What Happened To Felix In Saltburn?

After "Promising Young Woman" made waves and won an Oscar for its screenplay, audiences waited with bated breath to see what wild concept writer-director Emerald Fennell would cook up next. Anyone who's seen "Saltburn" knows that the British-born Fennell came up with an equally deranged idea for her second feature film.

The story is led by Barry Keoghan's Oliver Quick, who meets and immediately becomes infatuated with his handsome, charming Oxford classmate Felix Catton ("Euphoria" star Jacob Elordi). The two bond after Oliver helps Felix by lending him his bike, and before long, Oliver is part of Felix's little clique (to the dismay of Felix's hanger-on cousin Farleigh, played by Archie Madekwe). Eventually, Felix invites Oliver to spend time at his family's sprawling estate, Saltburn ... which, sadly, is the beginning of the end for Felix.

Felix ultimately dies in the midst of Saltburn's hedge maze during the birthday party the Catton family throws for Oliver, found the next morning in the hectic party's aftermath. So what exactly happens to Felix? How does he end up dead, and what does Oliver have to do with his handsome best friend's demise?

Unfortunately for Felix, Oliver has been manipulating their entire friendship from the very start. After seeing Felix on campus at Oxford surrounded by adoring friends, Oliver sabotages Felix's bike so the popular boy has to borrow one from Oliver. Beyond that, Oliver completely fabricates the details of his life; despite him telling Felix that he's desperately poor and the son of a deceased father and an alcoholic mother, not a word of it is true. 

Felix believes every word of Oliver's story until, trying to be kind, he drives Oliver to the Quick family house to help him make amends with his troubled mother after his father's "death" ... but not only is Oliver's father alive, but Paula and Jeff Quick (Dorothy Atkinson and Shaun Dooley) are nice, kind people with nothing but praise for their accomplished son.

Felix is understandably disgusted by Oliver's deceit, telling the non-Catton that he'll have to leave Saltburn immediately after his birthday party. During the party, Oliver repeatedly attempts to make amends with Felix, who's completely uninterested and simply wants Oliver to leave his life. Much later in the film, Oliver reveals — to both the audience and Felix's mother, Lady Elspeth, played by Rosamund Pike — that he laced Felix's drink with drugs, making it look like his death was an overdose. Why? Oliver is obsessed with Felix, who rejects him; if Oliver can't have Felix for himself, then he has to kill him.

At the very end of "Saltburn," Oliver reveals everything to a terminally ill, bedridden Elspeth as she lies helpless in a hospital bed. Not only did he manipulate Felix into befriending him and lie about his entire life, but he's been targeting the entire Catton family ever since Felix's body was discovered in the maze. After losing Felix, Oliver convinces the Catton patriarch, Sir James (Richard E. Grant), that Farleigh is the one who gave Felix the drugs that killed him, so James cuts Farleigh out of the family without question. Felix's sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) is deep in mourning for her brother, and whether Oliver actively kills her or simply convinces Venetia to take her own life, she is found dead in the bathtub. James eventually dies from his own grief (it's suggested), and Oliver encounters Elspeth at a coffee shop ... at which point the lonely widow invites him back to Saltburn.

It's then shown that Oliver convinced Elspeth to leave him the entire estate before she becomes too ill to manage her affairs, and as she's seen in her hospital bed, Oliver rips out her breathing tube, killing her. The now infamous final scene where Oliver dances nude through the massive British mansion is particularly significant; he has finally taken over and supplanted the Cattons, taking Saltburn from them so that nobody can ever banish him again.

"Saltburn" is streaming on Amazon Prime now.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.