In partnership with Warner Bros. UK

Jacob Elordi is already a Gen Z icon with 12.5million Instagram followers, however Saltburn seems set to propel him to the subsequent degree. In director Emerald Fennell’s spiky and shocking psychological thriller, he lights up the display as Felix Catton, an upper-crust Oxford pupil who rolled a 6 at delivery. Felix isn’t only a filthy wealthy aristocrat with a palatial household dwelling (the Saltburn of the movie’s title); he’s additionally cool, charismatic and classically good-looking. Felix has immense privilege however wears it frivolously in a manner that’s each beguiling and galling.

Elordi, who was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, completely nails the boastful drawl {that a} teenage toff like Felix would communicate in. The 26-year-old actor famous in a current interview that cosseted poshos like Felix “don’t even must enunciate”. Elordi additionally makes use of his physicality – he stands at a statuesque 6ft 5in – to spotlight Felix’s innate sense of entitlement. He stated in the identical interview that Felix is glad to “occupy as a lot area as attainable”, most likely as a result of he by no means actually offers it a second thought.

It’s a technically spectacular flip from Elordi, who’s at present finest identified for his position in zeitgeist-grabbing teen drama Euphoria, but additionally one stuffed with nuance and depth. Sure, Felix appears work-shy and naive, however he’s additionally sort and pushed by a robust ethical code – one formed by his pampered upbringing. Felix’s flawed likeability is a crucial cog in Saltburn‘s fizzing Catherine wheel as a result of it lets him bedazzle Oliver Fast (Barry Keoghan), a shiny scholarship boy who lacks his posh poise and social polish.

When Felix invitations Oliver to spend the summer season at his household dwelling – a spot so grand it makes Oliver gasp in disbelief – their friendship begins to show poisonous. Oliver is clearly obsessive about Felix and his monstrously self-indulged household, one thing Felix doesn’t fairly realise, however the outsider’s finish aim is trickier to pin down. What unfolds subsequent is darkish, audacious and discombobulating – all hallmarks of Fennell’s earlier function movie, the Oscar-winning revenge thriller Promising Younger Lady.

Saltburn is Elordi’s most fun movie position to this point. His earlier massive display credit embody Swinging Safari, an offbeat Australian comedy starring Man Pearce and Kylie Minogue, and Deep Water, a psychological thriller with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. He additionally performed the love curiosity in The Kissing Sales space, a Netflix romcom based mostly on Beth Reekles’ younger grownup novel, and its two sequels. These healthful and considerably formulaic motion pictures weren’t precisely cool, however they did show massively widespread.

If The Kissing Sales space proves Elordi’s viability as a standard main man, his position in Euphoria underscores his dramatic vary. Since 2019, Elordi has starred within the edgy, agenda-setting sequence as Nate Jacobs, a highschool quarterback with anger points and an overbearing father. Although Nate tasks an ultra-confident picture, he’s really deeply conflicted and riddled with insecurities. Sensible, narcissistic and manipulative, Nate betrays his thinly veiled misogyny in the best way he torments his loyal girlfriend Maddy (Alexa Demie). He’s very a lot a baddie for an age wherein we’re lastly squaring as much as poisonous masculinity.

Nate could also be borderline sociopathic, however Elordi stated in a current interview that Saltburn‘s Felix is even “scarier” in some methods as a result of he thinks he owns “effectively, every thing”. Felix’s juvenile aspect comes out when Oliver will get concerned with somebody he shouldn’t, inflicting Elordi’s bratty alpha to sulk and pout like a petulant baby. Whenever you’re used to having every thing for your self, it’s insufferable to assume that one thing – or somebody – would possibly actually belong to another person.

Saltburn is stuffed with sublimely noticed moments like this that permit Elordi to indicate off his vary. Alongside along with his efficiency as Elvis Presley within the upcoming biopic Priscilla, it’s a task that ought to rework him from TV rising star to massive display go-to. In any case, Elordi is already attracting the eye of Hollywood’s nice and good. Footage from final yr’s Met Gala exhibits Leonardo DiCaprio congratulating him on Euphoria, which the Oscar winner calls a “nice present”. Now, with Saltburn about to dazzle audiences, it seems like Elordi’s time to ascertain himself as a DiCaprio determine for the subsequent technology.

‘Saltburn’ is in UK cinemas from November 17