Exploring Narcissism: Saltburn’s Oliver Quick
I got around to watching Saltburn (2023) and I’ve got to say…it’s a phenomenal film. Worth the rewatch. It’s not only suspenseful, but quite jarring to some respect. It’s not so often that I come across a film that becomes my new fixation.
Though, this isn’t meant to be a review, I’d like to dissect the character of Saltburn’s leading character Oliver Quick played by Barry Keoghan.
In the beginning of the film, Oliver is a rather meek and awkward individual. This is notable through his various interactions with those around him.
Though, we are quickly shown that there is something not quite right. He is grandiose, manipulative, passive aggressive, and entitled with a suppressed rage underneath it all.
With Oliver’s relationship with Felix, an Oxford student born to a wealthy family and a large estate. With him, Oliver employs a variety of tactics including pity and sympathy to manipulate him, which in some ways, is a symbiotic relationship with Felix using Oliver as a “toy.”
