Spoilers ahead for Saltburn.
Awards Season is officially upon us, with the Golden Globe winners taking home trophies for TV and film content. Emerald Fennell's dark comedy Saltburn got a few noms, and has been dominating pop culture since it became available to stream with an Amazon Prime subscription. A large reason for this ongoing discourse is Saltburn's wild bathtub scene, which had been made into countless memes. Barry Keoghan recently defended his character's actions in that sequence, saying "you can't judge."
Around halfway through Salbturn, Keoghan's character Oliver watched Jacob Elordi's Felix masturbate in their shared bathtub. After Felix leaves Oliver lowers himself into the tub, and laps up/drinks the water. There's been a ton of chatter about this sequence, and the Eternals actor opened up to GQ about how he wrapped his head around teh scene, saying:
The bathtub scene is he’s submitting to this obsession and trying to figure out what it is he’s chasing. It’s almost like a sacrifice in how he lowers himself into the bath, physically. And when he gets down there, he’s just confused and helpless and sick, you know, to do that. But you can’t judge that as you’re playing him. I can judge it as a spectator, but when I'm playing I’ve gotta see justice to it and see that it’s the right thing to do.
There you have it. Part of an actor's job is to justify their character's actions, even when playing a villain. Saltburn's bathtub scene is pretty disturbing, and shows Oliver's growing obsession with Felix. But you have to admit that it created a seismic shift in the movie; things only got more wild from there.
Keoghan's comments to GQ help to peel back the curtain on what it was like actually filming Saltburn, and all of its wild scenes. The bathtub sequence ended up being just the tip of the iceberg, as Oliver's scene at Felix's masturbation grave is arguably more disturbed.
Keoghan's job portraying Oliver was no doubt made more complicated given the movie's twist ending. In its final moments, it's revealed that the death of Felix and his family was all orchestrated by Barry Keoghan's protagonist, who was obsessed with Jacob Elordi's character from the jump. In the end he finds a way to manipulate his way into inheriting the titular mansion, ending with Keoghan dancing naked to the song "Murder on the Dance Floor" (which has become super popular since the movie's release).
Only time will tell how many more nominations and/or wins Saltburn will have throughout the course of Awards Season, but Emerald Fennell's movie has definitely found a way to pierce the pop culture zeitgeist in a major way. So Keoghan will likely be answering questions about that bathtub sequence for the foreseeable future.
Saltburn is streaming now on Amazon. Be sure to check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
