Here’s the hilarious reason Saltburn is called Saltburn

Spoilers in advance (if you haven’t seen the film, what are you doing?)

10 months ago

I think it’s safe to say that Emerald Fennell’s brand new movie ‘Saltburn’ has taken over the world. It’s dominating my TikTok, it’s the topic of conversations with my friends, and since watching it in that hazy period between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s all I have been able to think about.

Saltburn begins by showing the Oxford experience, with Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) as the walking stereotype of every Oxbridge posh boy (I go to Cambridge, I can say this). He takes Oliver (Barry Keoghan) under his wing, and invites him to stay with him at his family estate, Saltburn, for the summer vacation. Needless to say, shit goes down at Saltburn (like Oliver getting it on with a grave and that bathtub scene).

But this all begs the question;

Why is the hit film called Saltburn?

Saltburn's outrageous sex scenes mean more than you think

While Saltburn in the film is the posh estate, owned by the Cattons, in (presumably) the South, many Northerners will know that the real Saltburn is, in fact, a real place, in North Yorkshire. This tiny seaside town is not the location of where the film was set, only a titular inspiration.

However, director Emerald Fennell has revealed the more explicit reason for the film’s title.

Talking to Access Hollywood, Fennell said, “Somebody asked why it was called ‘Saltburn’ and I said because it’s a real town in England. And when I heard the name ‘Saltburn’, it sounded like a sex injury. But a really nice one, you know, like a sort of sting… a pleasurable sting. And I think that’s kind of what the film is, really.”