(L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights’, a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Inspired by Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel (thus the quotation marks around the title in the credits and marketing), Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ is not your mother’s well-read copy of the book. It’s not Laurence Olivier and William Wyler’s relatively faithful 1939 ‘Wuthering Heights’ either. Instead, it’s what you might call a remix of the Brontë tale, streamlined to focus almost exclusively on the relationship between Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and the enigmatic Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), while stripping out much of the novel’s later narrative and ramping up the eroticism.
Maybe surprisingly, it works. Fennell (‘Promising Young Woman,’‘Saltburn’) has concocted a rich, full-bodied, almost classic film with gorgeous, windswept settings, an immersive atmosphere, and a chemistry between its two leads that practically fogs up the screen. No, it’s not particularly slavish to the text, but it’s a sweeping, epic tale of love, lust, vengeance, and forgiveness that crackles with passion and sexual energy.
When Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw is a little girl, her father – who fancies himself a generous man but is actually a gambling and alcohol addict with an abusive temper — takes in a street urchin named Heathcliff who becomes Cathy’s best friend and, in time, hopelessly devoted to her. Cathy and Heathcliff are seemingly bonded for life, much to the consternation of serving girl Nelly, who may have her own repressed feelings for Cathy.
As they grow older, Mr. Earnshaw becomes more dissolute and their estate – Wuthering Heights – falls further into disrepair. But while Heathcliff remains steadfastly true to Cathy, she has her eye on marrying the wealthy new neighbor, Edgar Linton, at the estate next door. When Heathcliff overhears her saying that she would ‘degrade’ herself by marrying her poor friend – despite the fact that she loves him dearly – he departs Wuthering Heights and doesn’t return for five years, during which time he makes his own fortune – and Cathy, although still desperately in love with Heathcliff, does in fact marry Linton.
Thus begins an escalating series of events as Cathy and Heathcliff first deny then ultimately give into their true passion, until their affair threatens to smash their lives and that of those around them to pieces. That’s when love and desire curdle into cruelty and psychological abuse, even as the illicit couple’s romance takes on epic, tragic proportions.
In adapting the novel, Fennell combines or discards characters, and leaves an entire generation of Lintons and Earnshaws off the playing field. In doing so, she shifts the focus from generational trauma squarely onto Cathy, Heathcliff, and their feelings for each other that are painfully romantic, bursting with unrestrained ardor, yet also torturously destructive. Through her exceptional lead actors and Fennell’s own grasp of how yearning can be physically and emotionally consuming, Cathy and Heathcliff’s desire practically oozes off the screen.
This probably wouldn’t be an Emerald Fennell film if she didn’t also make a little more explicit what could only be implicit in 1847. While there’s barely a glimpse of naked skin to be seen – which somehow makes it more erotic – multiple characters in the film indulge in the pleasures of the flesh and a bit more. In a relationship that blooms (if that’s the word) between two characters later in the film (fans of the book will know who we mean), some BDSM comes into play that adds a bit of unbridled perversity to the proceedings.
After following ‘Barbie’ with the misbegotten ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ Margot Robbie bounces back here with the kind of screen-filling, brave performance that she became known for early on. Her Cathy is irritating, self-pitying, calculating, and class-obsessed, yet also passionate, kind, loving, lustful, and heartbreaking – with Robbie delivering it all in a masterful balance of conflicting emotions and characteristics that make us feel every inch of Cathy’s titanic regret and desire.
Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff comes hard on the heels of his magnificent portrayal of the creature in ‘Frankenstein’ and is another triumph for this quickly developing actor. As with Robbie’s Cathy, Heathcliff is a man who contains multitudes: he’s feral, brutish, cunning, and capable of great cruelty, yet also charming, vulnerable, and aching with love, loss, and untold suffering. Elordi gives him not just an imposing physical presence, but a powerful emotional one as well, making this enigmatic character both alluring and frightening.
As for the rest of the main cast, Hong Chau is her usual magnificent self as Nelly, although the character’s often obscured motivations come across as murkier on the screen. But her own pain and sadness are evident throughout. Alison Oliver is an eerie Isabella, but Shazad Latif gets a bit of the short end of the stick as Linton, who never quite becomes much more than an emotional punching bag for the leads.
With Linus Sandgren’s breathtaking cinematography – which soars, climbs, and gallops through beautifully desolate, foggy, and craggy locations in Yorkshire — Anthony Willis’ haunting score, and even the needle drops from Charli XcX (which sound anachronistic on paper but work here) all adding texture and immersion to the proceedings, Emerald Fennell and her cast have devised a truly towering romance in ‘Wuthering Heights.’
Purists may grumble about certain aspects, but this is an adaptation based on a particular vision – a vision that adds a modern edge to a book that, while still universal in its themes, is now nearly two centuries old. Even if you don’t care personally for this extravagant, extraordinary film, it may introduce new generations to the source text – making Cathy and Heathcliff immortal all over again.
‘Wuthering Heights’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.
‘Wuthering Heights’ opens in theaters on February 13th.
What is the plot of ‘Wuthering Heights’?
In a crumbling estate on the West Yorkshire Moors, status-minded Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw and the mysterious Heathcliff pursue their tormented, passionate love for each other across the years, while wreaking havoc on both the Earnshaw family and their neighbors, the Lintons.
There was no casting attached at the time, but now Deadline reports that the new movie will mark a dual reunion for Fennell, as she’s landed Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the lead roles.
Robbie and Fennell’s collaboration stretches back to the director’s film debut, 2020’s ‘Promising Young Woman,’ in which Robbie was originally going to star, but stepped aside because she felt Carey Mulligan would be a better choice. That was, as it happens, the right move, with Mulligan earning an Oscar nomination.
Still, Robbie and her LuckyChap company produced the movie, and reunited with Fennell for her next film, ‘Saltburn’ (which starred Elordi as wealthy scion Felix Catton). Fennell also worked with Robbie by appearing in ‘Barbie’.
1939’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
Brontë’s book, published in 1847 under her pseudonym Ellis Bell, follows Heathcliff (Elordi), an orphan-turned-foster-son who falls in love with the daughter of the family who owns the estate on which he now lives, Wuthering Heights.
After running away, Heathcliff rises up through the ranks of the gentry and exacts revenge on the families — the Earnshaws and the Lintons — who kept him from his true love, Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie).
What previous adaptations of ‘Wuthering Heights’ have there been?
(L to R) Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in 1992’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
Upcoming for Elordi is Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ and a TV series called ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North,’ directed by Justin Kurzel.
When will Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ be seen on screens?
The new ‘Wuthering Heights’ is in pre-production and will shoot next year in the UK.
While it has MRC agreeing to stump up the money to produce the film, it has yet to lock down a studio home. Though we can imagine many companies will be happy to snatch this one up given the pedigree of Fennell and Robbie in particular.
Emerald Fennell has teased she’ll adapt ‘Wuthering Heights’.
It’ll be based on Emily Brontë’s novel.
No casting has been announced yet.
Given that her first two movie projects –– one an Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay –– were stories she wrote and directed herself, it’s almost surprising to learn that Emerald Fennell has her eyes on an adaptation.
And not just any source material, but Emily Brontë’s gothic classic ‘Wuthering Heights’, which has hit screens a variety of times in the past. Still, it appears that is no barrier to a fresh take, particularly one from the filmmaker behind ‘Promising Young Woman’ and ‘Saltburn’.
Fennell teased her new project via a social media post:
Of course, a tweet is one thing; what the actual project will entail is quite another, but whatever Fennell chooses to do will surely be anticipated.
Fennell has previously written about how gothic themes influence her –– and played into ‘Saltburn’ in a column for the Los Angeles Times:
“I’ve always been obsessed with the gothic. Whether it was Edward Gorey’s children who are variously choked by peaches, sucked dry by leeches or smothered by rugs; Du Maurier’s imperiled heroines or the disturbing erotic power of Angela Carter’s fairy tales, the gothic world has always had me in its grip. It’s a genre where comedy and horror, revulsion and desire, sex and death are forever entwined, where every exchange is heavy with the threat of violence, or sex or both.”
So, ‘Wuthering Heights’ certainly makes sense for her.
1939’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
Brontë’s book, published in 1847 under her pseudonym Ellis Bell, follows Heathcliff, an orphan-turned-foster-son who falls in love with the daughter of the family who owns the estate on which he now lives, Wuthering Heights.
After running away, Heathcliff rises up through the ranks of the gentry and exacts revenge on the families — the Earnshaws and the Lintons — who kept him from his true love, Cathy Linton.
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What previous adaptations of ‘Wuthering Heights’ have there been?
(L to R) Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in 1992’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
On the small screen, 2009 saw a TV miniseries with Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley in the lead roles, and series in 1978 and 1998.
And not forgetting Kate Bush’s 1978 song “Wuthering Heights”.
When will Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ storm its way on to screens?
Since all we know about the project at this point is that Fennell intends to make it (or at least something based on it), there are zero details to offer on a release date, since it doesn’t have a studio or streaming home yet.
(L to R) Carey Mulligan, Emerald Fennell, and Laverne Cox on the set of ‘Promising Young Woman.’
Olivia Wilde has found a potential new directing job in Christmas comedy ‘Naughty.
It’s being described as ‘Bridesmaids’ at the North Pole.
Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap company will produce the movie.
Olivia Wilde broke out big as a director thanks to ‘Booksmart’ back in 2019, though her cache took a hit after the reviews and controversies of ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ (it’s worth noting that the thriller did make $87 million off of a $20 million budget).
She is still, however, a sought-after filmmaker, and has a few projects in the works (more on that lower down the page) and is adding another potential to the list, agreeing to make Christmas comedy ‘Naughty’, at least according to a report from Deadline.
The film follows Mallory, whose only hope of securing custody of her son from her gaslighting trash-bag ex is to find Santa Claus and convince him to testify in her divorce hearing.
Given how ‘Cocaine Bear’ turned out, we’d expect this to be another wild comedy with a lot of ludicrous behavior.
Who is producing the new film?
Actor/Producer Margot Robbie attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Junket Photo Call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by Eric Charbonneau.
The biggest element to make this one attractive to potential buyers besides the presence of Wilde is word that Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap company is attached to produce the movie.
LuckyChap is behind the year’s biggest box office hit and buzziest movie in ‘Barbie’ (which starred Robbie) and also Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to ‘Promising Young Woman’, ‘Saltburn’, which is on limited release now before going wider on December 22nd.
Whether Robbie ends up acting in the movie remains to be seen –– she hasn’t appeared in every project from the company. But the lead role here is clearly something she could make work.
It remains to be seen which company might pick this one up –– expect plenty of interest from the usual studios and streaming services.
What else is Olivia Wilde working on?
Olivia Wilde in ‘Meadowland.’
Wilde has a few other projects on her To Do list, including sports biopic ‘Perfect’ about gymnast Kerry Strug, which stars Thomasin McKenzie and McKenna Grace and should be shooting in 2024.
There are others in development, including an untitled new comedy that reunites her with ‘Booksmart’s Katie Silberman and a yet-to-be-released movie in Sony’s Spider-Man adjacent universe.
And on the TV front, she’s been linked to adaptations of Jennifer Egan’s novels ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad’ and ‘The Candy House’.
After making a striking feature debut in 2020 with ‘Promising Young Woman,’ a bracing if sometimes heavy-handed stew of revenge thriller, psychological drama, black comedy, and feminist messaging, writer-director Emerald Fennell returns with ‘Saltburn.’ Like her first, ‘Saltburn’ is a hybrid of several genres, including satire, mystery, erotic thriller, and class-based drama. While it may not offer anything substantially new beyond its gorgeous visuals and pulsing rhythms, it will lock you into its spell thanks to its sharp tone and a sumptuous cast, with Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan all at the top of their game.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick and Archie Madekwe as Farleigh in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
As ‘Saltburn’ begins, we meet Oliver Quick (Keoghan), a lonely, awkward, and clearly fashion-deficient new student at Oxford who yearns to somehow integrate himself with the cool kids, and become friends – and perhaps more – with their leader, the effortlessly charismatic, beautiful, and privileged Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Circumstances provide Oliver with just that opportunity, and soon he and Felix do indeed become friends – despite the misgivings of fellow student and Felix’s cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe).
Seemingly genuinely empathetic toward Oliver and the tragic family life he shares, Felix invites the young man to spend the summer with him and his family at their palatial estate, Saltburn. Once there, Oliver meets Felix’s imperious yet insipid mother Elspeth (Pike), who runs the household with an iron fist yet revels in memories of her days as a model and A-lister. Also there is Felix’s permanently distracted, one-sandwich-short-a-picnic father James (Grant), his sexually available yet troubled sister Venetia (Oliver), Farleigh, and a dissolute family friend known as Poor Dear Pamela (Carey Mulligan).
The brooding, maze-like house (complete with massive hedge maze out back), its sinister head of staff Duncan (Paul Rhys), the ever-present servants, and the play of light and shadow throughout Saltburn’s mahogany-walled corridors provide a classic archetype of the British country estate, almost always with a secret or five hidden within its overbearing walls. Fennell sets up a somewhat standard class conflict, with the Cattons – who never want for anything but are all damaged and oblivious in their own ways – eager to put a little charge into their own semi-vacant lives by bestowing luxury and decadence upon Oliver. Yet they never realize how condescending and dismissive they are (“She’d do anything for attention,” sniffs Elspeth upon learning of a friend’s suicide), and even the kind-hearted Felix can turn on a dime from compassionate to selfish.
Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Yet, as one might suspect fairly early on, things aren’t quite what they seem at Saltburn, and the story takes some twists and turns in its second half that are best left undiscussed here. With a bacchanalian birthday party for Oliver at the center of the action, events take a darker turn that may be somewhat predictable from the start – think ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ and another Keoghan starrer, ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ — but are nonetheless compelling to watch thanks to Fennell’s expert direction and her brilliant cast.
The third act of ‘Saltburn’ is where Fennell might lose some viewers, as certain reveals are telegraphed pretty clearly, a few plot points stretch credibility, and most importantly, the movie struggles with its point of view. While ‘Saltburn’ may for most of its running time seem to be a scathing indictment of lifestyles of the rich and not-really-famous, its concluding scenes are far more ambivalent about who we’re empathizing with.
(L to R) Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
The casting for ‘Saltburn’ is superb up and down the board, starting with lead actor Barry Keoghan. The Irish actor is known for his breakout role in ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer,’ as well as his Oscar-nominated turn in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ his role as Druig in Marvel’s ‘Eternals,’ and his eerie cameo as the Joker in ‘The Batman.’
In his first major lead, Keoghan is nothing short of riveting. His Oliver Quick is enigmatic, unsettling, and off-putting in an amorphous way, and Keoghan – who takes several bold, big swings throughout the film – keeps the audience off balance for most of the movie. Even when you have his number, the actor is so magnetic to watch that you don’t take your eyes off him.
Equally fantastic is Rosamund Pike, who continues the red-hot career streak that started in 2014 with ‘Gone Girl,’ and has encompassed films like ‘Hostiles’ and ‘I Care a Lot.’ Her Elspeth is perfectly repulsive yet hilarious, spewing out inappropriate opinions no one asked for (“I have a complete and utter horror of ugliness ever since I was very young”), vain enough to think that she singlehandedly inspired an entire British music scene, and making sure that lunch is served on time even in the wake of tragedy. Elspeth is a monster, and Pike plays her with an exquisite, complete lack of self-awareness.
Beyond Keoghan and Pike, Jacob Elordi’s Felix continues the Australian actor’s terrific year after his outstanding work as Elvis Presley in ‘Priscilla,’ both performances fueled by his physical presence and formidable good looks but utterly different in their emotional tone. Richard E. Grant is reliably amusing as always, and ‘Promising Young Woman’ star Carey Mulligan has a brief, darkly hilarious turn as Poor Dear Pamela, an utterly lost soul who manages to maintain her own distinct fashion sense.
Production Design, Editing and Music
‘Saltburn’ opens in theaters on November 22nd. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
‘Saltburn’ is a gorgeous film, from the beautiful young bodies on display both at Oxford and the Catton family home to the latter itself, an ostentatious, labyrinthine monster of a house that can blaze with sensual color or plunge into claustrophobic shadows within the space of one vast room.
There is a hedge maze that can put that of the Overlook Hotel to shame, sprawling fields and lawns where one might stumble across a nude sunbather, and other surprises all brought to vivid life by production designer Suzie Davies and cinematographer Linus Sandgren, who make ‘Saltburn’ into a decadent visual meal. They are aided and abetted by costume designer Sophie Canale, whose work here ranges from Oliver’s initially drab study hall duds to Elspeth’s shimmering, slinky dresses and Venetia’s seductive see-through nightwear.
All this is tied together and seamlessly paraded before the viewer’s eyes by the sure hand of editor Victoria Boydell, who works with Fennell to give Saltburn both a languid, lazy pace of life in some scenes and an urgent, throbbing rhythm in others, especially the centerpiece of Oliver’s birthday party.
The film’s music is key as well, with Anthony Willis’ sultry score pulsating along to the same rhythms as the film and highlighting the story’s complex psychological and sexual dynamics. Complementing Willis’ work is a series of tight needle drops from the mid-2000s (in which the film is set), including cuts from Bloc Party, MGMT, the Killers, and for the jaw-dropping final scene, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor.”
Is ’Saltburn’ An Oscar Contender?
Rosamund Pike as Lady Elsbeth Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Emerald Fennell won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Promising Young Woman,’ which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Editing. While ‘Saltburn’ may not rise to the level of Best Picture, and Fennell won’t make the cut in what looks like an already mostly locked Best Director race, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (for Barry Keoghan), and either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress for Rosamund Pike seem like possible nods for the film.
Keoghan delivers a tour de force, as we mentioned above, and Pike is equally sensational, but with less screen time we might see her compete for Best Supporting instead. ‘Saltburn’ should easily compete in the categories for Production Design, Costume Design, and Editing as well, and may score a few wins in those fields even if it doesn’t land any of the bigger trophies of the night – unless the raunchier aspects of the film turn off some of the more staid Academy voters altogether.
Final Thoughts
Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Yes, it’s derivative of other films and arguably not as clever or surprising as it thinks it is, but we had a blast watching ‘Saltburn’ nonetheless. As we said earlier, it’s sumptuous to look at, backed with great music, and features one of the best ensemble casts we’ve seen in a film this year – with Barry Keoghan once again proving himself to be one of the finest rising young actors of his generation. The movie may not be especially shocking (well, maybe a little) but it’s certainly perverse in a gleeful way, and Emerald Fennell manages to keeps us entertained and even a bit titillated for two hours.
‘Saltburn’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Saltburn’?
Lonely new Oxford student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), desperate to make friends, is drawn into the social circle of popular, rich, and powerfully attractive Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). When Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at Saltburn, the Catton family’s country estate, Oliver finds himself in the midst of a truly eccentric family whose wealth and privilege mask the emptiness of their existence – until Oliver is added into the mix.
Who is in the cast of ‘Saltburn’?
Barry Keoghan (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’) as Oliver Quick
Oliver manages to work his way into Felix’s good graces – and empathy – and wins himself an invite to spend the summer at Felix’s family estate, Saltburn. There, Oliver meets Felix’s imperious mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), absent-minded father James (Richard E. Grant), and troubled yet sexually available sister Venetia (Alison Oliver).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of attending a virtual press conference for ‘Saltburn.’ Taking part in the two-part Q&A were star Rosamund Pike, writer-director Emerald Fennell, and producer Josey McNamara.
Here are 10 things we learned from the ‘Saltburn’ virtual press conference, edited for clarity and length.
1) Emerald Fennell First Came Up with the Character of Oliver Quick Years Ago
(Center) Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
The film’s ostensible protagonist, Oliver Quick, is a slippery persona to grab hold of. He’s awkward and lonely yet also much more manipulative than he first lets on. He’s also a working-class bloke who is exposed to an entirely different way of life at Saltburn, and that almost certainly has an effect on him. In some ways, according to Fennell, he’s the audience.
Emerald Fennell: Oliver feels incredibly relatable to me. He kind of announced himself about seven or eight years ago, kind of persistently. He’s sort of an imaginary friend. He was just there all the time, and I couldn’t get him out of my head. It’s no accident to me, I think, that I finished writing this during COVID, because if Oliver’s anything, as well as being the person he is, this is a film about looking constantly and not being able to touch, and what it does to you if you’re not allowed to touch the thing you want to touch. We were living in a world where we could only look at each other through screens, that we were constantly voyeuristic, that we were absorbing things that couldn’t see us back. So I think that for me, Oliver seems to be all of us, really. Yes, he’s an outsider. Yes, he’s a person driven by love and desire and all of those things. But he’s also trying to scratch an itch that just cannot be sated. It can’t be scratched. So what do you do? You scratch your skin till you get down to the bone. You do it till it hurts.
2) Barry Keoghan Was Willing to Go to Any Lengths
Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
From ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ to ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ not to mention his eerie cameo as a certain Clown Prince of Crime in ‘The Batman,’ Barry Keoghan has taken on a slew of provocative roles in his still-young career. But his first lead, in ‘Saltburn,’ may be his boldest performance yet.
Emerald Fennell: [Barry] is a force of nature. Barry is like lightning in a bottle. It’s a very unique and specific talent that he has. The thing that you’re always looking for is that element of surprise. The texture of a performance as much as the texture of, you know, the couch they’re sitting on. That is something that is really important, and what I love is things and people that go against the grain. That’s what Barry does. We as humans are not consistent characters. We have our own idiosyncrasies. We respond to things surprisingly. We are turned on by the things that we don’t like, and we’re disgusted by the things we should [like]. That’s this movie, and that’s what Barry does.
Rosamund Pike: Barry’s a maverick. He has so many different temperatures. And you never quite know what you’re going to get.
3) About Barry’s Nude Dance Scene…
Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
We won’t give away too much to avoid spoilers, but Barry Keoghan does a nude dance through Saltburn to the tune of Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ that is a guaranteed showstopper (and jaw-dropper).
Emerald Fennell: The scene was always from the beginning going to be a complicated, technical, and precise thing, because it’s the inverse of Felix’s tour at the beginning. So technically, it was always going to be precise. And it’s absolutely about making sure that somebody feels safe and relaxed and all of that sort of thing. We had Polly Bennett, who is an unbelievably talented choreographer. She does a lot of movement as well as dance — she did ‘Elvis‘ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ and ‘The Crown,’ all those sorts of things. What I was really looking for was something that felt spontaneous, that felt loose enough that it was a kind of burst of evil joy that we could really relate to, but that also had enough kind of precision that it just didn’t feel messy. And the thing with Barry, again, that is so wonderful is that when he gets it, he gets it. When you say to him, “I don’t think the end can be a naked walk through the house, I think it needs to be a dance to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor,’” Barry just says, “Yeah.”
4) Carey Mulligan Insisted on Playing Poor Dear Pamela Even Though She’s Only in Three Scenes
(L to R) Carey Mulligan, Emerald Fennell, and Laverne Cox on the set of ‘Promising Young Woman.’
After giving a bravura, Oscar-nominated performance as the lead of Fennell’s first film, ‘Promising Young Woman,’ Carey Mulligan collaborates with the director again for ‘Saltburn,’ this time in the relatively small role of Poor Dear Pamela, a dissolute friend of the Cattons who’s staying at Saltburn while she tries to put her life back together.
Emerald Fennell: She’s an extraordinary person and the most gifted actress. I sent her the script just as my friend, you know, once it was finished. I wanted to talk to her about it. She immediately called me up and said, “I have to be Poor Dear Pamela.” I was like, “You’re only in three scenes.” She was like, “I don’t care.” You know, the thing is, you have a shorthand. You have the trust built in. Then the thing about Carey, the thing about Poor Dear Pamela is she’s an unbelievably important character in this film because she could so easily be an object of derision. She’s treated so abominably. She’s the person who knows she’s outstayed her welcome and has nowhere to go, so has to suffer the indignity of their derision every day. Carey is so gifted as a comic actress, it is such a genius comic performance, but it is also one of the most devastating, kind of poignant ones. She’s the human collateral, I think, of this family.
Carey Mulligan in ‘Promising Young Woman’
Josey McNamara: She is incredibly gifted comedically, which I don’t think she gets credit for enough, and willing to go and to be transformative as well. I think with this role, it’s such a small amount of time that we had her, but she threw herself into it in terms of how she changed her appearance and the little details with the tattoos and all the different things she brought to it. She really wanted to kind of push outside of the box with it.
5) ‘Saltburn’ Was the First Film Allowed to Shoot at the Real British Estate That Fennell Discovered
‘Saltburn’ opens in theaters on November 22nd. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Although the filmmakers are not allowed to identify the location by name, ‘Saltburn’ was shot primarily at Drayton House, a vast country estate in the East Midlands of England. Constructed in the early 14th century, the house has been owned by the same family for generations. Nothing had ever been filmed there before, which made it perfect for Saltburn.
Josey McNamara: The house is actually the first thing that Emerald and I spoke about, I think, after I read the script. We had the conversation about how important it was we find somewhere that had never been seen before and that would feel original to people and fresh. It was also incredibly important that we had somewhere that we could organically move throughout so we had a fluidity to the way we could shoot the movie. I think Emerald was the one who actually managed to kind of find the house and have all the original conversations, so thank God she managed to do that. I think it really allowed us to embed ourselves with the family, have everyone set themselves up in their characters, and also for the crew to kind of grow with the movie as well and everyone to get to know each other. It allowed us to shoot things in as much story order as possible so people could kind of grow into their characters, grow into the feeling of the movie. It allowed us to feel where the tension was in the movie and adjust and react. We got incredibly lucky with the family who owned the house, and they were really phenomenal with us and became a part of the crew themselves.
‘Saltburn’ opens in theaters on November 22nd. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Rosamund Pike: I had opted to stay in the house itself, and I thought, oh, have I made a terrible mistake? Just like that line in the movie, ‘many people get lost in Saltburn.’ I was like, I’m never leaving, because the grounds are huge and I don’t have a car. I’m stuck here.’ It was kind of mad and intense. But it was a wonderful decision because the family were so generous. I had a bedroom in the house [but] I never saw all the rooms in the house. I mean, there were whole staircases I never even entered upon. Whatever you’re picturing as to the scale of this house, just quadruple it.
6) Margot Robbie is Not Just a Producer on the Film, But Was a Driving Force Behind It
Actor/Producer Margot Robbie attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Junket Photo Call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by Eric Charbonneau.
Actors get producing credits on films all the time. But in the case of ‘Saltburn,’ ‘Barbie’ superstar Margot Robbie, her husband, Tom Ackerley, and Josey McNamara produced the movie through their LuckyChap company, and Robbie was very much involved in its creation.
Emerald Fennell: She’s the greatest ever. She’s exceptional. The company that she runs with these guys is unbelievable. She produced ‘Promising Young Woman’ as well as ‘Saltburn.’ I really honestly never want to work with anyone else. Josey, Margot, Tom, they’re all incredible. What’s so remarkable about what she does and what they’re doing is that they have proved, this year more than any, that subversive, smart, complicated, difficult movies can make a serious amount of money, and can be hugely popular. Everyone said, for example, that ‘Barbie’ was unmakeable. ‘Promising Young Woman,’ lots of people wanted to change it, make it more palatable, make it more marketable, or what they perceived would be those things, and Margot and Josey and LuckyChap said absolutely not. They’re resolute. They know what they’re doing. She’s a powerhouse. She’ll take over. They’ll take over, and then they’ll dance on the embers of Hollywood and build it into a nice, beautiful, pink palace. You can count on it.
7) Rosamund Pike Prepared for Her Role by Reading Magazines From 2007
Rosamund Pike as Lady Elsbeth Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Rosamund Pike says she’s met people like Elspeth and prepared for the role by immersing herself in the kinds of things that the matriarch of Saltburn would do.
Rosamund Pike: My research for this role was quite intense. Because Elspeth does absolutely nothing. So it was very important for me to clear my decks. Go on vacation, sit by a pool, decide what swimsuit to wear, order a few cocktails, and order some magazines on eBay from 2007 — it’s not that easy — and read them. As Elspeth, think about all the people who are in the magazines who weren’t her. Because her vanity knows no bounds. That was preparation. I definitely have [met people like Elspeth] — growing up in the UK, and at various times being in those sort of milieus — people who’ve made me uncomfortable [laugh]. For all those times when I’ve been made to feel uncomfortable, it was a kind of payback. You know, the people who you don’t quite know what you’ve done wrong, but you know that there’s something about you that doesn’t fit…I’ve been around it. All the bizarre ways in which the English have this codified social behavior, and nobody tells you what the code is. You certainly know when you break a rule, but you don’t quite know what it is.
8) Emerald Fennell Insisted That the Cast Hang Out Together
(L to R) Alison Oliver as Venetia Catton, Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick and Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Much of the time on a movie, the cast members will scatter to their dressing rooms or trailers in between takes or setups. But with the ‘Saltburn’ cast members all supposed to be family (or their inner circle), Emerald Fennell wanted them to spend as much time together as possible.
Rosamund Pike: One thing is that Emerald insists that nobody goes off set into their own kind of world while we’re shooting. You know, there’s no kind of retreating to a trailer or a dressing room or something. She wants everybody to hang out in the same space. So, we had a kind of sitting room in the house that was our green room. And everybody was there. Everybody. From the family to the guys playing the footmen, and Paul Rhys playing the butler, Duncan. So I think that’s one thing. We laughed a lot. We just laughed. We played games, played cards, and played kind of silly word games. My children were around, which is a great icebreaker for everybody. They played with everybody. Just having children on set takes your mind off things. There was a very familial atmosphere. It’s this curious thing where you’re comfortable, and companionable, and very at ease in one another’s company. But nobody really knows how one another is feeling. It’s a very odd thing in these families. The same is when we did sort of, like, little montage things of all of us one evening just watching ‘The Ring.’ They put ‘The Ring’ on the telly, and that was it. We just sat and watched ‘The Ring’…we kept having these things to do as a family that sort of brought us together.
9) The Party Scene Got Very Intense
‘Saltburn’ opens in theaters on November 22nd. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
The centerpiece of the film’s second half is a costumed birthday party that the Cattons throw for Oliver at Saltburn, a huge bash that gets quite debauched. Apparently it got a little bit that way in real life as well.
Rosamund Pike: The party was so extreme. I mean, even the extras, you know, started hooking up with each other. It was that kind of environment where you felt like anything could happen, and you almost forget you were making a film. It felt that you were at a kind of three-day festival or something. To the point where, I had finished my role because Elspeth was sort of retiring to bed. Then I went back to the place we had for hair and makeup, and I saw this enormous, feathered headdress on the wall. I said, “You know what? I don’t think Elspeth would go to bed. I think she’d put that headdress on, put her dressing gown on, and go back to the party.” So, that’s what I did. [laugh] There’s this shot where they’re dancing to techno later in the night, and you just see this kind of feathered headdress and these sunglasses, and that’s Elspeth up by the DJ probably, you know? I just felt that’s what she’d do.
10) Jacob Elordi Blew Away Both Rosamund Pike and Emerald Fennell
(L to R) Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
‘Euphoria’ star Jacob Elordi is having one hell of a year: he’s not only garnering raves for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla,’ but the young Australian nails the pivotal role of Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’
Emerald Fennell: He’s absolutely amazing. In many ways, Felix is the hardest part in this movie because he’s sort of the emotional center. He’s put immediately on a pedestal by not just Oliver, but the film, so it was about finding someone who had this unbelievably magnetic charm and charisma, but who was also sort of a gifted actor who understood that this person is still a person, still just a guy. That is profoundly what Jacob did. He came in and he gave this performance for his screen test, and it was exactly what I was looking for, which was that he was kind of mortal. He looked like a god, but he’s mortal.
(L to R) Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Rosamund Pike: Emerald had said that she’d cast this incredibly handsome Australian. I thought, “Well, how’s that going to work?” Then she said, “No, no. He came in and he read, and it just blew us all away.” I still thought, “Yeah, but how is he going to capture the specificity of this English public school boy?” Then I was in L.A., and I met him, and we went for lunch. I was kind of oblivious to quite what a massive star he is. So, of course, poor guy, we were constantly besieged by people coming up to talk to him. He was very gracious and kind. But I realized in that meeting that he’s the real deal. That he’s a proper actor who puts the work in… what he does in the film, for me, is totally astonishing. He gets it pitch perfect.
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What is the plot of ‘Saltburn’?
Lonely new Oxford student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), desperate to make friends, is drawn into the social circle of popular, rich, and powerfully attractive Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). When Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at Saltburn, the Catton family’s country estate, Oliver finds himself in the midst of a truly eccentric family whose wealth and privilege mask the emptiness of their existence – until Oliver is added into the mix.
Who is in the cast of ‘Saltburn’?
Barry Keoghan (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’) as Oliver Quick
(L to R) Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton and Alison Oliver as Venetia Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios.
Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ took the box office by storm, and as the audience showed up at the movie theaters all dolled up in pink, ‘Barbie’ quickly became this summer’s movie phenomenon.
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Based on the iconic doll, ‘Barbie’ takes us into Barbie Land, where we meet Margot Robbie’s Sterotypical Barbie as she begins to experience things out of her normal routine – cold showers, sour milk, thoughts of mortality, and the worst of all, flat feet. With Ken (Ryan Gosling) tagging along, Barbie sets off to seek out the answers by traveling to the real world. She soon realizes things in the real world are quite the opposite of everything she knows.
Directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, the clever story and incredible visuals made ‘Barbie’ the talk of the town. The movie is certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 88% critics score and 83% audience score. Due to it sharing an opening date with Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, movie fans took the opportunity and turned the dual release into a double-feature event, therefore kicking off the endless waves of “Barbenheimer” memes.
The official synopsis for ‘’Barbie” is below:
“To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Or you have a full-on existential crisis. Unless you’re a Ken.”
(L to R) Kinsley Ben-Adir, Ryan Gosling as Ken, and Ncuti Gatwa in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Barbie,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
‘Barbie’ is officially the highest grossing film of 2023, having just crossed $1.3 billion globally. Opening to $162 million, the Margot Robbie-led film has earned $612 million domestically. Already an icon for many, ‘Barbie’ quickly became a social media sensation, with fans posting everything from their movie-going outfits to their Barbie collections. The film is filled with references to many Barbies and Ken dolls from various decades, sending audiences down nostalgia lane.
On the surface, ‘Barbie’ may seem like a fun adventure, much like ‘The Lego Movie’. However, the film has a deeper message and touches on the pressure of expectations, insecurities, and most importantly, what it means to be human.
‘Barbie’ premiere on July 9, 2023 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was released domestically on July 21, 2023. Currently, it is still playing in some theaters, but as the movie has been in theaters for around 45 days, its theatrical window will soon come to an end. If you want to experience ‘Barbie’ on the big screen, be sure to do it soon.
The movie arrived on digital September 5 for purchase on platforms such as Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube, and more for $29.99.
‘Barbie’ has a total runtime of 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Although ‘Barbie’ is leaving the theaters, Warner Bros Pictures has teamed up with IMAX to give fans a limited one-week run of ‘Barbie’ starting September 22nd. As a special treat for the IMAX audience, a special greeting from director Greta Gerwig will play ahead of the film. There will also be exclusive post-credit footage playing after the film, specially selected by Gerwig herself.
Greta Gerwig attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Tour, Sydney Australia 2023. Photography by Caroline McCredie for Warner Bros/NBC Universal. Contact: jade.perry@nbcuni.com.
In regards to the special IMAX release, Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, said:
“We really wanted to super-serve all the fans out there who made this the Summer of ‘Barbie’ in every way imaginable, and we couldn’t think of a better way than to serve up the biggest film of 2023 and the biggest Warner Bros. film of all time on the biggest, most experiential screens around. Thanks to our terrific partners at IMAX and our incredible director, Greta Gerwig, we went a step further and are offering audiences an added incentive with this special post-credits footage. We encourage moviegoers everywhere, whether they’ve seen ‘Barbie’ or not, to see it in IMAX for a can’t-miss moment in film history.”
No word yet when ‘Barbie’ will make its way to streaming, but when it does, it is likely to end up on Max as the film is distributed by Warner Bros/Discovery.
After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect dolls, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) go on a journey of self-discovery to the real world.
‘Barbie’ is a surprisingly subversive, entertaining, and hilarious movie that was beautifully shot by director Greta Gerwig. The filmmaker sets a strong tone and Barbie Land is a fully formed universe, however the movie loses a little magic when the characters briefly travel to the “Real World.” Margot Robbie delivers a funny and very emotional performance as Barbie, but it is Ryan Gosling that steals the movie as Ken, delivering a hilarious and also musical over-the-top performance.
Story and Direction
Director/Writer Greta Gerwig attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Junket Photo Call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by Eric Charbonneau.
The story is fairly simple and begins by introducing us to the colorful and delightful Barbie Land and all of the Barbies and Kens that live within it. We soon meet “Stereotypical Barbie,” (that’s actually what she is referred to in the movie), played by Margot Robbie. Barbie lives a perfect life among the other Barbies, which include President Barbie (Issa Rae), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), Journalist Barbie (Ritu Arya), and even Mermaid Barbie (Dua Lipa), until one day she realizes her life is not as perfect as she thinks. This begins an existential crisis for the character that leads her to Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who explains that she must travel to the “Real World,” to find the human who is “playing with her.”
As Barbie journeys to the real world, she discovers that Ken (Ryan Gosling) has tagged along as his world revolves around Barbie and he would not know what to do without her. But once they arrive, Ken discovers the antiquated idea that men are superior to women. No longer wanting to live in Barbie’s shadow, Ken quickly returns to Barbie Land, suppresses the other Barbies and leads the other Kens to a misogynistic revolution.
Meanwhile, Barbie discovers her owner, a teenager named Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) who has lost interest in dolls and no longer believes in Barbie’s ideals. Her mother, Gloria (America Ferrera), just happens to work for the CEO of Mattel (Will Ferrell), who is fully aware that something is wrong in Barbie Land as it is causing sales of the toys to go down. Now, it is up to Barbie, Gloria and Sasha to return to Barbie Land, liberate the other Barbies, and put an end to Ken’s evil reign.
The screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach is quite clever and sets the right tone for a fun summer movie that also tackles a lot of important subjects like female empowerment and toxic masculinity with grace and humor. The film is also not afraid of making fun of itself and the absurdity of a ‘Barbie’ movie, while also taking on the criticisms that Mattel and the doll line have faced over the years and making the case of why Barbie is a good role model for girls. Kudos to Mattel for having the smarts to hire Gerwig and Baumbach (two excellent filmmakers) in the first place and then having the guts to let them make the movie they wanted to make.
Gerwig began her career as an actress in films like ‘Greenberg,’ ‘The House of the Devil’ and ‘Arthur’ but wrote 2012’s ‘Frances Ha,’ which she also starred in. She made her directorial with ‘Lady Bird,’ which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Director, and followed it with ‘Little Women,’ which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. ‘Barbie’ is a big leap for her from Academy Award nominated movies to summer blockbusters, but the director does it with ease, crafting a completely enjoyable popcorn film, that also makes you think. Gerwig’s independent film background also serves her well as she fills the movies with odd inspirations, from a reference to ‘The Red Shoes’ to the choice of using a particular Indigo Girls song ad nauseum.
It has long been rumored that comedian Amy Schumer was originally tapped to play the title role in ‘Barbie,’ and while I understand what they would have been going for with a “Not Perfect Barbie,” I actually think that message gets across better by casting Margot Robbie in the lead role. Aesthetically she looks perfect, which is why she is called “Stereotypical Barbie,” but Robbie is also an incredible actress, which allows her to chip away at the character’s perfectness and show you who she really is, which is strong and vulnerable at the same time, her greatest strength. Robbie’s performance gets to the heart of the character, and the theme of the movie, which is that every women can be whatever she wants and is in charge of her own destiny. ‘Barbie’ gives Robbie her first chance at leading a blockbuster movie without playing Harley Quinn, and the actress proves that she has a lot of range and is now a big time movie star in her own right too.
While Robbie’s Barbie is definitely the focal point of the film and carries the movie well, she also allows her co-star Ryan Gosling to steal every scene he’s in. Best known for his cool-as-ice public persona and appearing in action dramas like ‘Drive’ or ‘The Gray Man,’ Gosling really gets to use his comedic chops in this film and takes advantage of every opportunity he has to poke fun at the character, while never becoming a cliché. Though his actions are misguided, Gosling reveals his characters’ vulnerability and low self-esteem, which allows the audience to sympathize with the character. Make no mistakes, Ken is the villain of the movie, which is delightful in itself, but Gosling is still likable as the character despite his despicable actions.
It should also be noted that ‘Barbie’ is partially a musical, and with his dancing background in films like ‘La La Land,’ and of course his history with the ‘Mickey Mouse Club,’ the actor knocks it out of the park in his dance scenes and especially his MTV video like sequence where he sings the opus “Just Ken.” Once Ken “goes bad,” Gosling’s transformation from an innocent lovesick puppy dog to a misogynistic 90’s boyband reject was absolutely brilliant and brings some of the movie’s best laughs. Gosling and Robbie are great together on screen, and clearly understood the tone Gerwig was going for.
There are so many well-known actors and actress playing different versions of Barbie and Ken that I can’t mention them all, but Issa Rae certainly stood out as President Barbie, as did Kate McKinnon playing Weird Barbie, the doll your older brother got a hold of and put through a woodchipper. Emma Mackey, who is often confused with Robbie in real life, was cleverly cast as Physicist Barbie, and musician Dula Lipa also stands out in a cameo as Mermaid Barbie opposite John Cena’s Mermaid Ken. Two MCU alumni, ‘Secret Invasion’s Kingsley Ben-Adir and ‘Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu also play Kens, but neither are given anything significant to do. While many may not remember, the Mattel line of dolls did introduce two other less popular characters, Allan and Midge, who are played well comedically by Michael Cera and Emerald Fennell, respectively.
Outside of the Barbie Land characters, America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt are both great as Gloria and Sasha, respectively, and their mother/daughter relationship really helps to bring home the message of the movie. Helen Mirren plays the narrator and I can’t think of an actress with more gravitas to voice the role. The script also allows her to add her own funny commentary, including mentioning that Barbie’s eloquent monologue about the pressures of being beautiful would have more weight if not delivered by an actress as aesthetically pleasing as Robbie.
However, there were a few “real world” characters that didn’t quite work. Look, it’s always nice to see legendary ‘Cheers’ actress Rhea Pearlman on screen, but she plays the ghost of Barbie creator Ruth Handler, who unexplainably lives on the 7th floor of Mattel’s corporate headquarters. While the actress gives a nice monologue that ties the themes of the movie together at the conclusion, it didn’t seem entirely necessary. The film already asks us to except the idea that Barbie Land and the dolls are real, so trying to also except that ghosts and the afterlife exist seemed a step too far for me.
I also have to question the casting of Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel, as it is basically the same character he played in ‘The Lego Movie,’ which uses a similar storytelling device with the idea that the toys are real and what they do in their world affects ours. Maybe Gerwig was going for a meta-joke with his casting, or perhaps she just wanted to work with Ferrell, who is perfectly fine in the role, but I couldn’t help thinking of the comparisons to ‘The Lego Movie’ and Ferrell’s inclusion took me out of the movie in some moments.
Which leads to my next point, the “real world” scenes are definitely the low point of the film. Once Barbie and Ken journey to the real world, which is about 30 minutes into the movie, I was worried that the rest of the film would take place there and it would become a “fish out of water” story with Barbie not understanding human concepts like money, or being sexually objectified by men. Unfortunately, those stale jokes are used, but luckily the characters do not stay in the real world for long and the third act takes place back in Barbie Land. I do understand why the characters needed to go to the “real world,” plot wise Ken needed to discover misogyny in order to bring it back to Barbie Land, and while some scenes work, like Ken’s altercation with a female doctor, it’s not the high point of the film and you are grateful when they do return to Barbie Land.
Barbie Land
Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Barbie,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
The major set piece of the movie is Barbie Land and it comes to life beautifully with eye-popping color and a magical tone. Set designer Sarah Greenwood and decorator Katie Spencer did marvelous work creating a realistic yet magical world and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are rewarded for their work come awards season. Their design for Ken’s Barbie Land is also unique and fabulous, with stallions and heavy metal featured throughout. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran will also likely be on a shortlist come Oscar time with stunning costumes that represent many of Barbie’s iconic looks. But again, the fun is when Ken transforms and his costumes look like a cross between Sylvester Stallone in the 80s and ‘N Sync.
Is ‘Barbie’ a Kid’s Movie?
Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Barbie,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
No, is the short answer. With a PG-13 rating, some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers, and while they might enjoy the humor, musical numbers, and colorful characters and sets, some of the film’s political and pop culture messages will get lost on a young audience, but its message of love and equality will shine through, even if it is subliminally.
Final Thoughts
Director Greta Gerwig has done the impossible … delivered a ‘Barbie’ movie that is an entertaining summer blockbuster, while also being socially important and containing thoughtful, emotional and funny performances. Margot Robbie earns her movie star status producing and starring in this well-made summer tentpole, while Ryan Gosling proves he’s just as funny as he is cool with his hilarious over-the-top performance.
After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect dolls, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) go on a journey of self-discovery to the real world.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with co-writer and director Greta Gerwig to talk about her work on ‘Barbie,’ why she wanted to direct the movie, working with actress and producer Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling’s hilarious performance as Ken.
‘Barbie’ co-writer and director Greta Gerwig.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch it.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to idea of a Barbie movie, and once you agreed to be a part of the project, what tone and direction did you want to take the film in?
Greta Gerwig: I had been wanting to work with Margot Robbie and she had the rights and was setting it up with her company at Warner Bros. She came to me and said, “Would you like to write this movie?” I jumped at the chance because it was her, and I was like, “Yes, I would love to.” I was also terrified of it because I was not even sure where to start with a Barbie movie. I think there was something about it that seemed like such a tricky problem to solve that it felt a bit of a puzzle. What’s the vantage point? How do we get into this? Then once Noah and I had written the script together and we had the script, that’s when I thought, “Oh, I love this and I don’t want anyone to direct it but me.” So then I said, “I have to direct it,” and they thank goodness, let me.
MF: What was it like working with Margot Robbie and why was she the right actress to play this specific version of Barbie?
GG: I mean, Margot’s a dream as a producer, and as an actor, she’s everything. I mean, she can do anything you want 10 times over, backwards in heels. She’s just an extraordinary actress. I always knew it was going to be hers so when we were writing it, I knew it was going to be hers. So that was always in my mind, but I think that as we worked on it, as we started doing rehearsals and started reading, it just changed and got deeper and more dimensional because I started to know her really well as a person, as an actor, and it was something that evolved alongside her.
MF: Finally, can you talk about Ryan Gosling’s performance as Ken and the direction you wanted to take that character?
GG: I mean, Ryan is jaw-dropping. He’s incredible in this movie. It’s the same thing I like about Margot is that Ryan is incredibly funny, but he never does it in a way that’s making fun of the character, it’s always inside the character. He takes it very seriously, which is why it’s so funny. I actually also wrote it for him, which I can’t believe still that he said yes because I didn’t know him. He wasn’t sure at first, and then I waited him out and he finally was like, “Oh, they’re not going to leave, they’re still here,” which was me and Margot. We just wouldn’t let him not do it. Yeah, and what he brought to it was just he committed beyond any way I would ever imagine in my wildest dreams he would commit. We texted about it and talked about it for a year before we started shooting. We came up with the idea of his Flo Jo dojo mink. But we were texting back and forth pictures of like, we both love Sylvester Stallone and we were like, “What about this look? What about that look?” Then there’s like a pair of glasses he wears in the movie when he puts on the second pair of glasses that were based on the glasses that the ballet director from ‘The Red Shoes’ wears. So they are these cat eye glasses and they’re just such wonderful glasses. I mean, we went so detailed with it and it was like references we gathered for so long. I was sort of slightly terrified when he showed up. I was like, “What if he doesn’t want to do any of this?” But he showed up and just committed, bleached his hair, did the whole thing, shaved his legs, and then there we were.
Director/Writer Greta Gerwig attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Junket Photo Call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by Eric Charbonneau.
‘Barbie’ is one of those movies that it’s hard to get a handle on. When you know that Mattel is working with Warner Bros. to adapt the iconic toy, your first thought might be of a cheap animated cash-in designed to sell more of the plastic princess.
Instead, the idea – even before it arrived at Warners – appears to be looking to make a more interesting live-action version that explores the character in different ways.
The ensemble, though, is anchored by Margot Robbie, who jumped aboard as star and producer, ready to play the Malibu favorite who, according to the actor “comes with a lot of baggage, and a lot of nostalgic connections. But with that comes a lot of exciting ways to attack it.”
And attack it she has, teaming up with Gerwig and Baumbach to figure out something that, for now at least, is shrouded in mystery.
Kingsley Ben-Adir stars in ‘One Night in Miami.’ Photo: Patti Perret/Amazon Studios.
Even most of the roles are being kept quiet for now, though we do know that Ryan Gosling (yet another actor not traditionally associated with blockbuster money grabs) is playing Ken.
Since the core duo was attached, ‘Barbie’ has slowly been building its cast, and has certainly kept us all guessing with the people jumping aboard. America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon and ‘Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu were among the first group.
They were soon joined by trailblazing trans performer Hari Nef and Alexandra Shipp, most recently seen in the Oscar-nominated ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’. Also on the list? Ariana Greenblatt and Will Ferrell, who unlike many of the others, actually has a potential role – he’s rumored to play a toy company CEO (wonder if he’ll be anything like ‘The Lego Movie’s President Business?)
And Gatwa isn’t the only person from Netflix hit series ‘Sex Education’; his co-stars Emma Mackey and Connor Swindells are also on board.
Before it was at Warners, ‘Barbie’ was in development at Sony, where Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway were attached at different times to play the lead, while ‘Juno’s Diablo Cody wrote at least one draft of the script.
Gerwig has been shooting the movie since early this year at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios just outside of London. ‘Barbie’ doesn’t have a set release date yet but should be in theaters next year.
