While the Catton family was more than happy to welcome a stranger into their home, the real-life owners of the Saltburn mansion feel differently.
Charles Stopford Sackville, 63, who owns the Drayton House used in the psychological thriller from Emerald Fennell, told the Daily Mail that much to his chagrin, the film’s popularity has led to an influx of tourists, influencers and movie fans trespassing on his property to make videos and take photos.
“I never envisaged the amount of interest there would be,” Sackville told the outlet. “It’s quite weird. I don’t take it as flattering. How would you feel if people were taking pictures outside your house? I’d prefer the interest to blow over, but I can’t make it blow over.”
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He told the newspaper that the past few weeks have seen hundreds of people showing up to pose for photos or dance along to “Murder on the Dancefloor,” the song used for Barry Keoghan’s victory dance at the end of the film. Hopefully, it’s a reenactment they remain fully clothed for.
The satiric thriller stars Keoghan as an Oxford scholarship student who befriends popular aristocrat Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), eventually accepting an invitation to stay at his family’s estate, Saltburn, for a summer. What follows is trangessive commentary on wealth, class, and desire. Of the film, Sackville said, “There were bits that I liked and bits that I wouldn’t necessarily have put in myself. But it’s not my film, it’s Emerald’s film.”
Interest in the sprawling 700-year-old estate has been significantly bolstered thanks to TikTok. One influencer, Rhian Williams, shared directions to the public footpath leading to the mansion but told the BBC that had no idea it would gain such traction.
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Many fans have reportedly strayed off the public footpath, leading the wonders to enlist security to patrol around the house. The property is not open to the public, so visitors cannot enter.
While Williams expressed joy about fans visiting “a hidden corner of our beautiful Northamptonshire,” he added, “It’s such a shame that people are trespassing as there is a public footpath through the estate that everyone should stick to if they want to visit.”
While these visitations are in contention for the weirdest thing to come out of the film’s popularity, one can only hope fans never discover the location of the graveyard — lest they attempt a more frightening reenactment.
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