Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell has said working with Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi on her new film, Saltburn, was the "most exciting thing in the world".
The gala premiere of the thriller opened the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, but without its star-studded cast on the red carpet, including Banshees Of Inisherin actor Barry Keoghan and Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, as the actors’ strike continues.
The film sees Keoghan as student Oliver Quick who, struggling to find his place at Oxford University, finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, played by Elordi.
Watch: Emerald Fennell talks about Barry Keoghan's sly satire in Saltburn
Felix invites Oliver to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, where he becomes infatuated with the aristocrat.
The Crown actress Fennell, who won an Oscar for her screenplay for Promising Young Woman, wrote, directed and produced the project.
Speaking on the red carpet of the film’s gala premiere, Fennell described working with Keoghan and Elordi as "one of the most exciting things in the world".
Fennell continued: "They are all incredibly funny and that really helps as this is, more than anything, a dark comedy.
"The thing about Jacob and Barry actually, is that they haven't really had the opportunity to showcase that humour before. I think Barry's sly satire and Jacob's absolutely ferocious observational comedy is really wicked and thrilling."
Watch: Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi star in Saltburn
Fennell also reflected on the film's exploration of being an outsider.
She said: "I mean, look where we are now, we’re in the most enormous festival in London, and certainly I feel like I don’t fit in here.
"So it’s always exciting to look at look at outsiders and again it’s part of the tradition that it’s somebody who’s not familiar with the world looking into it.
"And I think those are the most exciting films when you have that tension."
She explained that the psychological thriller drama is metaphorically a vampire film as it explores how someone can behave when they are "completely besotted".
"Certainly metaphorically it is a vampire film," she said.
"It is about what we do when we're completely besotted with something or someone.
"And I hope it’s part of the classic Gothic tradition where love and hate are very, very close together."
The film also stars fellow Irish actor Alison Oliver, as well as Rosamund Pike, Richard E Grant and Carey Mulligan, who were not in attendance at the premiere.
International film festivals such as Venice, Telluride and Toronto have already been affected by the strike by union Sag-Aftra.
The festival is also set to host premieres for highly anticipated films such as Killers Of The Flower Moon, Maestro and Poor Things.
Saltburn will be released in cinemas on 24 November.
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Additional reporting Press Association
