Saltburn | 2023 | R | – 7.3.10

Why is “Saltburn” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes full male nudity, a sex scene with partial nudity, a couple of scenes of self-stimulation, several implied sex scenes, a few kissing scenes, several deaths by implied suicide from poison and wrist slashing, discussions of the death of parents, scenes of consumption by the privileged, drug and alcohol use, and nearly 90 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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While trying to fit in with Oxford University’s elite social circle, a new attendee (Barry Keoghan) manages to attract the attention of the most popular student (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to spend a summer at Saltburn, his eccentric family’s aristocratic estate. Also with Archie Madekwe, Sadie Soverall, Richie Cotterell, Millie Kent, Richard E. Grant, Rosamund Pike, Carey Mulligan, Alison Oliver and Paul Rhys. Directed by Emerald Fennell. [Running Time: 2:11]

Saltburn SEX/NUDITY 7

 – A fully nude young man dances and walks through an empty house (his bare chest, abdomen, genitals, buttocks, back and legs are fully visible). A young man lies on the freshly turned soil of a grave and cries, removes his shirt and lies down, takes off his pants (we see his bare chest, abdomen, genitals and buttocks) and thrusts gently on the soil while moaning. A young woman wearing a sheer night dress walks outside a young man’s window; he comes down to speak with her, they kiss passionately, he lifts her skirt and performs oral sex on her; he then licks his fingers from blood and we see him with blood on his face after she tells him that it is not a good time of the month (implying she is having her menstrual cycle). A young man and a young woman leave a party and walk through a giant maze followed by another young man; we see the first couple leaning against a statue, as the young man thrusts into the young woman (we see his partial bare buttocks) until they are interrupted by the other young man and the young woman storms away. A young man straddles another young man in bed, reaches under the covers and moves close to his face (the second young man moans briefly implying that the first young man is manually stimulating him). A young man swats a young woman on the clothed buttocks and they leave a party together; another young man follows them and watches as they undress (we see the young man’s bare chest, abdomen and back and the young woman wears a bra that reveals her cleavage, shoulders and bare abdomen) and kiss passionately (sex is implied).
► A young man hears moaning coming from a bathroom and peers through the partially open door to see another young man masturbating in a bathtub (the rhythmic movement of the young man’s shoulders is seen); the second young man goes into the bathroom after the other young man leaves, leans into the tub as it drains, puts his face in the remaining water and drinks some of it. A young man and a young woman are shown kissing passionately and another young man watches from a distance (we see the young man’s bare chest and abdomen) and the young woman is wearing a bra (we see her cleavage, bare back and shoulders). A young woman straddles a young man’s lap, they kiss passionately, and she stops kissing him and leaves.
► A young man says that he accidentally performed a sex act on a cousin of his (the gender not identified). A woman says, “I was a lesbian for a while” (and makes a sexually descriptive remark). A young man remarks about oral sex with professors. A voiceover states, “I wasn’t in love with him. I loved him. Everyone loved him.”
► Young men and women dance and at a bar, and in several party scenes. Young men and young women dance with suggestive hip thrusting. A young man hugs and kisses another young man on his bike helmet in appreciation.
► Two young men and a young woman lie nude in a field of tall grass and tell another young man as he approaches that he needs to be nude; he removes his boxer shorts and we see his bare back and buttocks. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A young man wears boxers and we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and shoulders. Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage and bare backs in a few scenes. A statue shows two men in a struggle with the bare buttocks and back of one being visible.

Saltburn VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A young woman is found dead in a bathtub filled with blood tinged water and pools of blood on the floor around the tub (implying suicide). People search for a young man after a party, and we hear a mournful scream when he is found dead in a garden (we see him lying face down on the ground).
► A young man becomes upset when another young man won’t ask him to solve an equation and pounds on the table in a dining room causing other students to go quiet. A young man becomes upset when another young man tries to clean up his room; he yells, takes a garbage can away from the other young man and tells him to leave. People gather at funerals in a few scenes and a young man lies on the freshly turned soil of one grave and cries (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details). A ventilator tube is pulled out of an unconscious woman’s mouth and she gags and coughs before falling still. A young man punches a mirror and it shatters (we do not see any injuries).
► A young man gets a phone call telling him that his father died; he confides in a friend and he cries. We hear that a woman died. Two young men argue and one pleads with the other not to send him away. A man yells at a young man, tells him to eat his food, and makes him leave the room after hearing that he had been snorting cocaine at a party. A young woman calls a young man names, slaps him on the cheek and puts her fingers in his mouth. A man offers a young man money to leave; he declines. We see an article in a newspaper about the death of a man. A young man talks about a young woman not being very smart. A young man talks about his parents having addiction problems and mental health issues. A remark is made about a man’s business partners falling out of windows. A young woman talks about “last year’s one,” referring to a friend of her brothers. People talk about a young man going to a man with a begging bowl. Two young men argue about money (having it and not having it). A young man talks about helping his mother vomit when she had been drinking too much; he says that he would put his fingers down her throat. A young man makes a crude remark about needing to urinate.
► Students tease another student for wearing a jacket and tie to his first day of classes; later a student refers to him as the “scholarship kid,” and doesn’t want to invite him to a party. A young man teases another young man about his tuxedo being a rental and that the sleeves are too long. Two young men talk about not having been invited to a student Christmas party. A young man becomes jealous when another young man doesn’t call him to go out. A young man suspects that a young woman has an eating disorder and he tells her that she must eat and stay at the table. A statue shows two men with one holding what looks like a stone over the other.
► A young woman vomits into a fountain and we see goo. A young man puts his fingers in his throat and vomits (we see goo). A young man wakes up and finds vomit on the bathroom mirror and sink (we see chunky goo). A young man gags and retches off-screen (we do not see vomit). A woman gags into a napkin (we do not see goo). A young man smokes in a room where a woman is on a ventilator and he puts a cigarette out in a bedpan (we do not see any waste). People clean up after a party and we see feces and goo in a toilet. A pig is being cooked on a spit and we see its eye open with charred flesh around it. A tack is put in a bicycle tire and it goes flat.

Saltburn LANGUAGE 10

 – About 88 F-words, 10 sexual references, 8 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (Norman no-mates, stupid, verbose, lazy, losers, boarding school psychos, mortifying, ridiculous, chubby, stupid little boy, ghastly, silly, horror of ugliness, frightening, dull, lost, liar, terrifying, weird, old-fashioned, bootlicker, creepy, Spider-man, moth, freak, disgusting little nobody, self-pity, sinister, sinister, masochist, presumptuous, incoherent, absent-minded, awkward, ugly Russian billionaire, scholarship boy, snob, vapid [anatomical term deleted], faff, awful, hideous), exclamations (carpe diem, just take a pill, whatever, boo [F-word deleted] hoo, oh bliss, wow, shut-up, eat the bloody pie, thank goodness, are you mad, no please, off you pop), 32 religious exclamations (e.g. God save the king, Amen, oh God no, Lord, Hallelujah, I swear to God, by God, Jesus Christ, for Christ’s sake, thank God, thank God, oh my God, oh God, God). | profanity glossary |

Saltburn SUBSTANCE USE

 – Young men and young women snort cocaine at a party scene, a young man snorts cocaine while dancing through a house alone and a young man says that his parents are dealing with addiction issues. Young men and young women drink liquor in a bar and drink a few shots of liquor, a young woman drinks from a bottle of liquor, several people drink champagne, a young woman pours wine into her glass and it overflows spilling onto the table, and a woman drinks a glass of wine. A cigarette is lit in close-up and we see a young man smoking it, young men and young women smoke cigarettes in many scenes throughout the movie, several people smoke in a school dining room, several people smoke cigarettes in a bar, a young man smokes in a room where a woman is on a ventilator and he puts a cigarette out in a bed pan, and a young man smokes in a bathtub in a couple of scenes.

Saltburn DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – New students, class distinctions, British elites, exclusive universities, Oxford University, fitting in, popularity, agoraphobia, competition, jealousy, wealth, forgiveness, grief, family, suicide, privilege, rehab, eating disorders.

Saltburn MESSAGE

 – Some people go to extremes to make sure they fit in.