more lavishly. Though it’s an older release,The Servantstill holds relevancy and remains biting, which is somewhat troubling to think about, given it came out more than 60 years ago.
Buy on Amazon
5’Thoroughbreds' (2017)
Director: Cory Finley
Thoroughbredsclocks in at a nice and lean 92 minutes, and has avery direct psychological thriller premisethat it executes well. The main characters are a pair of teenage girls who used to be childhood friends and find themselves reconnecting after several years apart, only to have certain suspicions about aspects of each other’s lives before deciding to work together on an ill-advised scheme that involves murder.
It features plenty of narrative twists and turns that are best left unspoiled, with the unpredictability ofThoroughbredsbeing one of the best things about it. For those wanting the same kind of rollercoaster ride thatSaltburnprovides,alongside a comparably hard-to-predict story and a dash of dark comedy for good measure, this 2017 movie is likely worth checking out.
4’Knives Out' (2019)
Director: Rian Johnson
Boasting one of themost impressive ensemble casts in recent memory – including Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer,and Jamie Lee Curtis, to name a few–Knives Outalso represented filmmakerRian Johnsonat his most playful and unpredictable. It’s a blend of dark comedy, thriller, and mystery genres, starting out feeling like a traditional whodunit before taking plenty of unexpected turns.
Knives Outfeatures plenty of untrustworthy and greedy characters, eventually emerging as another film that critiques members of the upper class and unpacks greed/societal division in a way that feels funny and impactful. It doesn’t sacrifice entertainment value, because, at the end of the day,Knives Outis still a crowd-pleaser… albeit one that can be compared to something likeSaltburn, seeing as both had different ways of approaching similar thematic content.
Knives Out
Watch on AMC+
3’Theorem' (1968)
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
AfterThe Talented Mr. Ripley,Pier Paolo Pasolini’sTheoremis perhaps the most easily comparable older film toSaltburn, at least from a narrative perspective. This methodically paced and unsettling psychological drama involves what happens to a family after they’re visited and individually seduced by a mysterious stranger, who then disappears from their lives and leaves them in despair.
Theoremis a little likeSaltburnifSaltburndidn’t feature Oliver as the central character and instead focused on the family he infiltrated (and then subsequently left said family well before the film was over). Beyond the premise, though,Theoremis very different in terms of pacing and how it feels overall,being a quieter and more subtle film than the flashier and more over-the-topSaltburn, though it can’t be denied that narratively (and at least in part thematically) there are similarities.
Watch on Criterion
2’Ready or Not' (2019)
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
WhileSaltburncan prove gross and shocking in parts, it’s probably not accurate to call it a horror movie. Thankfully, there are horror movies that deal with similar themes while also being quite funny, in case anyone was curious what a more terrifying and gruesomeSaltburnwould look like. EnterReady or Not,a bloody and oftentimes ridiculous horror moviethat is probably more intent on making viewers laugh than scaring them.
Still, that approach is okay if the film itself is entertaining, and, thankfully,Ready or Notis. Its premise sees one young woman get involved in a strange series of events with members of the wealthy family she’s just married into,leading to plenty of gore, narrative surprises, and tense scenes of gritty action. To say more about the plot would be a sin, but viewers can rest assured that the ride provided is a fun one.
Ready or Not
1’Barry Lyndon' (1975)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
At first glance,the epicStanley Kubrick-directedBarry Lyndonmight look tremendously different toSaltburn, owing to both belonging to different genres andBarry Lyndonbeing set back in the 1700s. However, if you were to summarize both films in a fairly broad manner, you could say that the two both revolve around determined and disturbed characters stopping at nothing to climb some sort of social ladder.
InBarry Lyndon, things take place over many decades, with the titular character being a tragic and sometimes laughable one who brings about his own misfortune, all the while never stopping to question what he wants or why he wants it.Barry Lyndonimpresses as an epic film, too,running for three hours and having some beautiful cinematography throughout, as well as a surprisingly snappy pace and some infrequent yet compelling action set pieces.
