Aug. 7 (UPI) — The British Film Institute has selected Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn to open the 2023 BFI London Film Festival.
The film, a new drama written, directed and produced by Fennell and starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, will have its world premiere Oct. 4 at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.
Saltburn is described as “a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire.” The movie takes place in the mid-2000s and follows Oliver Quick (Keoghan), a student struggling to find his place at Oxford University.
Oliver finds himself “drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten,” an official synopsis reads.
Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe and Carey Mulligan also star.
#LFF 2023 opens with a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire from Emerald Fennell.
This year’s BFI London Film Festival Opening Night Gala is Saltburn, premiering at @southbankcentre’s Royal Festival Hall and cinemas across the UK on Wed 4 Oct. https://t.co/NoOLP6Fnn2 pic.twitter.com/8U8TRRGAfm— BFI (@BFI) August 7, 2023
“I’m honoured that our film is able to open this year’s BFI London Film Festival,” Fennell said in a statement. “It is a festival that inspired me so much growing up, one that I followed excitedly from my bedroom on the other side of London. It feels extra-special that Saltburn, this very British tale of excess, is able to make its international debut at the wonderful BFI.”
Saltburn is produced by Amazon Studios and MGM. The film opens in theaters Nov. 24.
This year’s BFI London Film Festival will run Oct. 4 to 15.
Fennell is best known for writing, directing and producing the 2020 film Promising Young Woman. As an actress, she most recently played Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown Seasons 3 and 4.
