Countless English protagonists have for decades been making their way to grand country estates where their lives are irrevocably changed. B次元官网网址淏rideshead Revisited.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Go-Between.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩emains of the Day.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩ebecca.B次元官网网址�

These are some of the books that Emerald Fennell grew up devouring. And when the dust had settled on her incendiary Oscar-winning directorial debut, Fennell, too, wanted to make her way to a fictional stately manor.

B次元官网网址淚 really wanted to make a movie that was a take on the classic English gothic story,B次元官网网址� Fennell says. B次元官网网址淚t felt like an incredibly well-worn and therefore intriguing genre to start looking at and applying pressure to.B次元官网网址�

In which opens in theaters Nov. 24, Fennell applies her particular and potent brand of pressure to the one of the longest standing British genres. And given of her provocative debut, itB次元官网网址檚 safe to say that things get quite a bit bumpier at Saltburn than they ever did at Downton Abbey.

Fennell has already been a memorable part of one conversation-starting film this year. That was her as Midge, the pregnant doll, in (Fennell, alas, said she couldnB次元官网网址檛 comment on her role in B次元官网网址淏arbieB次元官网网址� due to the .)

Like that film, B次元官网网址沦补濒迟产耻谤苍,B次元官网网址� which Fennell wrote and directs, includes Margot Robbie as a producer. It stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an Oxford University freshman on a scholarship whoB次元官网网址檚 drawn to a dashing, aristocratic classmate named Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Their relationship has strong echoes of B次元官网网址淭he Talented Mr. RipleyB次元官网网址� to it.

In the summer of 2006, Felix invites Oliver to his familyB次元官网网址檚 estate where he fits in sometimes awkwardly and sometimes smoothly but increasingly eerily with the extravagant flow of life. Things get steamy, weird and dark as Fennell toys with class as she did with gender in B次元官网网址淧romising Young Woman.B次元官网网址�

Several in the cast give standout performances B次元官网网址� especially Rosamund Pike, who plays FelixB次元官网网址檚 mother. But itB次元官网网址檚 also a rare leading performance for Keoghan, himself coming off Already some of his scenes B次元官网网址� one involving some leftover bathtub water, one a fresh grave B次元官网网址� have added to the early buzz around B次元官网网址淪altburn.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 saw Barry in B次元官网网址楰illing of a Sacred DeerB次元官网网址� and I just couldnB次元官网网址檛 believe it,B次元官网网址� Fennell said in a recent interview from London. B次元官网网址淭hat performance was so amazing. ItB次元官网网址檚 a kind of once-in-a-lifetime arresting performance. I just thought immediately: Who is that?B次元官网网址�

The opportunities were many for Fennell after the success of B次元官网网址淧romising Young Woman.B次元官网网址� The film, a blackly comic feminist revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan, was one of the most talked about movies of 2020. In that first pandemic year, it went on to be nominated for five Oscars including best picture and best director. Fennell won for her script.

B次元官网网址淣one of us had anticipated how amazing the response would be,B次元官网网址� Fennell says. B次元官网网址淏ecause of COVID, I was in a bubble with my young family. So it maybe didnB次元官网网址檛 feel as surreal as it might. I mean, everything was surreal, so it kind of felt like another surreal thing.B次元官网网址�

Once the pandemic subsided, FennellB次元官网网址檚 focus turned to B次元官网网址沦补濒迟产耻谤苍,B次元官网网址� a film that seemingly could have pulled from her own experiences. Fennell, who attended the elite boarding school Marlborough College and studied at Oxford, is the daughter of jewelry designer and socialite Theo Fennell and author Louise Fennell.

Fennell, though, is reluctant to draw any connections between the high society of her youth and B次元官网网址淪altburn.B次元官网网址� Yes, the 37-year-old grants, she attended Oxford around the same time as the characters in the film.

B次元官网网址淏ut IB次元官网网址檓 afraid the similarities end there,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚t definitely wasnB次元官网网址檛 quite as sexy.B次元官网网址�

Did she consider herself an outsider like Oliver or more of an insider like Felix?

B次元官网网址淚 was kind of like Oliver, mostly outside of it but occasionally having seen it as well,B次元官网网址� Fennell says. B次元官网网址淭he fascinating thing about these sorts of systems in general, both in America and in England, is that nobody ever really knows whether theyB次元官网网址檙e in or out.B次元官网网址�

To her, B次元官网网址淪altburnB次元官网网址� is more about those anxious undercurrents among family, friends and hangers-on, each playing by unspoken codes of money, class and privilege.

B次元官网网址淭here was a world where B次元官网网址楽altburnB次元官网网址� might have been set in the Hamptons,B次元官网网址� Fennell says. B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e allowed in these places, itB次元官网网址檚 never a one-way ticket. Honestly, it could be set anywhere. It could be set in Los Angeles and the court, rather than being a stately home, is a compound of an incredibly famous actor and actress. It all works the same way. ItB次元官网网址檚 power. Who wants it and whoB次元官网网址檚 got it.B次元官网网址�

Fennell, who was the showrunner and an executive producer for the second season of B次元官网网址淜illing Eve,B次元官网网址� often used the phrase B次元官网网址減oison popcorn movieB次元官网网址� to describe B次元官网网址淧romising Young WomanB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� an entertainment laced with more disturbing issues to contemplate.

She remains committed to eliciting that kind of dual response B次元官网网址� something that people are eager to watch and just as eager debate after on their way home. Her current favorite film, which she says sheB次元官网网址檚 seen 20 times, is B次元官网网址淚 think itB次元官网网址檚 truly the greatest film of the last 10 years and IB次元官网网址檓 obsessed with it,B次元官网网址� Fennell says.

It would be giving too much away to describe how B次元官网网址淪altburnB次元官网网址� unspools. But to Fennell, itB次元官网网址檚 ultimately about the deep longing and ambition of Oliver, a young man yearning to live. ItB次元官网网址檚 a love story, she says.

B次元官网网址淭his movie feels to me like the closest thing to wanting something,B次元官网网址� says Fennell. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a particular type of need and want that you feel at a certain point in your life when itB次元官网网址檚 the first time you felt it, whether itB次元官网网址檚 about a person or a place. The intensity of the desire to make yourself. That, to me, is what the film is about.B次元官网网址�