Saltburn viewers have been left confused by a possible plot hole in the film amid confusion over its timeline.
Emerald Fennell’s provocative and eyebrow-raising thriller, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, follows scholarship student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) at the University of Oxford in 2007, struggling to find his place until he is drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Priscilla actor Jacob Elordi).
Felix then invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten, as he gets to know the likes of his new friend’s parents, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) and Sir James (Richard E. Grant), as well as sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) and Poor Dear Pamela (Carey Mulligan).
With its mid-noughties setting, Saltburn is filled with bangers on its soundtrack, from the Cheeky Girls’ Christmas single to its headline-grabbing use of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor for the climactic final scene.
Pike’s Elspeth is a fan favourite for her brilliant casual one-liners such as ‘they probably don’t have rehab in Liverpool’ and recanting her earlier escapades as a lesbian before deciding ‘it was all a bit too wet for me in the end’.
However, her association with Britpop superstars of the 1990s has caught several viewers short.
While lying on a sun lounger outside with music playing on a speaker, Elspeth confesses that she ‘used to hang out with them all actually’ when she was a model, referring to Blur and Oasis by name.
Moving onto Pulp, she adds: ‘Oh, but then, of course, Common People came out and everybody thought it was written about me, which was completely mortifying and ridiculous.
‘I mean, I barely knew Jarvis [Cocker].’
Quoting the song’s opening lines, Elspeth points out: ‘She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge – it couldn’t have been me. I’ve never wanted to know anything.’
‘The timeline on this seemed mixed up since Britpop was only 10 years earlier,’ TikTok user @Spierzy suggested under a compilation of the character’s best moments, although she praised the line as ‘elite’.
‘Yeah you’re right since britpop got popular around 1995 and 1997,’ agreed Juan Carlos.
‘She would have been in her mid 30s at least with a small child during britpop. The reference should have been an 80s one,’ commented Tararina Patina, with user Be Better Known adding: ‘My husband said EXACTLY the same!!!’
‘Pulp and Brit Pop wasn’t really around until early 90’s… so the maths doesn’t add up…’ they claimed.
‘Based upon the timeline she would have had two young children at the height of britpop,’ wrote @13thdukeofwybourne, pointing out that Felix would be 19 during the summer of 2007 as a first-year university student, and therefore born in 1987 or 1988.
However, others were quick to point out the issue with assuming Elspeth must have been referring to her party and modelling years as being when she was a singleton and before kids.
‘I don’t understand what you mean sorry. Couldn’t she still have hung out with Pulp in 90s even if she already had Felix?,’ asked Dan.
Referring to the maths, another user added that the maths ‘does [add up] if you don’t think a woman’s life stops at the birth of a child’.
Cocker himself has said that, although the generational anthem didn’t come out until 1995, he wrote it in 1988 after being inspired by a female student who was also studying at Central Saint Martin’s.
Assuming Elspeth was a young mother, which she appears to be, there is nothing to suggest she couldn’t have been moving in similar circles.
Other apparent mistakes that have caught fans’ attention include the scene where everyone watched Superbad at Saltburn, the R-rated comedy with Seth Rogen and Seth Rogan.
However, it didn’t come to UK cinemas until September – but writer-director Fennell has an answer for that.
‘This film takes place in the summer of 2007, which was also when Superbad came out in the movie theatres in Britain, so for those people who are concerned about timings, we decided on the day that Rosamund had a friend who was a member of the Academy who had a screener,’ she explained to Letterboxd.
‘So don’t worry, guys. I know everyone frets about things being real, but I did do my homework!’
Saltburn is streaming on Amazon Prime now.
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