Cheering For Evil: The Occult Symbolism and Hidden Messages in “Saltburn”
Warning: Monumental spoilers ahead!
Shortly after its US release in late 2023, Saltburn’s “iconic” scenes became viral on social media. As word of mouth spread, the movie quickly became one of the most-watched movies on streaming platforms.
Like numerous “viral” films today, the publicity surrounding Saltburn mainly focused on shock and controversy. As people tuned in to see what the fuss was about, critics firmly separated into two camps: those who thought the movie was degenerate garbage and those who thought it was pure genius.

This Daily Beast movie critic thinks that people who do not enjoy watching a man drinking semen-filled bathwater should “grow up.”
Other movie critics like to claim that viewers are “missing the point” of Saltburn.

The New York Times declares that you’re too dumb to understand Saltburn‘s point. Does the article actually explain what the point is? Of course not. But that title made the reviewer sound very smart.
As usual, mainstream movie reviewers celebrated Saltburn but purposely ignored its most critical aspect: symbolism. Is it on purpose? Because, if they diligently decoded these symbols and explained their meaning, readers would be like, “So why are you celebrating this?”
Indeed, beyond its controversial scenes, Saltburn is replete with blatant symbols begging to be deciphered. Nearly every shot is calculated to convey a message and integrates elements that contribute to the narrative. When this symbolism is pieced together, an occult and spiritual dimension to the story is revealed.
Although the movie’s symbols and references are complex and elaborate, Saltburn‘s can actually be summed up in two simple words: Evil prevails. That’s it. And in the grossest, most perverse way possible.
This battle between opposing forces is represented using classic esoteric symbolism throughout the movie.

Saltburn contains numerous shots involving mirroring, reflections, and inversions, as this promotional poster exemplifies.

The Great Seal of Solomon visually represents the union of opposites and the hermetic axiom “As Above, so Below” through water reflection.
In many ways, Saltburn mirrors and inverts tropes found in classic tales to communicate a dark message about modern society. Here’s a look at the movie’s symbolism.
It’s All a Ritual
The basic premise of Saltburn has been seen countless times: A poor person gets invited to the estate of a wealthy family. At that point, the rich usually turn into cruel jerks, and the poor person realizes they were invited for ridicule, entertainment, or, in some cases, much worse. However, Saltburn provides an unexpected twist to this classic premise.

The movie’s very first shot shows a lighter on which is engraved the Catton family crest. Other than foreshadowing the family’s downfall, the crest alludes to the duality of light and darkness.
The movie’s protagonist is Oliver Quick, a nerdy Oxford University student who comes from a modest background.

While Oliver comes to school dressed formally, he realizes that the rich kids are dressed casually. We immediately sense that his background made him serious and hardworking, while the privileged students are lazy and sloppy as they’re just coasting on their family’s wealth.
As we get introduced to the movie’s characters, we notice a lot of “fluidity” happening. Everybody’s vaguely bisexual, everybody’s into anybody, and jokes about child abuse and incest are thrown nonchalantly.
At social gatherings around Oxford, Oliver meets (and becomes obsessed with) Felix, a popular student from an ultra-wealthy family.

In this symbolic shot, Felix is illuminated by the sun while Oliver’s shadow hangs upside down. The concept of duality between the two occurs numerous times in the movie.
Oliver manages to gain Felix’s trust and sympathy by telling him childhood stories about his drug-addicted parents (which turn out to be false). Felix then invites him to spend the summer at his family estate.

Most of the movie was filmed at Drayton House, a 14th-century country estate in Northamptonshire, England. This physical representation of wealth and opulence is a character in itself in the movie.

Although they live in a historical estate that housed numerous noble families throughout the centuries, the Cattons just want to hang out, eat candy, and watch movies such as Superbad. They’re a product of modern times.
Through numerous scenes, we understand that the Cattons are not a Machiavellian, world-controlling elite family. They’re bored, spoiled, and clueless descendants of British nobility. They’re disconnected from reality and like to invite “regular” people for entertainment, making them perfect preys. At the movie’s end, Oliver calls the Cattons “spoiled dogs sleeping belly up with no natural predators.”

A music box named The Catton Players shows each family member as a goofy jester. On each side are Masonic pillars topped by the star and the moon crescent from the family crest, hinting at the ritualistic “play” that is about to happen.
As Oliver settles into the estate, an initiatic process begins.

Oliver admires a giant maze behind the estate. It will eventually be the site of a sacrifice.
In secret societies, labyrinths play an essential role in initiatic rituals..
“Labyrinths and mazes were favored places of initiation among many ancient cults. (…) The famous labyrinth of Crete, in which roamed the bull-headed Minotaur, was unquestionably a place of initiation into the Cretan Mysteries.”
– Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
As we’ll see, a highly symbolic Minotaur stands at the center of the Catton’s labyrinth, confirming the story’s “initiatic” dimension.
Other works of art around the estate silently add to the movie’s narrative.

As Oliver subtly manipulates the mother of the Catton family, a sculpture of Samson Slaying a Philistine prominently appears in the frame.

Inspired by a biblical story of divine justice and revenge, this sculpture was popular amongst elite families as it represented their political dominance.
While Oliver attempts to fit in with the Cattons, he is sometimes made to feel inferior due to his modest background. His revenge on this wealthy family is therefore compared to Samson’s divine retribution. However, there’s absolutely nothing divine about Oliver’s revenge. Quite to the contrary, it appears to be inspired by the devil himself.
Black Magic

On numerous occasions, Oliver is shown as a shadowy figure, associating him with the concepts of evil and darkness.
In the scene above, Oliver interacts with Felix’s sister, Venetia. She mentions it is a full moon, meaning “we’re all about to lose our minds.”
Occult rituals are believed to reach maximum potency during the full moon, and the “sexy” scene that follows has a strong “magikal” component.

Oliver engages in sexual acts with Venetia involving her period blood, which happens to be a prime ingredient in witchcraft. When she reacts in shock, Oliver replies, “Lucky for you, I’m a vampire.”

In the following scene, Oliver is made to look like a vampire with blood dripping from his mouth. Although he’s supposed to represent “the people”, Oliver engages in obsessions of the occult elite, such as consuming blood.
In another infamous Saltburn scene, Oliver spies on Felix masturbating in the bathtub. When Felix goes back to his room … *shudders*

Oliver passionately drinks Felix’s semen-laced bath water. Gross, shocking, but also significant from an occult standpoint, similar to him consuming Venetia’s period blood.
Felix eventually realizes that Oliver is a creepy liar who invented a story to impress him and gain sympathy.

As Felix symbolically walks away, Oliver stands next to a painting depicting an ominous, shadowy figure with a horn-type shape protruding from its head.
In the movie’s final act, the Cattons organize a birthday party for Oliver themed around Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Everything about this play is relevant to the Cattons.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is said to have been initially written for an “aristocratic festival,” not unlike Catton’s party. The story takes place in a dream-like context at the summer solstice and is filled with magical creatures engaging in intrigue and sexually ambiguous activities.

The party includes a giant version of The Catton Players’ music box, setting the stage for the ritual drama about to take place.
Every guest wears a costume inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and they’re all significant.

Oliver is dressed as Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow, a mischievous demon/magical being who pranks other characters in the play.

In English mythology, Puck (aka Goodfellows) is a phallic, horned figure reminiscent of Pan and Baphomet.
In the 19th century, occultists began to apply the name Robin Goodfellow to the Devil, which is rather appropriate in Oliver’s case. This fact is further emphasized when he opposes Felix.

Contrasting with Oliver, Felix wears angel wings.
Although one would expect Felix to become an evil and manipulative character in the movie, he’s friendly and welcoming throughout. However, he does not tolerate Oliver’s lies, which leads to his sacrificial demise.

During the party, a man dressed as a pig roasts an actual pig as Oliver watches intently. This seemingly pointless scene alludes to cannibalism – a guilty pleasure of the occult elite. It also points to humans eating each other for wealth and power.
At one point, Oliver catches Felix running off inside the maze with a girl. He follows them like the creep he is.

Oliver (again shown as a shadowy figure) catches Felix having sex with a girl right under a sculpture depicting the Minotaur from the Theseus Myth.
The scene above is highly symbolic for numerous reasons. First, the Minotaur at the maze’s center esoterically represents humans’ animal nature that needs to be slain to gain enlightenment. However, in the movie’s context, the Minotaur is not slain. He stands victoriously (and phallically) as he rips a pig apart—a throwback to the cannibalized pig mentioned above.
Furthermore, the Minotaur is said to be modelled after Oliver’s body, creating in the viewer a subconscious association between the two figures. Also, both are horned, creating a very conscious association between the two figures.
After Oliver interrupts Felix’s sexual encounter, they get in an argument, and Oliver poisons and kills him. The following morning, the Cattons discover Felix dead at the center of the maze.

In this symbolic shot, the Minotaur stands ominously above Felix and his angel wings. Evil triumphed over good.
But murdering Felix is not enough for Oliver.

At Felix’s funeral, Oliver gets naked and has sex with his grave site. For like, way too long.
The Catton family is unaware of Felix’s wrongdoings and is manipulated to trust him with the family legacy. Big mistake. Each family member eventually dies in events that Oliver directly or indirectly triggers.

The movie ends with Felix dancing naked alone in the Catton estate as he places rocks representing the death of each family member above the Catton Family music box.
Saltburn ends with the protagonist prevailing specifically because he is evil. During the movie, he does not grow, evolve, or learn anything. He was a lying manipulator from the start, and that’s what caused him to succeed.
In Conclusion
While Saltburn is infamous for its revolting scenes, its core message is the most sinister part of the movie. It is about inverting familiar stories involving aristocratic families to have audiences identify with evil, under the guise of “eating the rich.”
In the movie, the wealthy family became weak and lazy due to generations of wealth and privilege. More importantly, they became nice, generous, and welcoming. Then comes Oliver, who is evil, perverse, manipulative, and sick-minded like the rest of the occult elite. In the movie’s logic, he’s the one who deserves this wealth.
Through deceitful actions, Oliver takes advantage of the family’s trusting nature and knocks them out of existence in the vilest ways possible. The process is symbolically likened to an initiatic ritual where the protagonist engages in increasingly dark and depraved acts, culminating in all-out murder.
That said, Oliver’s takeover is framed as the ordinary people’s revenge against the privileged elite, and the audience is made to revel in Oliver’s devilish ways. However, what actually happened is that he became one of “them.” And, once again, they tricked the audience into cheering for evil.
Donate to VC
Source: https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/cheering-for-evil-the-occult-symbolism-and-hidden-messages-in-saltburn/
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
LION'S MANE PRODUCT
Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules
Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.
Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.
