SALTBURN
Written by
Emerald Fennell
"This material is the property of Shepherd's Pie UK Limited and is intended solely for use by its personnel and other authorized persons. Distributional sale to any unauthorized persons or duplication in whole or in part is strictly prohibited."
"Copyright 2022 Shepherd's Pie UK Limited. All rights reserved."
White Shooting Script 7th July, 2022. Blue Script 30th July, 2022. Pin k Script 20th September, 2022.
CLOSE UP: A silver cigarette case- a crest engraved on it- snaps open.
CLOSE UP: A match strikes, lights a cigarette.
CLOSE UP: A man’s mouth (pretty, clean shaven) takes a deep drag, and in a disdainful, aristocratic voice-
FLASHBACK-
SERIES OF SHOTS:
OLIVER POV. 2007.A perfect, gilded summer day on the river Cherwell in Oxford. We are in a punt boat, looking up at the back of a beautiful boy. This is FELIX CATTON (20), wobbling as he tries to navigate the oar. He looks back, laughing.
OLIVER POV. 2007.The grounds of an Oxford college. Felix is running, wearing black tie, holding a bottle of champagne. He turns back and grins, a cigarette between his teeth.
OLIVER POV. 2007.A tousled Felix, in his shambles of a college room, half- writes an essay, ink on his fingers. The light catches him as he looks up and smiles.
2.2.
OLIVER POV. 2007.Felix suns himself on the steps of the college quad, wearing a pair of red Ray Ban wayfarers.
OLIVER POV. 2007.We are looking into Felix's room through parted curtains. Felix is kissing a beautiful girl, ANNABEL (20), undoing her shirt. Sh e pulls at his belt.
OLIVER POV. 2007.A dingy nightclub. We peep round a corner to see Felix his hand up another gorgeous girl, INDIA's, skirt.
2007. We fin ally turn around.
We play the scenes again, backwards, but this time we are on our narrator: the 19-year-old OLIVER QUICK.
Watchful, clever, obsessed. Spying on Felix and India from the shadows. One bright, jealous eye caught in the light.
2007. Oliver, standing outside Felix's window in the darkness, impassively watching throu gh the curtains as Felix and Annabel undress each other.
3.3.
2007. Oliver sits on the steps, talking animatedly as Felix listens.
2007. Oliver, sitting on the floor of Felix's room, writing his own essay, looking up as Felix reads his book on the windowsill.
2007. Oliver breathlessly follows Felix through the grounds.
2007. Inside the punt is crammed with Felix's friends. At his feet: Oliver. Oliver looks up at Felix.
We reveal Oliver Quick in full, in the present day, now in his mid-30s. Impeccably dressed. Beautiful.Urbane. A creature from another time and very much his own creation.
2007. MONTAGE-
THE IMAGES COME FASTER-
OLIVER screams into a pillow.
4.4.
OLIVER smashes a bathroom mirror.
OLIVER licks the wet enamel on the bottom of an empty bath.
OLIVER's feet tread in a pool of blood on a bathroom floor.
FLASHBACK ENDS. BACK TO REALITY. PRESENT DAY.
Oliver in the dark room.
The plain backdrop gives us no indication of where he is. He could be being interviewed for a magazine. Or hosting a talk. Or- most likely- being questioned by the police.
And just as he opens his mouth to answer- was he in love with him?- we cut to-
SALTBURN
2006. Zadok the Priest blasts us into Oxford's Radcliffe Camera in all its ostentatious British glory.
It's the first day of term, and we follow the young Oliver through the daunting central quad and into Webbe College.
Wearing a blazer, a Webbe College tie, his hair blow dried into a self-conscious Zack Efron, this is a very different Oliver to the louche, studied man we have just met.
All around him, kids move into their new rooms. The accents are exclusively boarding school. The trunks embossed with initials. Everyone but Oliver is scruffy: messy hair, tracksuit bottoms, pjs, Uggs. A large, unwelcoming banner reads "WELCOME CLASS OF 2006".
A group of ALPHA-HOTTIES walks past him. Among them is FARLEIGH, a fiendishly clever, pansexual, b eautiful American imp with a cruel streak. He takes in Oliver's jacket and tie and not-quite-whispers as he passes-
5.5.
The Hotties giggle. Oliver pretends not to notice.
Oliver kicks open the door to his room. Small, institutional, and disappointingly un-paneled, but he's here! At last! He takes it in for a moment. Everything he's worked so hard for.
But then he catches sight of himself in the mirror: the jacket. He tears it off and throws it into a corner.
He goes over to hiswindow: a ground floor view of the quad.
OLIVER POV: Farleigh and the Alpha Hotties are screaming with laughter, marking their territory. And there's a new face in the group: Felix Catton.
Oliver takes in every detail of him. The shattering beauty. The moth-eaten jumper. The easy smile. The posture. Farleigh might be the one talking, but Felix is clearly the gleaming center of the universe. A supers tar on arrival. He doesn't mean to be- it's just always been that way.
Felix's eyes flicker over to Oliver's window and he sees him staring. He smiles, and Oliver ducks out of the way.
Dinner time, and Oliver, wearing his black scholars' gown, rushes into the college's austere dining hall. He's late, and everyone is seated already, all of them in gowns.
Embarras sed, he walks up and down tables full of chatting, laughing students- there's nowhere to sit. Not a single seat left. Eyes glance up pityingly then slide away again.
Finally he finds the only remaining seat and sits down.
It is immediately apparent why this seat is available. A table full of the hopeless, the luckless, the virgins.
One of them, MICHAEL GAVEY, who has a hard to identify creepiness - t he smell of the outcast- eyes Oliver up. He sticks out his hand officiously.
(NOTE: it is during this conversation that we notice how different Oliver's voice has become in the intervening years. The aristocratic drawl is replaced here by Oliver's original voice: quiet, guarded, with a soft accent.)
6.6.
Oliver looks at his hand for a second, then shakes it.
Oliver looks at the other tables. Everyone is having a ball.
7.7.
Beat.
They sit in awkward silence.
Oliver sits on a cracked leather armchair in a room almost comically crammed with books. Opposite him is PROFESSOR WARE (50s), a coffee-stainedman who is really only in this job for the free port and cheese.
They've clearly been waiting a while. Finally-
Beat.
Another painful beat.
8.8.
They collapse into another long silence.
Oliver shakes his head. Ware looks at the clock: 3:20.
Suddenly the door crashes open and Farleigh appears, monstrously hungover, last night's glitter on his face. He flashes Ware a disarming smile.
Farleigh throws himself down on an armchair.
9.9.
Ware breaks out into a soppy grin.
Farleigh smiles charmingly. Easily taking charge of the room.
Oliver is reading from an essay he wrote. The clock now reads 3:55 and he is just comingto the end.
Oliver looks up at his tutor expectantly. Ware is staring out of the window, zoned out. He suddenly realizes he is expected to talk.
10.10.
Oliver looks at him: is that it? Farleigh chuckles.
Beat.
Oliver reddens.
Oliver looks over to Ware for help, but Ware just claps his hands with amusement.
11.11.
Ware nods emphatically.
Farleigh smiles at himicily.
A few months later, Oliver is standing in front of a jammed vending machine. His snack is stuck. He bangs on the glass but it’s no use. He sighs.
The library is decorated with tinsel and Christmas baubles. Oliver is half-working, half-watching Farleigh and Felix mucking about across the library.
Michal grunts and tos ses over a Crunchie.
12.12.
Oliver glances over at Felix and Farleigh laughing.
A beat.
Michael grabs it.
13.13.
Oliver is playing pool alone in the common room when the Alpha Hotties scream past in their slutty Christmas outfits. None of them acknowledges him.
A beautiful Spring day. Oliver cycles down a river path.
Up ahead on the path is Felix, sitting on the verge. Bicycle upside down, trying to fix it.
Oliver smirks as he passes, but t hen after a second's thought, he breaks to a halt.
Felix looks up.
They both stare at the bike. It's a goner. Felix sighs.
Oliver takes pity on him.
14.14.
Oliver tries to hide this humiliation.
He takes Oliver's bike.
Felix grins. So used to people bending over backwards.
15.15.
Felix unexpectedly grabs Oliver, plants a kiss on the top of his helmet, and hops on the bike.
Oliver scoffs, embarrassed. Felix starts to pedal.
Felix disappears round the corner, leaving Oliver standing alone holding the broken bike.
OLIVER POV: Felix, Farleigh and their FRIENDS have taken over the corner table in the smokey pub.
Oliver resentfully returns his gaze to Michael.
Beat.
16.16.
Michael gets up.
Felix is laughing with the Alpha Hotties- including Farleigh, Annabel, India, Harry, and another toff called Jake -when he spots Oliver ordering from th e bar.
Oliver is a little startled.
He comes over awkwardly.
17.17.
Oliver glances back at his table. Michael has returned and is looking around for him.
Michael catches Oliver's eye and waves. Oliver's pretends not to see him.
He takes a seat next to Felix.
Back with Michael: crushed.
PRE -LAP:
A few hours later. Empty glasses all over the sticky table. Everyone is hammered.
Oliver throws back a shot. He doesn’t look so good.
The table whoops.
18.18.
Oliver drunkenly looks around the table, there are now about ten of them crammed around it. A very expensive round.
The table boos except Felix, who senses Oliver's unease. After a long while -
Oliver manages to get to his feet and heads for the ba r. After he’s out of earshot -
Oliver stands with ten Jägerbombs on a tray in front of him. Money scraped together in fivers and coins on the bar, but he's still short. He searches desperately through his wallet.
19.19.
The barman sighs impatiently.
From his seat, Felix notices what's going on at the bar.
Oliver is trying to talk his way out of it. Mortified.
Felix appears next to him.
Felix holds a crumpled twenty out to a confused Oliver.
20.20.
The ease with which Felix lies is astonishing. Oliver hesitates, then takes the note with silent gratitude.
Felix grabs the tray of drinks and makes his way back to the table.
The table starts chanting his name. Oliver watches Felix with awe.
Oliver wakes, still clothed on his bed. Hungover as death, but it was worth it. In spite of the pain, he smiles. Finally, he has some fucking friends!
MONTAGE:
OLIVER, FELIX, FARLEIGH and their FRIENDS are sweatily dancing in a rammed night club. Oliver and Felix in the thick of it. Oliver FINALLY having the life he dreamed of.
Felix and Oliver are in a corner of the pub.
21.21.
Oliver, Felix and the Alpha Hotties. Felix and Ollie laughing. Farleigh glances over, annoyed.
Oliver and Felix back at the pub.
22.22.
Oliver laughs.
Felix laughs.
Oliver and Felix sitting on the steps of the Quad, Felix in his red Wayfarers: the scene from the opening.
The Alpha-Hotties are all at a bleak house party. A chronically posh boy, JAKE, is trying to chat up Annabel.
Across the way, Oliver and Felix are on a couch watching.
They laugh.
Oli ver finds a baby picture of Felix on a shelf.
23.23.
Oliver and Felix back at the pub.
Oliver shifts uncomfortably.
24.24.
Oliver finally relents.
Felix looks at Oliver with renewed admiration. Finally he raises his glass.
Oliver smiles, reluctantly. They clink glasses.
Getting late. Jake is still trying to chat up Annabel . Her eyes are glazing over. India watches Felix longingly from a corner.
His finger lands on Annabel.
Felix gives Oliver a playful kiss on the cheek and goes over to Annabel, Ind ia leaves.
Jake turns to Harry.
25.25.
END MONTAGE.
Oliver walks through the near-empty library when Michael sees him.
Michael appraises him coldly.
As Oliver t urns to leave-
Michael ignores him. Oliver turns to leave again-
Oliver heard that. He leaves, rattled.
Oliver is on his way to a lecture, books in hand, when he spots Felix and Annabel walking ahead of him. He goes to catch them up, and once he's nearly there-
26.26.
She laughs.
Oliver slows down, mortified, to eavesdrop.
Oliver stops. Horrified. He lets them walks away.
We recognize this scene from the opening. Oliver is looking in at Felix's window. Smoking, watching impassively.
OLIVER POV: Felix and Annabel undressing each other.
It is the summer term. Boiling hot. Felix is lying on his bedroom floor in his boxers. Smoking. His roomis a horrifying bomb site.
27.27.
Oliver tosses the discarded remnants of a days-old meal into the trash and regards the rest of the place.
Oliver starts chucking the shit around him into the bin. Felix sits up on his elbows.
28.28.
Felix's tone stops Oliver in his tracks.
Felix gets up and snatches the bin from Oliver. He does seem like a child. Sulkily trying to clean his room. Oliver watches, stung.
He hurls things in the bin.
But he's too afraid to hurt Oliver's feelings. He sighs.
Oliver hesitates.
An awkward silence.
29.29.
Oliver leaves. Felix winces.
Oliver stares at his phone obsessively. Nothing.
Oliver enters. He looks for Felix. Then spots him at a corner table, sitting with the Alpha Hotties. Felix catches Oliver's eye for a second, then looks away. The message is clear: Oliver is not invited.
Oliver walks away from the K ings Arms, through the streets of happy people, trying to squash the rising dread that his dream life is slipping through his fingers.
Oliver walks miserably back through the hall alone, catching Annabel at Felix's door. She's a little embarrassed.
Annabel tries to hide the heartbreak.
30.30.
Oliver smiles.
Annabel straddles Oliver swigging from an almost empty bottle of vodka. She kisses him roughly. She whispers-
Oliver looks at her drunkenly and laughs.
S he stops, hurt. The mood very much gone. She climbs off.
The cold light of day. Oliver wakes. Something smells horrific. He looks over to his sink: he threw up in it last night, and half missed.
He's furious with himself, disgusted. His phone rings. He rolls his eyes, then picks it up.
Felix opens his door to find a distraught Ollie.
Oliver bursts into tears.
31.31.
Oliver shivers as Felix hands him a mug of tea.
Felix can't bear the horror of it.
32.32.
Felix blushes: any reminder of the gulf between their circumstances is painful to him.
A crowd of students waits outside the exam schools for their friends to emerge.
Oliver and Felix emerge from the exam schools together, closer than ever. Farleigh behind them. An eruption of sprayed champagne, silly string and confetti lands on them from the crowd.
Behind them MICHAE L walks out alone. No friends to greet him.
Everyone is getting ready for the summer ball. The students walk through the quad in black tie and evening dresses.
Oliver stands in the quad waiting for Felix. Watching. Smoking. Content. He's miles away from the boy of nine months ago. Some girls pass by.
He smiles at them, they giggle. Farleigh appears ne xt to him.
Oliver's smile tightens.
33.33.
Farleigh ambles away. Oliver looks down at his sleeves self- consciously.
When he looks up: Felix is there holding a bottle of champagne.
Oliver follows as Felix runs through the grounds. We recognize this moment from the opening montage.
Felix slows as they reach a bridge. They're completely alone.
34.34.
Felix brings a pebble from his pocket.
He passes Oliver the pebble.
Oliver turns over the pebble. "Dad" is crudely scrape d on it.
They stand in silence. Oliver looks over at Felix, his eyes are closed respectfully. Oliver stares at him. Waits out the silence. Then-
Oliver throws the stone into the water reverentially.
It ricochets off a rock and ping s off into the grass bank. Disappearing.
35.35.
Later. Oliver and Felix sit on the bridge, feet dangling over the edge, sharing the bottle of champagne.
Felix winces.
Beat.
36.36.
Oliver looks at Felix's earnest face.
Older Oliver shakes his head and sighs.
Oliver is in the back of a minicab. We stay on his face as he looks idly at the country side. Then suddenly he sees it: Saltburn. His mouth falls open in a mixture of terror and admiration. And we-
The taxi drives away, leaving Oliver alone with his bag. He opens the gate, and wheels his suitcase awkwardly down the drive.
Oliver knocks and the doors open disconcertingly fast to reveal DUNCAN, the butl er. Tall, grey, and an all-seeing snob, Duncan has worked for the family for his entire adult life. He takes Oliver with a faint smile.
37.37.
Oliver drags his suitcase inside towards the inner front door.
Oliver follows Duncan in, taking in the absurd grandeur of the vast hall.
Duncan tries not to be too embarrassed by Oliver's reverence.
Just as he does Felix barrels in, giving him a huge hug.
Duncan tries to keep his severe countenance in spite of his clear a doration of Felix.
Felix wraps his arm around Oliver’s shoulder and leads him through the house.
38.38.
Felix gives Oliver a slapdash tour. Charging through the extraordinarily beautiful rooms dismissively. Oliver- and we- barely have the time to take it all in.
Felix motions him into-
They enter Felix's room. A collision of ancient grandeur, schoolboy posters and Felix-level mess.
He opens another door into the-
39.39.
Bathroom. An enormous room with painted wallpaper and a huge marble bath in the centre of it.
They walk through a little hallway.
Which leads into Oliver's bedroom. It's every bit as beautiful as Felix's room, on a slightly smaller scale.
Oliver takes it all in, a little overwhelmed.
40.40.
Oliver has wandered into the great hall. Alone, he has a chance to look at things in a little more detail.
He passes a table - on it is a glass box with a miniature of the house inside it, four little cut-outs of the family standing in fr ont: "The Catton Players"..
Oliver pulls out the drawer on the bottom of the box and music suddenly plays, the cut-outs springing to life, and dancing a sinister jig.
As he looks at it, his revery is interrupted by a burst of laughter coming from a room in the distance.
The "library" is a brightly-colored, informal room and the place the family spend most of the ir time. With its big tv, bookshelves full of DVDs, and playstation, it feels at odds with the old-fashioned grandeur of the rest of the house. SUPERBAD is playing on the TV.
Half-watching it are Farleigh, Felix, and Felix’s father, SIR JAMES CATTON (60s) a formal, shy man whose excessive love for his family is his only immoderation.
Draped over the sofa, is Felix's mother ELSPETH CATTON (40s), a fo rmer model and socialite whose eccentricities and bohemian clothes only marginally obscure her snobbishness and inability to face anything close to reality.
She's talking to POOR DEAR PAMELA (30s) a society beauty and Major Fashion Babe who's increasingly aware she has outstayed her welcome.
41.41.
Oliver makes his way towards the voices, too distant for him to hear the conversation.
Suddenly, his eye is drawn to someone in another room.
Elspeth and Poor Dear Pamela continue to gossip about Oliver.
42.42.
Oliver enters to find VENETIA (20s), Felix's sister. Barefoot, gorgeous, she has an air of permanent studied boredom that she uses to cover crippling self-consciousness. She's "reading a book".
Venitia catches Oliver looking at her. He instantly straightens.
43.43.
Venitia holds his gaze for a few moments, then bursts into a fit of laughter. At him?
Finally, Oliver edges into the library.
The faces all turn.
Elspeth comes over to greet him.
Elspeth ignores him.
44.44.
Sir James ambles over.
She gestures to Pamela. Elspeth pulls Oliver down on the couch next to her.
A beat as Pamela registers her new place in the pecking order. Farleigh also takes note.
She gets up.
45.45.
She leaves uncertainly. Lingers by the door -
She exits.
Felix nods.
46.46.
Oliver watches Venitia enter.
She gathers up his hands as Venitia sidles over and lights up a cigarette.
And just like that, Oliver is in.
Oliver arrives back at his bedroom.
He looks around. His bag is unpacked. His clothes neatly in the wardrobe.
Felix walks in.
47.47.
Felix crashes down on Oliver's bed.
Oliver smiles.
Oliver sees the black tie hanging in the closet.
48.48.
He really means it. Felix disappears.
The family is mid-way through dinner in the enormous dining room. Everyone in black tie. The FOOTMEN pour wine under the beady eye of Duncan.
Sir James is at the head, Venetia sits between Farleigh and Felix. She's t alking to Farleigh, but her eyes are on Oliver.
Oliver is sitting next to Poor Dear Pamela, who is wearing a sensational, avant guard dress. She speaks like a child.
49.49.
Elspeth overhears.
Pamela looks crushed.
50.50.
Oliver changes out of his formal wear.
He moves to the window, looks out at the land beyond, the beauty and hugeness of it.
Suddenly he notices a pale, ghost like figure standing disconcertingly in the middle of a garden. It's Venetia.
Venetia smokes, stares up at the sky when Oliver emerges beside her, a blanket wrapped around his sh oulders.
He laughs. Not sure if she's kidding.
Oliver offers her his blanket. She wraps herself in it.
She studies him. The lamb to the slaughter.
51.51.
Oliver laughs.
She laughs now.
He watches her go.
Oliver is woken by a MAID opening the curtains to his bedroom. He shoots up, discombobulated.
Before he can thank her, she's gone.
Oliver arrives, the family are already eating breakfast, reading the papers.
52.52.
Oliver sits next to Pamela, wearing another sensational outfit, but she looks exhausted.
Oliver smiles at Duncan who is placing a boiled egg next to Felix's full english breakfast.
A pause from everyone. Duncan looks quickly to Elspeth.
A tight smile from Duncan.
Farleigh smiles into his newspaper.
53.53.
Pamela dutifully looks at Elspeth's goosebumps.
Pamela tries to get in on the conversation.
54.54.
DUNCAN sets the fried eggs in front of Oliver.
Oliver looks down. Without meaning to, he grimaces.
Duncan silently whips the plate away, patience wearing thin.
Farleigh smirks into his paper.
Oliver, in his swimming trunks and t shirt, makes his way through the grounds towards the sound of tinny music. He turns a corner into a walled garden full of high grass and wild flowers.
He spots Venitia sunba thing.
He gets a step closer, sees Felix and Farleigh sunbathing as well. They are all naked.
55.55.
Oliver hesitates. Farleigh is watching, amused.
As nonchalantly as he can, Oliver walks over tosses his towel on the floor and takes off his trunks. Farleigh looks over his sunglasses, impressed.
Oliver puts on his sunglasses and starts t oward them, ignoring them all. A tiny smile.
MONTAGE:
The summer passes in a blur of golden moments.
- Oliver, Felix, Farleigh and Venetia are sunbathing in and around the square pond. Felix, Farleigh and Venetia are all reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Felix miles behind everyone else.
56.56.
- Venitia hangs from a library ladder in the long gallery. Smiles at Oliver as he lounges in a chair.
- The family slump in the library watching "The Ring".
- Oliver, Feli x, Farleigh and Venetia ineptly play tennis, smoking and wearing black tie.
- Oliver finds Felix sunbathing on the roof, reading. He stands there a moment, watching him.
- The family and Oliver are in the long gallery reading the Sunday papers and having tea. Duncan hovers over proceedings. Farleigh looks idly at the glazed cabinet.
Elspeth looks up and groans.
Oliver looks over, his interest piqued.
Sir James looks up, as does Felix.
57.57.
We cut to Oliver in his bedroom, flipping through a book titled “Saltburn: The Art of the House”. He reaches the page on Bernard Palissy.
Sir James, for the first time, is interested in Oliver.
END MONTAGE.
Oliver looks at the small maze map, and ancient model maze. And out to the maze o utside.
He fiddles with the model, an exact replica of the magnificent grounds.
Oliver startles. Duncan has sidled in.
Oliver exits, uneasy.
Later that night, Oliver is in his pajamas, making his way to the bathroom when-
OLIVER POV: Through the crack in the d oor, Felix is in the bath masturbating.
Oliver watches.
CLOSE UP: The bath. The plug swinging from the faucet. The bath water draining out of the plug hole.
58.58.
Oliver is brushing his teeth. Felix sticks his head round the door. He's in his pajamas- no idea that Oliver had been watching him.
Felix leaves. Oliver waits a few moments, then places his toothbrush down.
The final slurps of water gurgles down the plughole.
Oliver gets into the bath, fully clothed, and slowly kneels.
He licks the remaining water from the bottom of the bat h.
Oliver is in black tie having a drink on the veranda waiting for the others to come down. Elspeth approaches.
Elspeth has poured a drink.
She makes a “throw up” gesture.
59.59.
Beat.
He glances away, shyly.
He looks at her directly.
She frowns, surprised- shocked even- but he moves on before she has time to really digest it.
60.60.
She hadn’t, but that won’t de ter her.
61.61.
Oliver smiles reassuringly, basking in the last rays of the evening sun.
Later that night, Oliver still in black tie when something out of the windowcatches his eye:
Venitia is wandering the garden in her nightgown.
A moment later, Oliver finds her sitting on a bench.
He looks at her.
Beat.
62.62.
He kneels in front of her. Mere inches from her face.
He slips one hand up her nightdress. She is frozen, somewhere betwe en mortification and desire.
His hand slides up further.
He keeps going. Venitia is entranced.
Oliver draws his hand away, there’s blood on his fingers. He licks them.
He rubs his hand on her chest. Puts his fingers in her mouth as h is other hand disappears up her skirt and Venitia arches back, enjoying every moment.
He leans in to kiss her. When he pulls away -
63.63.
There’s blood on her lips. Venitia chuckles. And Oliver disappears under her skirt.
From his bedroom, Farleigh has been watching Venetia and Oliver together.
Oliver sinks into the bathtub, submerging himself in the water. Blood runs off his face and h is mouth.
The family are eating breakfast outside.
Venetia's plate is full of food and she's eating it. Looking directly at Oliver. He gives her a ghost flicker of approval, slides his croissant across the table to her, as Felix comes in and sits down sulkily.
Venetia, Farleigh, and Felix groan.
64.64.
Venetia blushes, and goes back to her plate. Fel ix looks furious.
Oliver freezes.
65.65.
Oliver looks desperately at Felix. Fe lix won’t look at him.
Venitia gets up in a huff.
66.66.
Oliver smiles weakly.
Oliver finds Felix sunbathing by the swimming pool.
Felix doesn’t react. Oliver flops down on the lounger next to him.
A long silence. Then he whips out his headphones-
Felix is getting agitated. The spoiled boy re-emerging from underneath all that easy charm.
67.67.
Felix frowns. Now he's the one who looks like an idiot.
Felix glowers for a second. Nowhere for his annoyance to go.
68.68.
Felix relaxes a little.
Beat.
But Felix has closed his eyes. Conver sation over. Oliver lies there uneasily.
Venetia sits on the garden stairs in a negligee, waiting.
Oliver watches her. But he does not move.
OLIVER'S POV: Venetia leaves.
Oliver makes his way past the house when he overhears voices from the open window of the library.
69.69.
O liver moves next to the window, unseen.
With Farleigh and Felix-
70.70.
Felix gasps. Shocked. Appalled.
Farleigh immediately regrets this moment of honesty.
A pause. Felix wavers.
Felix leaves. Farleigh stands there, stung with betrayal.
EX T. SALTBURN - LIBRARY WINDOW - CONTINUOUS
Oliver listens, frowning. He almost feels sorry for Farleigh.
A big dinner party in full swing. About forty people sitting around the enormous table.
71.71.
The red faces and roaring laughter of the uber-posh. Felix is talking to HENRY (30s), the loudest and reddest of the Red Faces, who's already half-cut.
Oliver is between Venetia and Henry's wife, LADY DAPHNE (late 30s), brittle and bored.
Awkward silence between Venetia and Oliver, as a FOOTMAN offers Venetia some samphire. There's nothing on her plate.
She looks at him witheringly.
But she's turned her back to him. Lady Daphne sighs with irritatio n, she taps the table impatiently with her finger.
Oliver turns on the charm offensive.
72.72.
She nods over at Henry.
Oliver looks over to see Henry is showing off across the table to much merriment from Felix. He changes the subject.
But she's not joking.
73.73.
But she has already turned to the man next to her. Not quite under her breath she says to him-
She turns her back on Oliver. He sits alone. Marooned.
PRE LAP: The intro to Flo Rida's "Low".
The great hall. Much later. Everyone is hammered and Henry is giving an intensely sincere karaoke performance of "Low" as L ady Daphne looks on with pure loathing.
Elspeth sprawls across a sofa, her fingers pointedly in her ears as Oliver, Felix, Venetia and Farleigh watch from the sofa. Venetia is on Felix's lap.
They get up and walk over to the drinks table. Leaving Farleigh and Oliver alone.
A little awkward beat. Which Farleigh styles out, he looks up at the p ortraits of the British kings on the wall.
They chuckle. Oliver looks at him directly.
Oh that's what Oliver meant. Or was it? Farleigh laughs.
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Oliver sighs, shifts a little closer to Farleigh.
Oliver pats Farleigh's hand reassuringly. Farleigh smiles gratefully. Or is that "gratefully"? Are they finally friends?
Henry hits a particularly terrible note, ruining the mome nt.
Farleigh wrenches the mic from Henry and selects his song.
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The synths blare the intro to "RENT" by The Pet Shop Boys.
Oliver’s eyes go wide. Everyone shouts their encouragement.
Farleigh pries him out of his seat.
Oliver gets up to cheers as Farleigh passes him the microphone with a wink.
Before Oliver can respond, the song has started, and he's on his own. Panicked, he starts to sing.
Whoo ping from the crowd. Oliver starts to loosen up a bit. Maybe this will be ok?
Suddenly Felix and Venetia look over at Farleigh, who is watching with malevolent glee. Oliver is none the wiser, singing along, getting more confident.
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The cheering is getting a little quieter, the guests starting to remember the song. Looking at the words on the screen behind him. Only Oliver is none the wiser.
Then Oliver sees the next set of lyrics , and catches up with everyone else with a thud. He sings, trying not to falter.
Total, mortified silence as everyone realizes the trick that's been played. Farleigh whoops and claps.
Felix is furious. Oliver tries to smile through the humiliation.
Farleigh leaps up.
He grabs the mic from Oliver and slinks around the room. Singing directly to the Catton’s. Owning it.
Oliver stares at him. This is war.
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The middle of the night, Oliver is looks at himself in the mirror, deadly calm as he wraps a scarf tightly around his fist.
In one swift, sudden, movement he punches the mirror. It cracks in its frame.
CLOSE on Farleigh as he sleeps. He is woken by the sinister creak of bedsprings.
We pull out to reveal Oliver on top o f him. Sitting on him. His knees on Farleigh's arms, pinning him down. Farleigh is frozen unsure what to do, what to expect. There is a palpable threat in the room: violence, or sex, or both.
They stare at each other.
Oliver looms closer, their noses almost touching.
Beat.
Farleigh stares back at him. He fucking loathes him. But.
Oliver's hand disappears under Farleigh's sheets. He smiles.
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Oliver is even closer now. Farleigh’s resistance is cracking.
Finally Farleigh nods.
Beat. Oliver’s hand is working harder.
His hand reemerges, he spits into his palm.
Problem solved.
The maid draws the blinds, waking Oliver.
Oliver looks at himself in a brand new mirror. The broken one has been discreetly replaced.
Suddenly, he can make out yelling coming from downstairs.
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Oliver and Felix walk down the spiral staircase to find Venetia peeping to get a view of the scene happening in the hall below.
She pulls them down.
OLIVER POV: Through the bannisters we see Elspeth talking to the tearful Farleigh. Duncan waits nearby.
Duncan places a firm hand on Farleigh's back and guides him down the stairs. Elspeth watches him go.
Suddenly, her gaze shoots up and she sees them eavesdropping -
Oliver, Felix and Venetia sunbathe around the square pond, Britpop blaring out fromtheir portable speakers.
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Venetia lies on the pontoon, her hair trailing in the water. She's fuming.
A flicker of guilt fro m Felix.
They quiet. Sir James and Elspeth are walking towardsthem. Elspeth dressed in chic beachwear.
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Venetia laughs.
Sir James and Elspeth reach them.
Sir James ambles off and Elspeth settles on a chaise determined to sweep it all under the rug.
Venetia gives Oliver a look: "told you." Elspeth hears the music.
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She lies back.
Beat.
Oliver sulks inside. He tries the adjoining bathroom but the door is locked. He listens for a moment, he can hear a faint moan from the other side of the door - Felix is inside, masturbating.
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Oliver smokes in the bath. Thinking of Felix. Forever thinking of Felix.
Dinner. Oliver in black tie. He looks across the table. Felix is watching him. He smiles.
Oliver walks in in his boxers. Felix is getting dressed.
Felix disappears. Oliver looks giddily into the mirror.
Oliver and Felix roar up a road in a vintage convertible.
Oliver looks out of the window at the golden countryside. Truly, blissfully happy.
They're on an A-road now. It's later in the day.
They pass a road sign on the motorway. One of the names on it catches Oliver's attention: Prescot. The colour starts to drain from his face. He's going home.
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Oliver is trying hard not to cry. He's really scared for the first time. Truly vulnerable.
Felix is over-talking, suddenly conscioushe might have made a mistake. He charges on.
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Oliver sinks miserably into the leather of the seat. There's no going back from this.
The car turns into a pretty suburban street. Beautifully kept garde ns, gleaming cars, well-maintained houses. Felix looks at it all, confused.
But Oliver doesn't respond.
Oliver shifts in his seat as they pull up in front of a pretty house. Felix is truly baffled now.
Felix puts it in park.
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Oliver takes a gallows breath as they march toward the front door. Felix notices a little painted sign on the side of the door: "Gone Fishin'". A bit odd. He rings the doorbell.
Then the door opens and it becomes horribly clear that there is no chance that the woman standing before them has ever so much as heard of heroin. Sensible cardie, floral skirt, small c rucifix, PAULA QUICK (50s) is the picture of good health and maternal kindness. Felix takes a moment to conceal his utter confusion.
Oliver is listless as he is gathered into her arms.
She squeezes him tightly- he barely reciprocates.
Oliver winces. Felix can't hide his shock.
Oliver and Felix follow her in. Shellshocked.
A cosy, meticulously clean house. Full of cushions and flowers and family photographs. It is aggressively normal.
JEFF, Oliver's father, sensibly dressed, balding, andvery much alive, sits on the sofa next to Paula.
Oliver sits awkwardly on a chair opposite them. Felix, too upset to look at Oliver, but wanting to keep things civil at all costs, looks at photos on the mantle peace.
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He picks up a picture of Oliver as a child.
Oliver stares at his hands.
Beat.
Another lie. Oliver can't bear to look at Felix.
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Oliver jumps up suddenly.
Paula and Jeff look confused.
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Paula looks completely crushed. Felix can't bear it.
Silence. Oliver still can’t look at Felix.
Oliver and Felix sit in terrible silence in the car home. Oliver has his birthday cake in cling film on his lap.
They return back to Saltburn. Felix striding ahead of Oliver.
Felix stops. He's distant, but not unkind. Just desperate to be away from Oliver, unable to look him in the eye.
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Oliver is almost in tears.
Felix leaves. Oliver trembling behind him.
Oliver cri es into his pillow. He’s practically hyperventilating.
Oliver stands in front of the mirror. He tries to steel himself.
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Evening now and the gardens of Saltburn are decked out for Oliver's party. The house lit up with thousands of fairy lights for the Midsummer Night's Dream theme. The staff are all dressed in Shakespearean garb.
The guests are starting to arrive- including the OXFORD ALPHA HOTTIES- everyone dressed in costumes ranging from the beautifully intricate and stylish, to themega-cheap and slutty. Felix wears plastic angel wings. Venitia, a dress made of cobwebs.
SIR JAMES- incongruously- in his suit of armor, and ELSPETH as Titania, greet their guests.
It’s all beautiful but it’s about to get messy, fast.
Sir James and Elspeth are sipping champagne at a table. Sir James spots a topless girl drunkenly stumbling up some stairs.
She topples over, struggles back up to her feet.
SERIES OF SHOTS AS THE NIGHT DEGENERATES--
-- A fairy throws up in the fountain.
-- Liam and Joshua chat up a pair of pretty guests.
-- People dance drunkenly.
Oliver is dressed as the Changeling Boy, little antlers on his head. He’s sw aying. Looking for Felix. The hall is full of people making out up against the walls. He peeps into each room, but he can't find him. He passes Harry.
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Oliver finds Felix along with India, Farleigh and a handful of others drinking and snorting coke in the bathroom.
No response.
India laughs at Oliver’s expense. Oliver looks at him. There’s nothing else to say.
Oliver stands on the terrace watching a pig being roasted over an open fire. A few stragglers are outside, but it's quieter here.
A figure stands nearby. Full Shakespearean dress, with a donkey's head covering his face and neck: Bottom. He stands by Ol iver silently.
Farleigh takes off the head.
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Farleigh takes a bag from his pocket and shakes a little white powder onto his hand and hoovers it up.
Oliver can't mask his surprise. Farleigh laughs.
Farleigh laughs.
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Farleigh grabs Oliver around the neck, looks him right in the eyes.
He puts his Donkey head back on and leaves.
Oliver in a drunken haze, stands on the grand red staircase. His huge birthday cake being held by Elspeth next to him.
The wh ole party has crammed in, hanging from the bannisters, singing Happy Birthday. Even Felix sings awkwardly.
Oliver looks around, at the beauty, the grandeur, the Catton’s, all of these people in this place for him. It's what he always wanted. If he could keep this moment forever.
But then everyone singing realizes they don't kn ow the name of the birthday boy. A few voices sing "Oliver" but the rest just mumble or hum. Oliver's smile fades.
A DRUNK BOY next to Oliver laugh-whispers.
Oliver numbly blows out the candles.
Oliver is on the rammed dance floor. He's dancing alone.
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Finally Oliver sees Felix: he's dancing with INDIA, who is wearing a tiny fairy dress.
Felix leads her off the dance floor. Oliver follows at a distance, swigging from a bottle of champagne.
Oliver watches Felix and India as they sneak into the maze. He follows.
Oliver walks through the maze. Getting lost and lost and lost. Too drunk to workit out. Finally he reaches the centre, keeping hidden in the shadows.
Felix and India are having sex against a huge statue. Oliver waits until they're finished.
Felix jumps.
India doesn't buy it.
India storms out of the maze.
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Felix finally loses it.
Oliver goes to take his hand.
Oliver walks towards him, undeterred. Felix pushes him away roughly.
Oliver staggers back. Then, hecomes back at Felix just as hard and grabs him by the shirt.
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Felix looks at him. Disgusted.
An awful silence. Then Oliver retches.
He hands the champagne bottle to Felix as he doubles over and throws up. It seems to take forever.
Felix, half full of pity, half disgust swigs from the bottle as Oliver throws up. Wishing it would all end.
Finally, Oliver standsback up, humiliated.
Oliver snatches the champagne bottle off him.
Oliver staggers away. Felix waits behind. Laughing in amazement, but relieved that Oliver is finally gone.
Oliver, hammered, presses his face against the cold mirror.
He catches sight of himself wo ozily. What a fucking mess.
A few party stragglers are left as the dawn breaks over Saltburn. Oliver staggers past them all, past the pond, weeping. He stops and furiously hurls the empty champagne bottle in. Watching, broken, as it sinks.
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The morning after. All is quiet. A beautiful day. The debris of the party everywhere to be seen.
SERIES OF SHOTS--
-- Venetia's cobweb dress cast aside in the grass.
-- A spatter of vomit against the walled garden wall.
-- A decorative bowl full of cigarette butts.
-- A GARDENER clearing the debris from the lawn.
-- MAIDS wiping the remaining coke from toilet seats and coffee tab les.
The midday light streams in through the window of Oliver's bedroom. The clock by his bed shows that it's nearly noon.
Suddenly, from outside in the garden there is shouting-
Oliver's eyes open.
He sits up.
Oliver, wearing Felix' s dressing gown, walks along the corridor. Something is obviously wrong. STAFF are knocking on bedroom doors, checking inside.
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Oliver walks, bewildered through the debris, towards the sound of the shouting. Duncan and a few household staff are searching.
Sir James shouts for Felix.
Venetia and Farleigh, still in lastnight's clothes, shout for Felix. Looking anxiously into the pond.
Elspeth walks through the maze.
On Elspeth's face as she sees him.
Oliver turns as he hears Elspeth's scream from the maze.
Oliver wipes a tear from his cheek.
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Venetia staggers forward.
Sir James runs.
Duncan freezes. A momentary glimpse of emotion from him. Utter devastation. He covers it, and walks towards the garden.
Arial shot: Oliver, Venetia, Farleigh and Sir James tear through the grounds towards the maz e.
Tiny, in the center: Felix's body, his angel wings still on.
Farleigh and Venetia stumble in. Venetia crashes to the ground. Farleigh tries to hold her.
Then Sir James arrives, walking slowly. A look of total confusion, total incomprehension on his face.
Finally, Oliver staggers in.
Sir James falls to his knees by the body. Strokes Felix's face.
He looks up at Oliver and Farleigh.
Sir James tries to pick him up, struggling. Some of the vomit from Felix's front smears onto his shirt.
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But he can't lift him. He stumbles back onto the ground. Nobody knows where to look. The horror is unbearable.
Elspeth steps in, taking control.
Lunch. The family sit around the table in silence. Elspeth and Sir James eat. Lips stiffened. Shocked into total denial.
Farleigh stares disbelievingly at his untouched shepherd's pie. Venetia, self-medicated into oblivion, stares at the wall. Oliver takes a sip of wine with a shaking hand.
Duncan enters. Hovers awkwardly.
Beat.
A silence. Farleigh can't help but laugh at the absurdness. He's silenced by a look from Sir James.
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Duncan leaves. Elspeth starts to chatter. Hyper normal. Hysterically normal. Anything to keep the horror at bay.
Oliver rises to the occasion: what else is there to do?
Farleigh watches, amazed and horrified.
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Duncan enters again.
Duncan walks over and leans into Sir James' ear.
Sir James interrupts.
Farleigh looks as though he might throw up. Oliver tries to keep things going. His voice manic.
Duncan goes about shutting the curtains. The room gets darker with each curtain pulled.
Duncan is having trouble with the last curtain- it's quite a complicated pro cedure.
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Duncan gives the curtain a yank and the room is plunged into darkness. Then, the sound of a squeaking gurney on the gravel. An unbearable silence. Finally the sound of ambulance doors closing shut.
A FOOTMAN, on the brink of tears, rushes away. They all ignore him. Sir James tuts disapproving ly as he goes.
Farleigh is trying to keep it together. Trying not to cry.
Sir James picks up his fork and stabs at his pie.
Elspeth looks at him. The first glimmer of sadness.
Si r James slams his fist onto the table, sending the glasses and plates clattering.
A shocked silence. Farleigh sits. Picks up his fork, crying.
Sir James takes a deep breath. Calms himself.
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A long silence. Then-
An icy silence.
Farleigh stares back at him.
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But Farleigh falters.
Sir James, pale with fury, nods over at DUNCAN.
Farleigh crumples into his chair.
She doesn't look at him. She'll never look at him again.
Farleigh looks searchingly at the faces around the table. No one will catch his eye. Not even Oliver.
One final moment, and he leaves.
Sir James picks up his knife and fork, and resumes eating.
*MONTAGE*
107.107.
The day of the funeral and the family and Oliver make their way to the family chapel on the grounds.
The small service. Only OLIVER, ELSPETH, SIR JAMES and VENETIA are present with a handful of other family members.
The coffin- simple and decorated with meadow flowers- sits at the front as the vicar reads the eulogy.
The c offin is lowered into the ground. Elspeth cries into Oliver's shoulder. Sir James stony faced. Venetia tranquilized into oblivion.
Oliver follows the family out of the graveyard. Sir James turns and puts his hand on Oliver's shoulder firmly.
The family walk on ahead, leaving Oliver behind with the rest of the mourners.
Sir James, Elspeth and Venetia stand on a bridge over a little stream.
Elspeth holds the pebble with Felix's name engraved onto it. She can't let go of it. Gently, Sir James takes it from her. And throws it into the water.
Oliver, hidden, watches as the pebble hits the water.
Oliver is alone at Felix's grave. He sinks to his knees, weeping, clinging tothe gravestone as though it is Felix himself. His hands clutching at the freshly dug earth.
He lies down. Stroking the earth where Felix’s face might be.
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Then slowly, weeping, he undresses...
END OF MONTAGE
Sir James, Elspeth, Venetia and Oliver sit in the library.
Shoes kicked off. Still in black. Venetia chain smokes.
The small talk is agonizing, and the only thing keeping them afloat.
Sir James chuckles.
Elspeth drifts briefly into reality.
She peters out, her toes touching the abyss, if she falls in she'll never get out.
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Beat.
Venetia laughs, scornfully. Oliver gets up.
Oliver glances over at Venetia and Sir James, ca tching the tail end of a look between them.
Venetia is blind drunk. In the bath. Oliver walks in.
She sneers at him.
He takes her anger for provocation.
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He comes over to the bath. Slips his hand in the water. Is this a game?
Oliver smiles patientl y.
111.111.
She laughs.
She raps her palm against his cheek: bat, bat, bat.
Venitia, a sudden realization -
Oliver stops. Shit. It is. Before Oliver can stand she grabs him by the collar.
They stare into each other, their facesinches apart.
And then Oliver kisses her.
For a moment she kisses him back. Then pulls away, disgusted.
Present day. Oliver takes a drag of his cigarette.
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Oliver sleepily walks into the bathroom. As he steps onto the marble, he stops, and looks down.
The floor is slippery with blood. He looks up: the bathtub is full of blood. The razor blades from his razor on the edge of the tub. Venetia has sunk below the water, only th e top of her head is showing, her hair floating around her.
Sir James, Elspeth and Oliver are in black. Elspeth hardly more than a ghost. Sir James in a state of total disbelief.
Underwater: the pebble with Venetia's name sinks.
Oliver enters Sir James’s study, sits. Sir James is clearly agitated, trying to keep calm. Bebusiness-like.
A beat.
Sir James gives a pallid smile.
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Oliver hesitates.
Sir James nods. Then opens a desk drawer, and gets out a cheque book.
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His pen is poised above the cheque book.
A beat.
James steels himself. Again he asks:
Oliver looks resentfully at the floor.
Oliver leaves via the back door.Duncan emotionlessly watching sentry.
Oliver carries his suitcase towards the waiting taxi. He can't bear to look back.
Present day. Oliver thinking about that walk. About the cruelty of it. He snuffs out a cigarette.
SIX MONTHS EARLIER:
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Oliver arrives home to a small, damp basement flat. The furniture is beautiful, expensive, but crammed in: we get the feeling he has downsized.
Oliver reads the newspaper, eating a slice of toast neatly. He notices something in the paper. An obituary:
SIR JAMES CATTON, LANDOWNER AND ART COLLECTOR 1953-2020.
Oliver chews his toast thoughtfully.
Elspeth crosses the street, older now, but still wildly beautiful. She enters the cafe.
As Elspeth waits for her order, she looks up into the mirror behind the counter and notices Older Oliver in a seat working from his laptop.
She turns. Indeed, it’s him. He is immaculate, shaved, hair tousled, cashmere jumper.
He looks up.
He stands as she rushes over. She clings to him, half- hugging, half-drowning.
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Elspeth bites her lip.
She looks as though she might cry, but she swallows it down.
She trails off.
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A moment.
She doesn't quite believe him, but nods anyway.
Oliver hesitates a little. This is a question he genuinely doesn't know how toanswer. So he answers honestly.
Elspeth smiles bravely.
Elspeth turns. Her order is ready. She doubles back for the counter, grabs it. On her way to the door -
Present Day:
We finally reveal where Oliver has been sitting all along: in Elspeth's bedroom at Saltburn. Elspeth is hooked up to a ventilator. Unconscious. Oliver has been talking to her.
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He stands over her bed and blows a stream of cigarette smoke into Elspeth's ventilated, unconscious face.
MONTAGE: Elspeth is in a wheelchair, being pushed by Oliver.
MONTAGE: Elspeth sits inthe study with her LAWYER, finalizing her new will.
Oliver watches from the next room, unseen.
Oliver hovers over Elspeth’s unconscious face.
He paces the room.
He clicks a button that lowers her mechanized homecare bed.
Oliver slips off his jacket.
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MONTAGE:
FLASHBACK 2007: Oliver sees Felix, Farleigh, and the Alpha Hotties for the first time.
FLASHBACK 2007:Oliver punctures Felix's bicycle with a pin.
FLASHBACK 2007:Oliver rides up innocently beside Felix.
FLASHBACK 2007:Oliver is arguing with the barman.
CLOSE UP: In his wallet, we see a stack of twenties, untouched.
Felix comes to save him.
FLASHBACK 2007:Oliver in bed with Farleigh the night after karaoke. Farleigh fast asleep, Oliver reaches for his phone.
120.120.
FLASHBACK SIX MONTHS AGO:Elspeth paying at the register when she notices Oliver “working” from his laptop in the mirror.
CLOSE UP: On his laptop, Oliver types gibberish onto an open Word document.
Oliver hangs up his jacket. Begins rolling up his sleeves.
SERIES OF SHOTS, Oliver’s POV of Felix --
FLASHBACK 2007:
- Felix sunbathes at Saltburn.
- Felix smiles at Oliver back at Oxford.
- Oliver watches Felix and Annabel undress each other.
- Felix on the dance floor at the Oxford nightclub.
Oliver finishes rolling up his sleeves.
A SERIES OF SHOTS --
Now we turn around to Oliver, and on his face:
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A look of unguarded loathing.
FLASHBACK 2007: the night Felix tells Oliver to leave. Oliver crying in the hall as Felix walks away.
FLASHBACK 2007:the day of Felix’s funeral. Oliver clinging to his gravestone.
FLASHBACK 2007:the night Oliver watched Felix masturbating in the bath. Oliver’s facein the water as it circles the drain.
Oliver staring down at an unconscious Elspeth.
He crouches down at the end of her bed, putting his face at the base of the blanket covering her.
He pulls the blanket and exposes her body.
He climbs on top of her.
FLASHBACK 2007: the night of the party, Oliver pours a vial of drugs into the champagne bottle and swills it around.
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FLASHBACK 2007: the moment Oliver turns to throw up and hands Felix the bottle. Oliver waits, hunched over, feigning sickness, until Felix drinks it.
FLASHBACK 2007:Oliver throws the bottle into the lake.
FLASHBACK 2007:The night Venetia dies. She is passed out in the bath. Oliver watches her.
Oliver quie tly takes the blades out of his razor and places them on the side of the bath next to her.
Oliver hovering over an unconscious Elspeth. He smiles.
His hand inches towards her face.
FLASHBACK 2007:Felix collapses after drinking the champagne.
FLASHBACK 2007:Blood all over the bathroom the morning Venitia was found.
Oliver disconnects Elspeth’s breathing apparatus. Air hisses out.
Then, in one violent jerk of his arm, he yanks the breathing tube all the way out of her esophagus and tosses it onto the floor.
Elspeth’s eyes snap open. Her body starts to shake.
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Oliver climbs on top of her, watching as she writhes on the bed. Eventually, she takes her final breath.
Oliver leans down, rests his head on her chest.
He reaches for her hand and drapes her lifeless arm around his back as if she’s giving him a hug.
Days later. Oliver cries at Elspeth's fresh grave which has been dug next to three others: Sir James, Venitia, and Fel ix.
He looks up to see Duncan’s silhouette staring down at him from the hill above. He can deal with that later.
A new day. The sun shines down on the vast and beautiful Saltburn house.
Sophie Ellis Bextor's "Murder on the Dancefloor" echoes through the empty house.
Oliver wakes up, naked in his new bedroom. The King s Bedroom. There’s a new master in town now.
He leaps out of bed and dances out of the room.
Dancing naked through the state rooms, the part of the house in which he now resides. The inverse of the tour Felix first took him on. King of all he surveys. He walks over to a table, looks fondly at a picture frame: a photo of him and Felix, and snorts a line of cocaine.
He danc es all the way through the hallway into the-
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Where he dances over to the center table, where the Catton Family Players music box is. On top sit the family pebbles. James, Elspeth, Felix and Venetia, all neat in a row.
He straightens one. Just right!